A California beachgoer captured a remarkable sight near Monterey Bay when a massive great white shark burst from the Pacific Ocean.
Erin King was visiting Marina State Beach on October 17 when the shark breached the water, appearing to interrupt a scenic photograph she was taking.
“I’m an ocean girl and a beach girl. Grew up born and raised here. So, the beach is my home, and it just felt like a great day to come out and take advantage of some October sunshine,” King told KSBW.
King said she was on the beach when a group of young girls approached her and asked for help taking a picture.
Afterward, the girls offered to return the favor by photographing King with the ocean behind her. That was when they noticed the shark launching out of the water.
Footage shared on social media captured King’s astonishment as she stood with her mouth open, repeatedly pointing toward the ocean.
“It happened so fast. I mean, it was just an instant. So, it just so happened that we got to see that, and I don’t think anybody else really did,” King told KSBW.
California State Park officials said their Surfline cameras also recorded a shark breach at approximately 12:20 p.m.
Erin King captured the startling moment a great white shark appeared to interrupt her scenic photograph at Marina State Beach near Monterey Bay on October 17
Social media footage showed King standing with her mouth open and repeatedly pointing toward the breaching shark
“Given where she was standing, and the timestamp on her video, which matched up perfectly with the timestamp on the surf line video, it’s very likely to be the same shark,” Chief Ranger Mike Dippel of California State Park told the outlet.
Dippel said the fall is typically a time when great white sharks become more visible along California’s Central Coast.
“It is that time of the year. October, the fall months tend to be when white sharks do come back and migrate to the Central Coast,” Dippel told the outlet.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that shark sightings in California have increased since June.
Only days before King’s video was posted, a foil board surfer spotted an “aggressive” great white shark off Huntington Beach. Authorities closed the waters on October 13 as a safety precaution.
“Forecasted warmer waters shift the preferred range for juvenile white sharks northward from Mexico and lead them to stay in California nearshore areas later in the year,” the Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release.
Experts have also forecast “a larger presence of white sharks in Southern California” because of warmer El Niño ocean conditions, a climate pattern associated with elevated water temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.
Chris Lowe, director of the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab, told the LA Times that juvenile white sharks favor ocean temperatures of approximately 67 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife says shark sightings in California have risen sharply since June
Just days before King’s social media video was posted, an ‘aggressive’ great white shark was spotted by a foil board surfer off the shore of Huntington Beach, California. Officials closed the waters for safety precautions on October 13
Lowe told the outlet that even when beachgoers don’t notice, ‘sharks are around people all the time’ in the ocean.
State Parks officials have issued a shark advisory for Marina State Beach in effect for the rest of the week. They have urged California residents to stay safe and alert while in the water.
‘Just make sure you’re aware of that and using caution when surfing or swimming, recreating in the water around the Central Coast this time of year,’ Dippel told KSBW.
Our News Outlet has reached out to Erin King, California State Parks and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for comment.
