The USA Surfing Championships was put on pause Wednesday after a shark jumped out of the water near San Clemente, California.
The Orange County Register reports the shark was spotted breaching the ocean waters near the young surfers competing at the Lower Trestles, the northernmost coastline of San Diego County, just south of San Clemente.
California State Parks issued a shark-sighting advisory.
USA Surfing President Andrea Swayne said in a statement that the competition continued after lifeguard boats monitored the water.
Shark Lab director Chris Lowe says the juvenile shark was 6 to 8 feet long.
Lowe says the shark might have jumped out of the water to get itchy copepods off it.
Local
In April 2017, a North County San Diego woman was attacked by a 10-foot great white shark at a surf spot near Trestles called Church. Leeanne Ericson lost a section of her upper right leg and suffered significant blood loss.
Shark sightings off the Southern California coast have increased in recent years. One local expert suggested the uptick was due to a change in legislation that banned near-shore nets, which were frequent killers of young sharks.
