Water activities will not be allowed on the Sonoma Coast’s two-mile stretch, north of Bodega Bay, until Tuesday morning due to an incident involving a shark at North Salmon Creek.
A surfer who was attacked by the shark is still in the hospital but is already in stable condition. He suffered an injured thigh from the incident.
According to a shark expert, the recent shark attack is considered uncommon. He said that great white sharks, however, move to the Bay Area coastline at this time of the year.
“It’s kind of a perfect storm of conditions for the sharks in for the people to be in the water at the same time doing similar things and then causing confusion.”
A great white shark is the most possible attacker which injured the man’s thigh and his surfing board, said Dr. Luiz Rocha of the California Academy of Sciences, who also holds a current shark exhibit.
This month is called by local surfers shark-tober for a reason.
In the summer, sea lions and harbor seals had their pupping season and in this period, their juveniles are out into the water to hunt fish.
“Juveniles, in general, are less experienced with predators, so they don’t know how to exactly run away. So it makes it easier for the sharks.”
Surfers fall prey to sharks which take them by accident as the breaking of waves makes it hard for the animal to see what they are attacking.
Usually, great white sharks migrate to other areas in late fall and early winter, Dr. Rocha said.
However, shark attacks are rare even though the current situations are ready for shark attacks, KRON4 reported.
Dr. Rocha said being involved in a vehicle accident on the way to the beach is more probable than being attacked by a shark in the water.
