Watch: Great White Shark Breaches Near Surfers at Lower Trestles

Dashel Pierson
·2 min read
28

San Onofre State Beach is home to a couple things:

First, some of Southern California’s best waves. Second, sharks. Lots of sharks.

It’s been a known hotspot for juvenile great white sharks, who are often seen carousing the lineup amongst the hordes of surfers and, sometimes, breaching.

That’s exactly what happened when Los Angeles-based surfer, Hunter Jones, was out surfing at Lower Trestles recently. He was sitting in the lineup, minding his own business, and attempting to get some waves amidst the heavy Lowers crowd.

Then, bam.

Juvenile great white shark breaches just outside the lineup.

At least, it was presumed to be a great white. But that’s the likely guess as these types of sharks are seen here just about as much as pro surfers on e-bikes.

Here’s Hunter breaking down what happened from his vlog:

“I was sitting out there for like an hour. In the back of my head, I was just thinking about sharks for some reason. And then, pshhh, fricken great white breaches, dude. Yeah, great white breaches right out of the water. I’ll pull up the Surfline cam now.

“It did an air. That was kinda cool.”

So, why do sharks frequent this area? Like just recently when another shark was seen cruising through the lineup down the beach from Lowers at San-O?

Well, the story goes that there’s dead, buried whales under the sand in this area. And that lingering scent attracts the juveniles looking for food.

What’s more, a recent study came out from Cal State Long Beach’s Shark Lab, which patrolled popular surf spots via drone over the course of two years, and found that, at certain spots, sharks are near surfers 97% of the time.

Spooky.

***

Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.

Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.