KTLACome on in, the water's great! Just try to avoid the giant great white shark!
If you're located in one of the colder regions of these here United States, you may want to stop reading here: It's in the 70s and sunny in Southern California, which is why June Emerson and her son were able to schedule a beach day recently. So unfair! But as they say, life's a beach!
June and 12-year-old Quinn, along with one of Quinn's buddies, went to Manhattan Beach this week, where June took this photo of the boys out in the water on their surfboards. Cute pic!
But ugh, then that great white shark had to photobomb it!
"It was quite a shock to see," Emerson told KTLA.
"Many local surfers and lifeguards have seen this and believe it to be a shark," she continued. "Of course, I told my kids it was dolphin, as we live at the beach and are in the waters here almost daily."
Some do believe this still may be a dolphin: "First note the Caudal fin, it is flat. Great white sharks have a vertical Caudal fin," one commenter on Gawker pointed out. "I actually cannot think of any sharks that have a horizontal Caudal fins."
"Dolphins on the other hand, do have a horizontal Caudal fin. Also note the shallow slope on the dorsal fin, similar to a dolphins. Sharks typically have a more pronounced Dorsal fin."
This wouldn't be the first great white sighting near Manhattan Beach though. Paddleboarder Jay Dohner recently filmed three great white sharks swimming near El Porto and told The Los Angeles Times, "The sharks didn't seem to be paying me any attention."
Dohner continued, "They looked like they were looking for fish, so I felt I could stand there safely and watch them...There are two different things in your head: ‘Wow, that's beautiful' and ‘We should get out of here.'"
The Times explains how the shark sightings may be a good thing:
Experts have noticed an increase in shark sightings off beaches in Manhattan, Redondo and Ventura over the last few years. That may be alarming for some, but it's a welcome development for wildlife researchers who say it's a sign of a healthy rebound for marine life after California legislators prohibited the use of gill nets for fishing in 1990.
The ocean is a mystery! A sometimes terrifying, occasionally traumatizing mystery!