Point Reyes Light - June 6, 2002
Experts: Attack typical of great whites (mostly)
By Brett Weinstein
The coast of Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties is frequented by more white sharks than any other part of the Pacific shoreline. In fact, the region is so notorious for its encounters between great whites and humans, scientists have given a special name to the body of water from Bodega Bay, west to the Farallon Islands, and south to Año Nuevo State Park north of Santa Cruz. They call it the "Red Triangle."
Many marine biologists attribute the influx of sharks to these waters to the presence of abundant plankton on which fish and sea mammals feed. Consequently, white sharks – which generally feed on marine mammals – are attracted as well.
John McCosker, a senior scientist at the California Academy of Sciences and director of the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, on Tuesday called the Red Triangle "a potentially risky place, with the most recorded shark attacks on humans."
Twelfth attack off West Marin
McCosker said that because so many white sharks feed inside the Red Triangle, he remains somewhat surprised that last Friday’s shark attack off Stinson Beach was only the second recorded shark attack in that vicinity since 1998. "There has even been a number of attacks north of Bolinas and Stinson. But this is the 82nd attack in California history, and the 12th attack in Marin County," McCosker said.
Despite that all of the evidence of last week’s attack was typical of white shark attacks in Northern California, the time of the year was somewhat unusual, McCosker explained. "White sharks have attacked in every month of the year, but it’s uncommon that they’d attack in the months of May or June," he said. "Typically most attacks occur in August, September, or October."
Although white-shark sightings along the West Marin coast and at the Farallon Islands tend to increase during the late summer and autumn, scientists cannot assume that it is because more of the creatures are in the area, McCosker noted. It may just be that more fishermen, surfers, and other beachgoers are around the ocean at that time.
Rising from the depths
Inverness shark researcher Scot Anderson said he believes last week’s attack is the typical work of a great white, particularly since they usually rise from the depths to attack their prey on the surface. Anderson said the perpetrator was most likely an adult white shark which mistook a surfer for its normal prey, which is mainly sea lions and harbor seals.
Anderson said that most white-shark experts agree that the predators usually reject people as food. "Sharks don’t often kill people they attack because the scent of the blood may be different than what they’re used to, or the texture of the surf board may be different than a seal’s body," he said. "Nevertheless, after the attack, the shark circles the area, notices something isn’t right and withdraws."
In discussing white sharks’ general distaste for humans, Anderson recalled one incident in which a woman jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge, but was not consumed despite being discovered by a scavenging shark. "When she landed, a shark came up to take a bite out of her and then let her go. It doesn’t seem like sharks really want to eat people."