Young sharks seen just feet from unsuspecting swimmers, California drone videos show

A compilation of drone videos shows young sharks peacefully swimming near unsuspecting surfers, swimmers and other beachgoers along the California coastline.

“We’re in their nursery all the time and we are able to share the waves,” said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, according to The Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Shark Lab graduate student Patrick Rex compiled hours of footage for his thesis on juvenile shark behavior, assisted by student Samantha Johnson, the publication reported.

The video, set to soothing music, shows clips of dozens of close, but peaceful, encounters between young sharks and nearby beachgoers along the California coast.

Swimmers, surfers, paddle-boarders and others enjoy the ocean blissfully unaware of the young sharks under the water sometimes just feet away, the video shows.

“It’s amazing how things change when you put different music to it, your perspective changes, they become graceful like dolphins,” Lowe said, reported The Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Juvenile white sharks, which range from 4.5 to 10 feet in length, form loose groups along the coastline, using it as a nursery, the video says.

The young sharks shown in the drone videos don’t appear especially interested in the nearby swimmers or other beachgoers.

In some of the clips, the sharks flee when humans get too close. The video notes that young sharks often make way for larger sharks.

“Remember, the ocean is their home,” the video says, warning that people should always assume sharks are present along the coast.

The lab released the video as a counterpoint to the Discovery Channel’s upcoming Shark Week and National Geographic’s SharkFest, which recently kicked off, according to The Long Beach Press-Telegram.

“With Shark Week, everything is about anxiety, drama and threat,” Lowe said, the publication reported. “This is the opposite. They are just another animal out sharing the environment.”

The videos are part of a two-year project examining the rising number of encounters between sharks and humans off the California coastline, Scientific American reported.

“We’re already seeing a lot of activity, more than we’ve seen in some of the past years,” Lowe said, according to the publication. “This year is looking to be a big season.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Young sharks seen just feet from unsuspecting swimmers, California drone videos show."