doad reported: "Shark out near buoy around 6/9/12 11am. Saw the tail and dorsal fin. came up thrashing twice. Maybe eating a fish. A good distance from anyone in the lineup. A few other guys were asking about it but I got a pretty good look and it was certainly not a dolphin. Not huge girth wise but maybe 6 feet long? They are always there. Sometimes you just see them."

Mona reported: "It was Tues May 1st about 12:30. There were clear skies and it was pretty windy. The water was choppy with waves 1-3. My friend and I paddled out on our long boards just south of the stairs. There were two other people in the water about 50 feet north and more at the point. We were in the water about 30 minutes or so and sitting on our boards between sets when I looked to my left and saw a dark grey, approximately 14 inch tall, triangle shaped fin about 15 feet from us. It glided smoothly along the surface of the water with just the fin visable. I pointed it out to my friend to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was. She saw it too. We paddled like crazy towards shore. We looked from shore and didn't see it. We went back out to catch a few more waves because I knew if I didn't get back in that day I would never surf Sunset again. We saw it again. We got out as fast as possible."

Anthony reported: "Out at Latigo this morning (Tues. 3/27) around 7am. The waves were 2-3 ft with occasional 4 ft sets. Clean and fairly warm conditions. I was absolutely alone and stayed near the shore because most, if not all, of the waves were breaking inside. After getting over a wave to grab the next one, a good-sized grey dorsal fin was moving towards me about 20 ft out. Needless to say, I quickly turned and jammed towards the shore. When I got out, i checked the surface but saw nothing. It was not a dolphin."

Todd reported: "Surf out at sunset frequently and have seen juvenile whites 3 or 4 times now but this one was really close to me. I was surfing on 9.1.11, last thursday getting some of that juicy sw that was coming in and was to the right of the point sitting a little deep. About 50 yards away I saw a full breach of another juvenile great white but this time close enough to see that it had caught something in its mouth before entering back into the water. There was about 60 or so surfers out and everyone continued surfing. I didnt see the shark again. Honestly Im surprised that no one else hasn't reported this already."

John reported: "On October 10, 2010 at about 11:00 AM I was diving a little up the line from Gladstone's. I have been diving this general vicinity (Topanga/Sunset) since the early 1970's. This was the first time I could confirm white shark encounter. It swam by me very slowly, checking me out from about 4' away, not at all afraid of me. It ran about 6-7 long. I always assumed there were small ones around certain times of the year, but I figured they were keeping their distance. It would be interesting to know the following-why now the concentration around Sunset? - Is there any correlation to the pinniped population? - Are they migrating in and out with any regularity? Are they foraging on anything in particulsr here? "

Grady reported: "It was about 1:45 on Sat Sept 18th and I turned and just caught the last bit of what looked like a shark with a white belly crashing back into the water. I was somewhere between the stairs and the life guard tower a little further out than most people in the lineup. The shark breached about 100 yards south of where I was. I didn't get a great look at it so it's hard to say how big it was. I would guess 7-9 feet. Only one other person that I talked to saw it."

Graham reported: "I was surfing Sunset around 7PM on Saturday, 9/11 and saw a shark approximately 6~7 feet in length breach the water about 100 yards out from where I was near the point. Waves were inconsistent, 1~2 feet. Only one other surfer was out in the lineup, closer to the breach, but speaking to him afterwards, he did not observe the shark."

Sam reported: "I was surfing Sunset on my 10ft longboard. The waves were small but pretty regular, the ocean was smooth. I was about 100 yards out from the porta potties and about 20 yards from the nearest surfer. Anyway, while I was waiting for a wave, a 7-8ft shark glided past my board, only an arm's length away. It didn't breach and it's dorsal fin was about 2ft under the water. It went straight on past me. I stayed calm and paddled back towards my buddy and told all the other surfers. We got out of the surf but they all stayed in. Some girl on the beach told me it was a 'baby' great white and was seen here quite a bit. Nevertheless, I haven't been back to sunset and don't know if I will. Was a shame as was really enjoying learning to surf there. "

Phil reported: "I saw our shark friend today around 7:30 AM. I saw a splash in my peripheral vision a few hundred feet out and when I asked the 2 surfers I was next to they said it was definitely a shark. 8 to 10 feet with a white belly. The three of us paddled a bit farther into the lineup (as if that would make a difference). We talked about sharks and joked about keeping our feet out of the water. None of the 30 or so surfers seemed phased. I would have paddled in if there weren't such nice sets coming in. Anyhow this is the second time I've seen this guy. The last time (about a year ago) he did a full spinning breech that many people saw. I didn't report it on your site because I thought somebody else would."

Jack reported: " It seems there have been plenty of shark sightings at Sunset this past week, but not a lot of people reporting them, so I figure I'd do the honors for research-sake. I've been in the lineup every day this week since Sunday, and I'm reporting seeing two instances of shark sighting myself, and another from a fellow surfer, all on Sunday. I entered the water around 5pm and surfed for 3 hours, my first indication of shark was a large swirling commotion about 20 feet in front of my board at the point. Due to other surfers taking off on waves, I was farthest out. My first thought was it was a boil typical of Sunset, but it was much bigger than the normal boils and not the right shape for a boil, then two birds came darting from the parking lot at top speed to dive on this "boil". This keyed me to start paddling backwards away from the commotion in the water; I had to paddle backwards because it was close enough where I didn't have any other option. I was on a 10 foot board, and the sudden "boil" was same size as my board. The gulls circled and dove for a moment, perhaps looking for scraps, then took off. While I'm 100% certain it was no boil, there's a chance it was just a sea lion or seal, but given all the unreported sightings this week. However...I mentioned this event to a surfer next to me, and he said he saw a shark breach about 10 minutes earlier about 100 yards off the point. He pointed out it was definitely a shark; I believe him because because after word of shark sightings started making the rounds in the lineup, someone else shouted shark! after a splash 50 yards from shore. The guy who told me he saw the breach said the splash was a bird, he'd seen the whole thing. 30 minutes later, when getting out of the water, close to sun setting, I myself saw a breach about 300 yards off shore as I was taking off my leash; I only saw the back half of the shark, but it had a vertical tail fin and was thin towards the tail. My guess would be a Great White pup, no bigger than 8 feet. Again, since I only saw about 4 feet of the back half, I guess it could have been a marlin, but I don't remember anyone reporting marlins breaching at Sunset lately. Was glad to be getting out of the water, but didn't stop me from surfing the next 2 days, where every surfer with whom I talked, seemed to have similar recent stories at Sunset. I'm about to head into the water now, so wish me luck."

Lance O. reported: "Lance O. reported to the Shark Research Committee that he was flying a reconnaissance mission in his helicopter. He was over Sunset Beach with a 33 foot companion vessel below his location. He observed a total of 3 White Sharks in front of Gladstone's Restaurant, 200 - 300 yards off the beach. Lance reported that one of the White Sharks was about 12 feet in length and the other two were estimated at 16 feet in length. During one surface maneuver, one of the larger sharks swam close to the boat, which allowed for a length estimate based on the known size of the boat. His estimate of 16 feet is based on the shark appearing to be nearly half the length of the 33 foot boat. See photographs at the Shark Research Committee website."

Tara reported: "I just wanted to mention that I saw him breach, with my own eyes. I should have known better than to surf sunset during shark week! It was August 4th at around 7:45 am, it was a gray and glassy morning and he jumped straight into the air. My friend and i saw his entire body shoot straight up and fall back down. It was an amazing and beautiful sight actually, but i didnt want to hang around. My friend and i got out immediately and everyone else stayed in. I'm feeling kind of traumatized and not sure if i have the guts to go back to sunset. I've always known about the sightings there but seeing it with my own eyes has made it harder to recover. :( "

Brad reported: "SHARK SIGHTING at Sunset this morning. Pretty sure it was a white, breached out of the water, saw head, gills, fins..."

Ariel reported: "A bunch of us just got chased outta the water at Topanga around noon by a big great white. I didn't see it but all I heard in the water were a bunch of surfers screaming like little girls. That's all I needed and I paddled like a maniac outta the water."

Adam reported: "7-8ft white shark fully breached about 200 yards off the point around 3:00pm Sunday, June 27th. At least 5 people saw and kept surfing. I bailed! "

Heather reported: "I was surfing in front of the port-o-potties at around 11:30am. Tide was filling in from a 9am low, water surface was still pretty glassy, and waves were about 2ft & clean, although pretty weak overall. I saw a white shark breach. I estimate the shark to be approx 8 ft long & 1.5 to 2 ft wide. About 2/3 of his body came out of the water, slightly twisted and he splashed back down at an odd angle. He was probably only about 20 yards from us sufers, so I paddled in immediately. I know other surfers witnessed it as there was some chatter & gasps in the water, although I'm not sure they really understood what it was because they all stayed in & kept surfing! (The waves weren't THAT good!) I continued to watch for the shark from the bluff with my binoculars, but did not see it surface again. "

Randy Wright reported: "Hi all, Just a short note, an appoximately 8 ft. shark, most likely a GWS, breached yesterday, May 25, 2010 at 7:54am and again at 8:09am. (See photo above.) The breachings were witnessed by Nick Bowden, Greg, Kilgore, Tony Sommo, and Dr. Larry Shaw, and myself, along with others... Everyone exited the water soon afterwards, but Nick Bowden, braving the shark infested waters, hahaha, went back out for 1/2 hour or so, and survived! I did send a report to the Shark Research Committee, along with a photograph... On another note, while heading out to do some observation on May 3, 2010, I had an animal, most likely an infant 4-5 ft shark breach about 2/3rds outta the water, slightly strike my kayak paddle and then splash me as it fell back into the waters near the BABC. I saw this outta the corner of my eye, and it was very similiar to the shark breach that I photographed last October 2009 that you have most likely seen. A dark phalic-shaped animal in the air, this time coming at my paddle. If I had not captured that sequence of the Great White Shark breaching last October and then been able to view and study it, I would have still wondered what it was-(a shark?), though I do, deep down, know. A collegue, Mr. Cash Cornwell, was paddling another kayak some 60 feet behind me when he witnessed a dark colored, torpedo shaped body with a white underbelly breach next to me and splash down and spray me. Afterwards, I was whoa! What the f*** was that?!? And as we discussed the "incident" I knew what it was, an infant "landlord" trying to collect the rent! Since the kayak I was using is only 10 feet long, and my buddies kayak is longer and glides waaay faster, I was paddling A LOT harder and faster, pretty much as fast as that lil' kayak can go! This I believe, made the animal mistakenly think that I was prey, and it most likely averted it's attack at the last moment when it realized I was not. Oh ya, the water was pretty murky too that day. Afterwards, I told this to Rory, one of the regulars who kiteboards on windy days at Sunset, and also to Wade, a SUP fanatic. I also informed Tony at the lifeguard station soon after, and also told lifeguard Rick Solomon the next day. Didn't feel like scaring the rest of you, so I have not gone public until now. Stay safe out there! Some tips that I have read and heard are don't wear silver or other bright jewelry, and watch the late night, or early morning crack of dawn sessions when the water is murky. Who needs to be the victim of a case of mistaken identity? Last year I also saw a few beginners out on a day when some 50-100 pelicans were dive bombing, just going nuts in the lineup at the point. And these guys were right next to it as the sun was coming up. Of course they did not get accidently bitten, but why take that chance? Huge baitball, stay away! Gals, I wouldn't surf every month you know when, well here at least... Happy surfing out there, RWright "

Joanna reported: "Shark breaching at Sunset around 3:30pm on Monday, March 29, 2010. About 150-200 yards offshore (it was during neg low tide) and just slightly east of the point. The shark jumped out of the water fully, seemed to flip mid-air, and then landed sideways back into the water. "

Surfsister reported: "The shark was spotted on the inside today (2/4/10). As I was about to paddle out, three surfers were getting out. Apparently, an SUP guy said the shark had just swum under his board (near The Point). Then another surfer who was near that first guy saw the dorsal fin. Thus the reason for the mass exodus. (No, I didn't paddle out. The waves weren't good enough to brave being Mr. or Mrs. Shark's lunch)."

Jack reported: "2 shark sightings in 2 days. Hi, just wanted to let you know that a guy saw a shark breach on Monday (January 11) while I was in the line-up. He said it was about 200 yards out from the lifeguard stand area. When asked if he saw a bird splash, he responded 'I know the difference between a bird splash and a shark breach.' This occured with pink skies at sundown hour. The waves were so good, no one left the line-up immediately, but there was maybe 4 other surfers out there with me as it got dark. Then yesterday, a British accent man reported the upper half of a triangular fin at less than 10 feet from his board. He said the fin did not have the curved shape of a dolphin, but the triangular shape of a shark. He was not familiar with the great white breeding ground at Will Rogers, and thought the shark was not a great white. The shark was described as smallish (5 feet?). This occured last night at sun setting hour. I don't think anyone else but him saw it. Talked with him extensively, he wasn't lying. I am the first to challenge shark sightings as surfers trying to get other surfers out of the lineup, but I believe both of these sighting were 100% accurate. I'm not happy about these sightings, but so far it hasn't prevented me from surfing. I am only comforted by the fact that there has only been one surfer killed on the Cali coast (north) in the last 50 years."

Chris reported: "I was out on a paddle (SUP) on 1/3 around 11:30 and paddled over a black shark at the point. The water was extremely clear. He was about 5-6 feet long and about 5 feet down. It was pretty surreal and he did not seem to pay any attention to me. I'm not sure if it was the same shark they saw on 1/4 or even if it was a great white. After looking at photos online of GW body shapes and characteristics, he did look to be a great white but I cant be certain. I know little about the shark species we have here."

Ron reported: "At approximately 4:15PM on January 3rd, 2010 I spotted what appreared to be that great white shark that was photographed by the Horizon's surf shop owner. I was out at the point looking back at how crowded it was (2-3 ft occassion waves) and noticed a diving or fishing ship anchored. As the ship came into focus the shark breached about 20-30 feet of the stern of the ship. It seemd as though some of the other surfers noticed it especially since the crowd thinned rather quickly."

Kario reported: "On December 29th, a paddle boarder followed an 8 to 9 foot great white shark swimming around just off the peak. Its fin never broke the surface, but it freaked me out as I was sitting no more than 20 yards away. Other local sunset tribesmen and women seemed amused and unconcerned. I paddled in a few minutes later because the surf was lousy. We're all nuts. Aloha.... "

Kio reported: "I saw a shark while snorkeling at Sunset Beach at around 12 noon. The depth of water was 15ft, 250 yards from the shore, 300 yds east of Gladstone. Vis was 15ft, bottom sandy with rocks 50%. Clear sky, sunshine, 1ft wave, 1 hour after the peak tide(6.5ft). Shark: probably 7-9 feet long. Most likely, this is a great white shark, dark on top with white belly - very much like the one breaching as shown in the photo published in the LA times (local) on Nov 3rd. Other mammal: after I came up from the water, I saw one seal ~350yds away, and a school of dolphins (~6-7) cruising around about 400 yards away. Wet suits: 2-pc wet suits, light blue color on the side, rest is black. Equipment: -I had a lobster bag attached to the weight belt, and spear gun carried on my back -black rocket fins -black hood and black gloves (I wore additional green glove on my right hand to catch lobster). Encounter: - at the time of encounter, I was swimming back toward the beach, about 250 yards away when I noticed, he was passing straight in front of me with at a distance of about 10ft. He passed from my right to left at 90-degree angle. He was leisurely cruising (so it appeared) about 3ft below the surface. He looked calm, with his head pointing straight ahead. Before I noticed him, I was looking down to check the bottom for halibut/lobster. I was swimming quietly, using fins, my arms on the side. After noticing him directly ahead of me, I stopped kicking my fins, quietly picked up my spear gun from my shoulder, and prepared to fight if needed. He marched on forward, and never turned around as I checked the surrounding as I headed for the beach quietly, and at modest speed."

Randy Wright reported: "On October 3, 2009 Randy Wright of Horizons West Surf N' Wear (2011 Main St, Santa Monica) was kayaking a few hundred yards off Sunset Beach. Using a Canon 40d camera with a 24-105 mm lens inside an SPL Waterhousing, Randy captured a stunning series of high-resolution images of a shark breaching. He immediately submitted the images to Ralph Collier of the Shark Research Committee. Based on dorsal coloration, the gray and white pattern on the pelvic fin, shape and color of the caudal fin, location and shapes of the dorsal and pectoral fins, snout and eye, Ralph confirmed that Randy had captured images of a White Shark, with an estimated length of 8 - 10 feet. A sample of the images and the full account of the incident are available on the Shark Research Committee website."

Brian reported: "While surfing on 1 - 2 foot I observed a large splash about 200 yards off the point. It was 100 yards right off, and 50 yards out past, the buoy. I continued surfing and about 20 minutes later observed a fairly large shark breach completely out of the water and land on its back. It was grey with a white belly and 8 - 10 feet in length. I would be guessing to say I was sure of the species. There was one other surfer in the water and two paddle boarders in the area. There were a lot of birds in the area that seemed to be going after baitfish."

Ralph reported: "I was stand-up paddle boarding on 9/5/09 and coming in after looping the red buoy. About 50 yards off shore at the north end of the Cabana's at BABC a 5-6 foot shark came up parallel to me about 3' under the surface. Leisurely eyed me and swam off."

John reported: John was kayaking 300 yards from shore at Sunset Beach in front of Gladstone's Restaurant. It was 5:00 PM and he had been on the water 15 minutes. The sky was clear with some noticeable smoke from the local fires. Air and water temperatures were estimated at 85 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. The surf was small with calm seas and no white caps present. No marine mammals were observed in the area. There were about 5 Pelicans actively diving the area. John reported the following: “I was kayaking West about 300 yards off the coast and had just made a left hand turn to head East in front of Gladstone's Restaurant. I looked to the South and out of nowhere the shark breeched completely out of the water about 30 feet from my kayak. The tail probably cleared the surface by 4-5 feet. I've only seen dolphins do this, so I expected it to be a dolphin, but it was definitely a shark. It was much thinner than a dolphin and different coloring. It twisted in the air so I got a good look at the entire animal. There were no other sea animals present and about 5 pelicans actively diving in the area. It came out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly. It did not swim near the surface at any time that I saw. I continued kayaking East toward the Bel Air Bay Club and did not see the shark again. The shark was bluish grey with very white underbelly. The white underbelly appeared as a very defined oval rather than blending into the grey. It was probably 5-7 feet in length.”

Delza reported: "We were surfing at Sunset around 10 AM or so yesterday, high tide was already coming in so the crowd had thinned out. There were about 5 other surfers within 30 yards of me, all of us waiting between sets looking out between the buoy and porta potties. We had seen a couple dolphins cruising around earlier, but then out of nowhere, about 150 yards from the buoy, I saw a big grey and white something shoot straight up like a missile, completely out of the water and splash back down. I turned around and asked everyone 'Did you SEE THAT!??'.The 4 people around all said yes and one of the shortboarders said "oh, yeah, that's a juvenile white shark." with a nonchalant tone like 'oh yeah, they serve seafood at Gladstones.' And of course, everyone went back to surfing. I didn't believe all the reports about sharks breaching and even told my friends last month when we had seen a shark at Sunset this time about 50 yards inside of the buoy that 'oh come on...the people who are supposedly seeing sharks breaching at Sunset are watching too much Discovery Channel!' Guess that little whitey just proved me wrong."

Murray reported: "A few of us saw a shark tonight around 7ish am... didn't see the whole thing, just the fin."

Jeremiah reported: "At about 9:30 AM, what was most likely a White shark, jumped straight up out of the water. I did not see the belly. But it looked 12ft to 14ft in length, and pretty bulky. It stayed vertical, with the tail probably 5ft out of the water, and tilted slightly on the way back down. It was about straight off the point, maybe about 300 ft out. And a bunch of people who were there went, whoa!"" ""shark!"" ""did you see that!"" It was an impressive reminder of the present, and kind of pulled focus into the moment. I definitely clicked on my wide angle and appreciated the clarity, figuratively."

Kate reported: "Saw a full breach today around 4:45pm... in front of the point about 200-300 yds out."

Jon reported: "My friend was surfing sunset at third point at 8:30 PM on sunday night, August 8th . 5 people were in the water. He turned back to check surf and saw a 12 inch dorsal fin exposed out of the water headed his direction coming very quickly. He paddled out immediately and the other surfers cleared out within 15 seconds."

Gerry reported: "I saw another one today about 350 yards offshore from the Bel Air Bay Club. GWS approx 6-8 ft just cruising around. Good times."

Gerry reported: "Routine shark sighting. Breaching about 150 yards beyond the buoy at Sunset around 10:45 AM on Thursday and around 9:45AM Saturday. White belly, approx 6-8 ft."

Arthur reported: "This morning the great white breached at 7am and 7:20am about 40-50 yards north of the pink buoy. I got a real good look at it on the first breach and could clearly see it's white underbelly. He's been spotted so much that no one seemed particularly bothered by the sighting. I posted before on July 9."

Alan reported: "Today around 6:30 at sunset. Full breach about 200 yards off the point lineup. Details same as previous sightings."

Raun reported: "There was a shark sighting today at Sunset around 7/23/2009 7:15 am. I was looking out for incoming waves and saw the creature jump out of the water as if it was going after prey. I don't think I was the only one to see it as some of us paddled in a little closer to shore, but still surfed afterwards."

Juice reported: "As with the last few sightings, I also saw a white shark about 6'-7' long breach today, exposing it's white belly for me and a few other surfers. We were between the point and dos banos at 8:30am on 7/22, and the shark was about halfway between us and the buoy. They remarked that they had seen it earlier that morning. I got out while the others stayed in the water.."

Chad reported: "Surfing with my fiancee on July 20th around noon at Sunset just south of Gladstones when I witnessed a 6-8 foot shark breach completely out of the water about 200 yards out. It was dark gray on top and spun around exposing its white underbelly as it crashed back into the water causing a large splash. We had read the earlier shark sightings from this web site and both thought it was b.s! (Probably people lying trying to scare people to thin the crowd of surfer, or just mistaking dolphins for sharks we thought). I cannot say for sure that what I saw was a Great White shark, but I can say for sure that it was definitely NOT a dolphin...WTF!?."

Tyler reported: "I was SUPing on Sunday (19th) and at about 1:00PM I saw a 7 foot white shark breach clear out of the water about 300 yards from the pink buoy. Its tail was at least 4 feet out ot the water putting its head 11 feet or so out of the water - spectacular! This is now the 3rd time I have seen a shark feeding at Sunset."

Matt reported: "Saw another shark today 7/19. Several of us saw him/her, probably about 1:15 PM. Everyone kept surfing."

Kim reported: "This morning around 6:50 am approximately 150 yards southwest of Sunset Point at Gladstones a 5-6' foot shark jumped completely out of the water... white belly, dark gray back. I had seen the same thing about 10 days prior west of the pink buoy but had only seen the last second of the shark splashing in down after breaching."

Jon reported: " I'm a local at sunset and I saw a shark on July 17th. It was around 2-3 PM, a 7-8 foot shark breached out the water and landed on its side. It had a white belly. Looked like it was trying to get prey???"

Keith reported: "Saw what I believe to be a white shark breach completely out of the water this morning at Sunset. Only a few of us in, approx 8:30am directly out from the Gladstones parking lot. Hard to gauge the size but I'm guessing at least 7 ft. I was in the water at Sunset when the shark breached on July 9th but only saw the splash, though a friend of mine saw the whole thing. Described exactly what I saw today. Been surfing in the area for 5 years. Seen plenty of dolphins, never anything like this."

Miles reported: "Shark sighting at 11:15am, 7/16/09. Was surfing at Sunset Point near the lifeguard tower when I saw what I believe was a White Shark breach completely out of the water near the orange buoy. My wife was paddleboarding about 30 yards away when it happened and confirmed what I saw. It looked about 7-8 feet long and turned in the air showing off it's white belly. "

Michael reported: "Saw a great white breach completely out of the water 2 or 3 feet today, twisted and crashed back in at aprrox. 7 am. Seemed to be about 7 - 8 ft. in length. I alerted a few surfers around me who didnt see it... I paddled closer to shore... the others stayed."

Arthur reported: "This morning (Thursday July 9) at around 7am I noticed a big splash about 20-30 yards outside the pink floater in the water. I turned and quickly and just saw the white foam of the big splash. A fellow surfer sitting next to me named Michael said he saw the whole thing and that it was a white bellied shark doing a full breach out of the water."

Ben reported: "Shark sighting today at Sunset 7.45am - medium spinner shark breached 2/300 feet off the dos banos. Didn't see it again, beautiful sight! We kept surfing till the hi-tide at 8.45ish"

Phillip Keith reported: "This was a first time for me to see a shark while surfing in my 20 years of surfing. I was surfing Sunset yesterday, Saturday May 23rd at about 6:00am, just off the point, me and about 4 other surfers in the water, one paddle board surfer. We were about 30 yards off shore, and we all saw a shark about 30 yards out from us come up and attack and kill and eat a seagull/ (some type of bird) sitting in the water. The shark looked to be about 4 feet from tail to dorsal fin, estimate total length about 6 to 7 feet. It thrashed around with the bird for a while, presumbably ate it, then we saw it surface a couple times over about a 10 minute span, then it dissapeared. We all kept surfing."

Alden Harris reported: Alden Harris was swimming South from Will Rogers State Beach for his daily 1.5 - 3 mile swim. It was 9:45 AM when he entered the water. His swim lasted about 60 minutes. The sky was clear with air and water temperatures estimated in the mid-70s and mid-50s Fahrenheit respectively. He stayed within 10 - 15 yards of shore through out the swim. Ocean swells were 2 - 3 feet with water visibility 5 - 10 feet. Harris reports: "I went swimming South from Will Rogers State Beach. I was in the water about one hour. When I finished my swim, I exited the water and walked about 100 yards North to the location where I had observed the two sharks on Saturday. I saw a shark’s dorsal fin about 20 yards from shore. A cresting wave allowed me to see the shark’s silhouette. It was about 7 feet in length with a dorsal fin, 12 - 16 inches. I watched the shark swim around the area for about 5 minutes. I finally went to my car to retrieve my camera and binoculars. When I returned the shark was gone. It did not return. I saw the police helicopter circling the area so it is possible that even though the lifeguards are publicly denying that there were any sharks (seven people confirmed seeing them), privately they're keeping a diligent lookout.”

Christopher Harford reported: "I was at sunset on last wed. the 18th on stand up board. Been surfing the area since the 60's. I saw large shark swim under me and observed it for about a minute. I wanted to describe what i saw in your post on sharks."

Todd reported: "I'm a regular at Sunset and was surfing on Sunday the 15th with Ron, another regular at the point. Around 12:30 or so high tide was slowing things down but it was about to start dropping. There were only a few of us out. Ron and I looked straight out and approximately 100 yards from us we saw a 6-8 ft white shark fully breach head to tail. We stayed still, put our feet up on our boards, and continued surfing until around 3 pm. We saw random movements of water but did not again fully see the shark."

Keith Turner reported: "I was paddling my paddleboard at Sunset Point, slowly going north. When I looked to my left I could see a shark about ten feet away and four feet under water swimming slowly in the same direction. I'm not sure how long he was there before I spotted him, but soon he swam away heading north. I paddled faster to get to the point to warn another surfer who was in the general direction of the shark's path. He didn't seem too concerned, so I went back to surfing. About 10-20 minutes later I was standing still on my board at the point, facing west. I saw a small wave coming towards me and didn't think too much of it. But then I saw a ripple in the middle of the wave that seemed out of place and it was headed straight towards me. I realized the ripple was the tip of the shark's dorsal fin. He kept coming towards me until he got about ten feet away, then swerved and swam off to my left. I used my paddle to smack the water above him, but don't think it did any good. The shark was a little smaller than my paddleboard, which is 10 feet, so I would estimate his size at 8 feet."

Adrienne Salick reported: "I got in the water around 7 am yesterday, Saturday August 16, 2008, with my friend Megan. We had been surfing for about an hour, probably a little more, and we were between the point and the stairs, closer to the point. It was overcast, it was pretty glassy, and the light was such that there was a glare making it more difficult to decipher when a wave was forming. We were chatting and generally enjoying the morning, both keeping a steady eye on the horizon to watch for approaching waves. What I saw next took place rather quickly and took my mind a few seconds to process. At first, I thought I was seeing a dolphin jump clear out of the water, as I often do. I let out an appreciative, "Whoa!" This was quickly followed by a "What the #@!&%$ was that?!" as my subconscious mind replayed the image and started doing the math before my conscious mind could catch up. Too big to be a dolphin. White underbelly. Bright white underbelly, illuminated by the glare of the sun through the overcast sky. Side fins. A rounded-off head - NOT a pointed bottle nose. A huge splash as it landed on its side/back. A quick conference with Megan and the nearby man - yep, we all saw the same thing. That was NOT a dolphin. But we couldn't actually utter the name of the fish we all knew it must be. That was it. It didn't take us long to start paddling to shallower water, more on the inside, gathering a crew of like-minded surfers who had either seen the shark, seen the splash, or acted in response to the palpable fear in the air. A mass exodus from that part of the break, but strangely, not out of the water. We stayed in for at least another 40 minutes, admittedly with our feet on deck and our eyes fearfully scanning for fins and large masses beneath our boards. Lots of nervous and excited chatter - it was quite the bonding experience - followed by jokes about how if we were in the audience of a movie depicting this very scene, we'd be yelling at those stupid surfers to get the hell out of the water! Part of me thought it couldn't have been a shark, it had to be a whale - that's the part that let me stay in the water. But the other part of me, the smarter, more instinctual one, the same one who has seen those videos of sharks jumping out of the water with seals in their jaws, knew what I had seen."

Ian McCullen reported: "Today around 8:15AM just south of the point at Sunset near Gladstones, approx. 10-12 other surfers witnessed a white shark. I myself only saw the whitewash ripples from the shark's reentry. It was described by others as breaching the surface and turning over showing its white under belly. Everyone said it was large approx 10-12 feet. All the surfers stayed in the water but away from that part of the break. Since I saw someone had reported seeing a shark on Shark Research Committee website yesterday, I thought I should give a heads up to everyone heading out tomorrow."

Ben Kopke reported: "My wife, a friend and I were out at Sunset around 6:45 this morning and surfed for about an hour. We stayed close to the point, maybe a third of the way towards the stairs. There were fish jumping when we paddled out, and around 7/7:15ish a dolphin-sized shark breached about a hundred yards outside the lineup. It was definitely not a dolphin; the tail fin was vertical. The belly (which was turned towards us) was white. I can't really describe it much further as it was only out of the water for a split second and never reappeared. Of the three of us I'm the only one who actually saw it midair, the others only saw the splash. We stayed in the water for about thirty more minutes and didn't see anything else. There were no dolphins in the area that we could see. It's possible that the sighting today just put sharks on our brains, but we did also see a fin yesterday around the same time/place. Two dolphins appeared not long after so we wrote it off, but the fin didn't appear to be very dolphin-like."

Dan Burks reported: "Dan Burks was surfing at Santa Monica just South of Bay Street at about 7:45 AM. He reported; ôI donÆt know what kind of shark it was, but I estimate its length at 8 or 9 feet. The back edge of the dorsal fin looked pretty scarred up. It was about 70 yards out from my location. It did not approach me and once submerged I did not see it again. Another surfer also saw the shark but I do not have his name."

Scott reported: "A woman was attacked by a shark on 7/1/07 while she was swimming in front of the Bel Air Bay Club. The shark appeared to be attracted to jewelry the woman was wearing. In particular, the shark went after a ring on her finger and succeeded in removing the ring from her hand, as well causing several lacerations to her hand and arm. It is recommended that you do not wear flashy or shiny jewelery while in the water."

Jonathan reported: Jonathan T. had been surfing for about 2 hours at Topanga. It was overcast with a light variable wind of about 4 knots. The water was 8 – 10 feet deep with a rock and sandy bottom. Jonathan stated: "I saw a dorsal fin about 25 feet away from my position, which was about 75 feet from shore. I watched as the dorsal fin submerged momentarily. I was stationary at the time, sitting on my board. Then it bumped me off my board. I got a good look at it when this happened. It had a dull gray back, whitish underneath, and was easily twice the length of my board, which is 7 feet. It rolled on its side as it bumped me. It felt like I had been side-swiped by a truck. It scraped my leg through my wetsuit, which is now torn. There were approximately 20 other surfers in the area, but nobody would believe me and I was the only person to exit the water, rapidly." If this individual is known to you please contact the Shark Research Committee. A more definitive investigation of this case is required to determine whether this incident should be classified as an encounter or an attack. Juvenile White Sharks are born in the early spring along the Southern California beaches. Adult White Sharks are also known to frequent these beaches as well. Caution should be exercised when utilizing this area for your ocean water activities.

Scott reported: "Ongoing shark sightings have been reported at Will Rogers State Beach, particularly between Temescal Canyon and the Bel Air Bay Club. Occasionally, the sharks have been seen as far west as Lifeguard Tower #4 at Sunset. So far, I am not aware of any sightings west of the tower (please let me know if I am wrong). To my knowledge, the sharks have yet to be observed around the point at Sunset. On May 3, 2004, lifeguards asked all surfers east of the porta potties to exit the water because a pair of sharks had been sighted in the area that were believed to be juvenile White Sharks in excess of 6' in length. Surfers at the point were permitted to continue surfing. The presence of these sharks tends to be correlated with Grunion spawns. The next such spawn is expected between May 6th and 9th. Check the Shark Research Committee website for more details and updates on these sightings."

Scott reported: There have been numerous shark sightings around Sunset in the last couple of months. Some news helicopter pilots have reported seeing a great white measuring 10 feet in length in front of the Bel Air Bay Club. This remains unconfirmed, as the ability of a helicopter pilot to make an accurate judgement of size is questionable. I did speak to Captain Alexander at the Lifeguard Headquarters at Will Rogers State Beach. His recommendation was to calmly and slowly get out of the water if you spot a shark. He advised not to make any sudden movements or do any splashing or thrashing in the water as this attracts the shark's attention. He also said that if a shark does approach, you should lie flat on your board, with no fingers, arms or legs dangling over the edge. If a shark attempts to attack, he recommends trying to punch it in the nose, as this will make it retreat. On a more positive note, he pointed out that sharks in Southern California generally require provoking to want to attack humans. In his experience, he has only seen sharks get violent when baited with blood and fish parts.