Santa Cruz County Area Shark Population Explodes, Study Finds

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — The great white shark population near Santa Cruz County has unexpectedly and suddenly exploded in recent years, researchers said in a report months after a fatal shark attack in local waters.

The number of young Monterey Bay great white sharks increased dramatically from 2014 to 2019 on the heels of a marine heat wave in 2014 to 2016, according to a study published Tuesday by researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, California State University, Long Beach and Duke University. The Monterey County side of the bay does not appear to have been quite as impacted.

Young great whites are typically found in the warmer waters of Southern California but have more recently been observed along the state's Central Coast. Researchers found that the SoCal habitat for young great whites has apparently shrunk as a mass of cool water now separates the Central Coast and SoCal shark habitats.

Seven months ago, local surfer and surfboard shaper Ben Kelly, 26, died after a shark bit his knee while he surfed the waters off Manresa State Beach in the Aptos area.

Researchers found a higher concentration of great whites near Aptos. A drone photo in the report showed six sharks swimming in the area known locally as "Shark Park."

In the summer of 2015, Cal State Long Beach researchers found great white sharks were lingering in SoCal instead of returning to Mexico, possibly because of warming temperatures in the region.

Read: 'Summer of the Shark' May Not End

The northward move of great whites "is significant as it creates potential conflicts with commercial fisheries, protected species conservation, and public safety concerns," researchers wrote.

Read the full report here.