Friday, August 26, 2011

San Diego beach closed again after another shark sighting

 











Hours after a two-mile stretch of beach in San Diego was reopened Friday morning for swimmers, a surfer spotted another great white shark and lifeguards closed the beach again.

Authorities are searching for the shark and say Mission Beach may remain closed another 24 hours.

On Thursday, a lifeguard spotted the dorsal fin of a great white shark. It was protruding about 18 inches out the water about 100 yards from the beach. A shark with a fin that size would probably be 12 to 15 feet long, lifeguards said.

A search by lifeguard boats and a San Diego fire and rescue helicopter failed to find the shark.

Lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma said that swimmers sometimes mistake dolphins for sharks but that the Thursday sighting was from a veteran lifeguard who was within 30 yards of the creature. "He's a very credible source," he said.

Shark sightings are unusual but not unprecedented off Mission Beach. A more common spot for sharks is the water off La Jolla, possibly because the sharks are drawn by the seals that lounge on the beach.

ALSO:

Shark fin ban in California clears key Senate vote

LAPD officer stabbed, suspect killed in Wilmington

Lenny Dykstra indecent-exposure charges tied to Craigslist ads

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Video: KSWB-TV Channel 5

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment

Comment