Posted by DeepScuba on August 26, 2003 at 11:02:20:
In Reply to: Re: LA Times shark story posted by . on August 22, 2003 at 15:17:21:
GWSs migrate south this time of year, Aug thru Dec, along the coast, from the Farralons offshore from northern Calif.
Not a good time to go spearfishing.
Not a good time to go surfing.
Definitely not a good time to go swimming among faster moving seals and sea lions, even though that might seem exhilirating and back to nature. To a GWS, a human swimmer looks like a slow, tired, sickly animal. And thats what they eat.
There have not been any GWS sightings in the Santa Cruz area or north, lately, except at Stinson Beach, in Marin, where there had been a couple of sightings during springtime. Lately being defined as the past 6 months.
GWS sightings along the far north coast are even more rare, the last one involving a lone surfer a few years ago.
Our friend NorCalDiver sighted a small one himself on a scuba dive once about a decade ago. As far as I know, he is the only scuba diver who has actually seen a GWS underwater during a scuba dive in the entire State of Calif.
The current sightings along the south central coast seem to fit the pattern of annual-migrational.
Good time to take a vacation to the far north coast. Vis is still low in most places, however, this time of year, and will not clear up until September, which is not that far away.
Abalone freediving is good this time of year along the far north coast. It will be better in September, when you might actually be able to see a few abs from the surface, on a calm flat day.
Why scuba divers rarely see GWSs is unexplained. Maybe the sound of the air bubbles from the open circuit scuba scares the sharks, as it seems to scare dolphins. Pure speculation on my part, however.