Lifeguards Doubt Sunset Cliffs Shark Sighting

An hour after a tourist reported seeing a shark off Point Loma, lifeguards said they do not consider the report to be a confirmed shark sighting.

Around 9 a.m. Thursday, San Diego police officers said they received a call reporting a dorsal fin spotted in the 1200-block of Sunset Cliffs.

A Kentucky woman, here visiting her sister and brother-in-law, was looking out at the ocean when she spotted a dorsal fin making a wake.

She asked a man standing nearby to check out the fin with his binoculars and they followed the fin as it moved around one area "quite a ways" off shore she said.

The area is in between two popular surf locations. Close to an hour after the reported sighting, surfers were still in the water.

After previous sightings, lifeguards told NBC 7 San Diego that it's standard procedure to shut down a beach for one mile in both directions after confirmation of a shark sighting.

Lifeguards patrolled the area in a boat however as of 10:30 a.m., lifeguards said they were not treating the report as a confirmed shark sighting because it was spotted by a tourist who was a half mile away.

The Sunset Cliffs sighting was the fourth report of a shark off San Diego's coast since Mission Beach was closed last week.

Timeline:

Aug. 25: Lifeguards closed a two-mile portion of Mission Beach after one lifeguard spotted what may have been a great white shark about 100 yards off shore.

Aug. 26: A second shark sighting in two days shut down Mission Beach after a longtime surfer spotted a dorsal fin measuring about 14 inches.

Aug. 31: Two boogie boarders were among those who reported a shark near the La Jolla Children's Pool. A two-mile stretch from Hospital Point to Emerald Cove, including La Jolla Cove was closed.

Keep up to date on breaking news: Follow us on Twitter @nbcsandiego, fan us on Facebook, sign up for our breaking news e-mail alerts or text SDBREAKING to 622339 to receive text messages for local breaking news. (Standard rates apply)

Contact Us