Season for big sharks

When does the season start for big sharks?

Once the water starts to stay in the 60s you will see them around. Sometimes end of May, or June. When you are offshore, you really need to look for a temp break. That slightly warmer water makes all the difference.

I would say middle of June, depends on the temps, but in NJ the Rezor Wreck and Glory Hole are early season spots to check.

Beware!

California suffered its first deadly attack by a great white shark in almost 50 years yesterday when a swimmer was killed 50m from a popular beach near San Diego as he took part in a triathlon training session.

David Martin, a 66-year-old retired veterinarian, was swimming with a group around 22km north of San Diego early on Friday when the shark attacked. Kilometres of beach were closed off for the weekend as a search for the shark was launched.

"They were swimming and the victim apparently yelled 'Shark,' or words to that effect, and the witnesses that were in the water apparently saw him actually being lifted out of the water and dragged under," said Lieutenant Phil Brust, a spokesperson for the San Diego county sheriff's department. "They went to his aid and dragged him on to the beach, where he succumbed to his injuries."

The mayor of Solana Beach, Joe Kellejian, urged residents to heed warnings from officials: "We don't want people to panic. We do want them listen public safety officials."

The attack took place shortly after 7am. Martin had reportedly been separated from the group he was swimming with near an area known as Fletcher Cove off Solana Beach. He was said to have been bitten on both legs, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The attack is the first fatal incident involving a great white in California since 1959. The last reported shark attack in the area was in 2004, when a man was attacked north of San Francisco.

Authorities closed a 27km stretch of beach until Monday morning while coast guard helicopters conducted a search for the shark.

Officials speculated that the shark was a 3,6m to 5m great white, possibly a female that had ventured south to give birth.

"It's typical great white shark behaviour to attack from below, take a bit and then go away," Richard Rosenblatt, a shark expert from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Oceanside, California, told reporters at the scene.

"We think this is case of mistaken identity. Great white sharks look for silhouettes from the bottom of the ocean, and often attack seals."

Rosenblatt said the attack was unusual because the water was only 6m-9m deep and the ocean was sandy on the bottom. Sharks normally attack in areas with a rocky seabed, he said.

Brust said that there had been no reported sightings of sharks in the recent past. "We know it's the ocean and there are sharks out there, but no one can remember this ever happening and it's just a shock to the community," he said. "Everybody's thinking about the movie Jaws."

I think voyager said it best, has a lot to do with the gulfstream current. Also, I think once the water temps are too high, they look for cooler water, so it pays to watch for those temperature breaks.