Lifeguards Scale Back Shark Patrols
Lifeguards say its business as usual
Everything is back to normal at La Jolla Shores. San Diego Lifeguards have stopped their extra patrols and it back to business as usual.
San Diego Lifeguards had upped patrols for 24 hours, after a kayaker and a lifeguard spotted a Great White Shark just off the coast of La Jolla shores on Sunday.
Lifeguards say the shark was spotted twice, once by a kayaker around 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning and by a lifeguard around 5:00 p.m., said San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Andy Lerum.
"We put lifeguards out on our Jet Ski skis and we warned people," Lerum said. "We brought a rescue boat from Mission Bay and we warned people all the way from La Jolla Cove to Scripps Pier, about two miles of area."
At that time, Lerum said most people decided to get out of the water.
On Monday, lifeguards continued patrolling the coast just off La Jolla Shores warning swimmers and kayakers about the sighting.
San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Andy Lerum said they just wanted to inform people about the sighting and let them make their own decision about getting into the water.
Shark experts at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography say Sunday's sightings are probably not cause for alarm.
"The sharks are normally found on the coast of California, sometimes we spot them," said Nick Wegner, a marine biologist and shark expert. "Most of the time they're there, we just don't see them."
Wegner said humans are not part of the normal food chain for sharks. He said they are targeting prey like seals and sea lions.
Sunday's spotting was the second sighting of a Great White shark in one week. On Tuesday, August 11, a swimmer spotted another Great White at San Onofre State Beach near San Clemente.
