March 27, 2026 / 10:40 PM PDT / CBS LA
After a young white shark was spotted off the Newport Beach coast, a renowned marine biologist warned Southern California residents that many more sightings could happen by the end of summer.
"It is gearing up to be a sharky summer," said Chris Lowe, the director of the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach.
Lowe said Southern California's beaches act as a nursery for young sharks, many of whom are staying in the area because of the recent heatwaves.
"The water is unusually warm for this time of year, and it's formed what we call a marine heat wave," Lowe said. "Oceanographers believe that we are going to have a strong El Niño this year. The last time we experienced this was 2015."
The warmer waters mean Southern California residents could expect more encounters between sharks and swimmers.
"Baja got so warm in 2015 that it pushed a lot of these white sharks in Southern California; some of them went all the way to Monterey," Lowe said. "That is looking to be very similar to what we are already seeing now."
White shark sightings are up along Southern California's busiest beaches. Lowe said shark attacks are still extremely rare.
"What we think is going on is these sharks are around people all the time," Lowe said. "We don't pose a threat to them, and we don't smell or sound like food, so they ignore us."
The marine biologist added that the more white sharks in the water and increased sightings point to something hopeful.
"The fact they're here means our oceans are getting healthier," Lowe said. "In California, we have done a good job of managing our fisheries, cleaning up pollution and things like that. Actually making the ecosystem healthier, and we know that because we have white sharks here."
Lowe said the young sharks don't know how to hunt yet and are sticking to eating stingrays. However, they are wild animals and will hurt someone if they feel threatened.
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