A great white shark put on a spectacular show for California beachgoers this weekend, leaping from the water off Marina State Beach and photobombing visitors.
Videos circulating online show a great white shark darting several meters out of the water in the background as a group of friends pose for photos along the beach.
In a statement to the Guardian, California State Park officials said: “California State Parks independently confirmed the presence of a shark matching the characteristics of a great white (breached) off the coast near Marina State Beach, concurrent with the video.
“Shark advisories are in effect at the beach per department protocol. State Parks would like to remind visitors that sharks are an important part of the coastal ecosystem and interactions between humans and sharks are rare,” officials added.
Great white sharks frequent Monterey Bay seasonally, traveling to waters off Hawaii before returning to the California coast in late summer and early fall. The central coast provides important habitat for predators, which prey on fish and marine mammals, including seals.
In recent years, sightings of great white sharks have increased along parts of the West Coast, with changing ocean conditions amid the climate crisis influencing their migratory patterns.
El Niño events, which can cause marine heatwaves and warmer-than-usual ocean temperatures, can disrupt marine ecosystems, prompting cold-water species like the great white shark to move north or move to deeper waters in search of cooler temperatures.
Classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), great white sharks can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh up to 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg). As apex predators and keystone species, they play an essential role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems by regulating prey populations, redistributing nutrients, and helping to limit the spread of disease by consuming sick or injured prey.
Yet despite their crucial ecological role, great whites have long been misrepresented as man-eating predators, a portrayal popularized by films such as Jaws that threatened their conservation.
Despite its fearsome reputation, the species has faced population declines, exceeding 90% in some areas during the 20th century. Recreational and commercial fishing, bycatch, illegal poaching and trafficking, habitat degradation and the climate crisis continue to threaten their survival.
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