This is Shark Week 2023, and because I still try to get in the ocean at least once a week I think it’s important to keep up to date on our understanding of the most fearsome apex predator of them all, the great white shark. As a prelude to Shark Week, I caught an episode of “When Sharks Attack” which tried to determine the cause of a series of four attacks in LA in 2007. Two of their theories, both unproven, hit close to home for me at Bolinas and Salmon Creek (Bodega Bay).
Although we don’t like to think about it, there have been shark attacks at both Salmon Creek and Bolinas. In fact, two years ago on the morning of Sunday October 3rd my brother and I were going to surf Salmon Creek, but the waves at Ocean Beach in San Francisco looked better so we went there instead. We had been surfing Salmon Creek on Sunday mornings regularly, and we would have been catching our first waves when the shark attacked a surfer. It definitely could have been us, and I stayed away from Salmon Creek up until the past few months.
Salmon Creek has a toxic algae problem. There are warning signs posted in the parking lot, and two weeks ago when we surfed there the white water in front of the creek was actually curry yellow. It was pretty sick, and we tried to stay away from the yellow stuff. I’ve seen brown white water before, which is equally gross, but never yellow. Circling back to the shark show, one of their theories was that the dioxins from toxic algae might have caused confusion in the LA sharks, and they could have more easily mistaken surfers for seals and sea lions. Other sea life like seals and sea lions have been confused by dioxin exposure, so why not sharks? It wasn’t a comforting idea, but at least they didn’t prove it. I think the toxic algae is more dangerous to us than sharks anyway, and in fact I recently contracted an infection in my shoulder which might have been caused by the foul water.
One of the other unproven theories was that large runs on bait fish, in particular grunions in LA, were causing increased activity throughout the food chain. This summer we’ve seen a lot of activity in the air at Bolinas, with large flocks of pelicans dive bombing the waters, feasting on anchovy runs. If there are lots of anchovies present, then there are lots of larger fish feeding on anchovies. And what’s feeding on the larger fish? Seals, which are great meals for sharks. There is a sizeable seal colony in the Bolinas lagoon, which is likely to attract predators. Indeed I found a half eaten porpoise on the Bolinas beach a few weeks ago, along with whale bones. This summer during one surf session I watched a seal just beyond the surf line munching and playing with a salmon as the pelicans swooped around us. I had never seen a seal play around with a salmon like that, and I wondered if toxic algae had anything to do with the seals unusual behavior? It was quite unnerving, because that’s like chumming the water. I was thinking, just eat it already! Stop playing around before you attract unwanted attention!
Surfing can be a dangerous sport. Personally, I find it safer than riding a bike or skateboard, because I’d much rather fall in the ocean than on a trail or the cement. It does get pretty spooky in the water though. What’s most comforting are the odds. Bolinas can be very crowded, with anywhere from 50-100 surfers in the water surfing the breaks from Seadrift up to the Patch. Likewise, Salmon Creek on the weekends, which is mostly when I surf there, often will have at least a couple of dozen surfers in the water. I’ve heard of crowds in the 50-100 range there as well. Even with the dioxins and food chain activity, I feel relatively safe in the water. But I always keep my eyes open for sharks, because they are there. I have seen them while surfing, and I usually get out of the water when I do. Unless the waves are good and the shark is swimming away from me.