Surfers, lifeguards in Cayucos report multiple recent shark sightings

Several residents and lifeguards in Cayucos have seen sharks just within the past week.

“There seems to be more activity because everybody is seeing them and it’s kind of concerning,” said Dave Gibson, Cayucos resident.

Several surfers have had some close encounters with a shark recently while in the water off the coast of Cayucos. Kelly Stewart, a local surfer, saw one on Tuesday.

“I saw a fin coming at me and I knew exactly what it was because I saw them before,” Stewart said.

Gibson, also a local surfer, says he saw one a few days prior.

“I had one swim up next to me and it was as long as my long board and it was a dark gray color, and it was near the surface and not moving much,” he said.

Gibson says he was eating lunch last week near the Cayucos pier and heard something being said over the loudspeaker at the lifeguard tower.

“They had announced that there was a shark in the water and to enter at your own risk,” Gibson said.

“Just last week, a lifeguard mentioned that she saw a shark when we were doing a junior guard activity in the water, so we pulled everyone out of the water and announced it to the beach,” said Chloe Phillips, head lifeguard for Cayucos beach.

Phillips, who has been lifeguarding for around 8 years, says she had her own encounter just a day ago.

“Outside of work I was out surfing near the rock in Morro Bay, and I saw a shark there,” Phillips said.

Tom Craig, who has been a resident of Cayucos for 50 years and surfs regularly, saw a shark just a few days ago.

“They do seem like they are coming in closer to the shore. We’ve had them come right up next to us and they’ll turn around and swim away but then they come back 30 seconds later,” Craig said.

County Parks and the Morro Bay Harbor Department said so far, they have not received any reports from people notifying them of shark sightings.

“Typically, we do see them a little later in summer, more in August. It is a little untypical to see so many sharks this early in the season,” Phillips said.

Dr. Christopher G. Lowe from the Department of Biological Sciences Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach says it is a little early for the great white sharks to show up in Central Coast waters as they're mostly seen from August through February.

Lowe says the great white sharks are looking for elephant seals, mainly elephant seal pups who were just weaned and therefore easier targets. He says we are arriving into the season when we tend to see more great whites and people going into the water should be aware of their surroundings, especially in an area where there are seals.

Phillips suggests that if you do happen to see a shark in the water, notify the nearest lifeguard or the nearest water rescue agency like the harbor department.