Updated May 1.
A shark interaction has been reported in California.
An unidentified male was surfing off Moonlight Beach in Encinitas April 30.
The young man was in about 8 feet of water off C street and Moonlight Lane around 5:45 p.m. when a shark and a stingray began to circle.
“He wasn’t sure if he kicked or bumped it [the shark], and then he turned around and paddled to the beach,” Larry Jiles, the Marine Safety Captain for Encinitas said.
“I would call it more of a bump, or an aggressive act,” adding that the shark “It didn’t bite.”
A woman, who was identified as the teen’s mother, said the interaction with the shark torn her son’s wetsuit and a stingray injured his right ankle.
The 16-year-old left the water on his own power and alerted lifeguards, who administered first aid and began shutting down the beach. Paramedics took the man to Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas for treatment of minor injuries.
A stretch of beach one mile north and one mile south has been closed due to the incident but should reopen today.
It is very likely that the shark was chasing the stingray, which was attempting to use the teen as cover. However, there could be several more contributing factors to the incident.
One is red tide, which darkens the water and lowers visibility. Like humans, shark use their eyes to help determine if an item is prey. If they can not see well, they may come closer to investigate an object.
The second is the time of the incident. As the sun begins to fade, visibility in the water also begins to diminish.
A third factor is birthing season for great white sharks. The adult mothers, who normally wouldn’t be in the area, sometimes come to the shallower waters to give birth.
This is the first shark incident reported in California this year. It may be possible there may be more shark sightings as beaches that have been closed due to the Cornavirus reopen.
The location of the incident has been marked on the 2020 Shark Attack Map.
