Man swims with great white shark off Manhattan Beach Pier

When Eric Martin spotted two great white sharks Friday from the Manhattan Beach Pier, he set out to do what he has always wanted to do: swim with the apex predators.

First he put on a wetsuit, grabbed his mask and a long pole he said would be "my defense" if either of the sharks became too aggressive.

Then Martin waded into the surf and swam to an area alongside the middle of the South Bay pier, where people were gazing down at the sharks.

Visibility was poor but the larger shark, measuring about 9 feet, made a pass directly beneath Martin. He could only make out its tail.

Then the same shark made a closer pass alongside Martin.

He said he could see in vivid detail its gill slits, the different shading of its skin and, of course, a slightly open mouth bristling with razor-sharp teeth.

Then, with a few kicks of its tail, the shark disappeared into deeper water.

Unfortunately, Martin did not have his GoPro camera handy. But the accompanying image, shot with a camera phone by a pier visitor named Dani Baker, shows how close Martin was to  the shark.

"You can't really tell the size from the pier because you're 30-35  feet up," Martin said. "Let me tell you, they are girthy when you see them up-close."

Why would Martin, a married father of one, take such a risk?

To prove a point, sort of. Martin is not some nut off the street.

He's co-director of the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium at the end of the pier. He has seen dozens of white sharks from the pier, many times swimming near unsuspecting surfers.

Southern California waters are home to juvenile white sharks–those measuring to about 12 feet–for much of the year. They feed on fish, and if they posed a serious threat to surfers and swimmers, attacks would occur frequently.

Even adult white sharks, which feed largely by ambushing seals and sea lions with upward strikes, will not generally attack a diver simply because a diver is in the water with them.

Divers have been free-swimming with great whites for the past few years, so far without incident, at Guadalupe Island off Baja California, and at other white shark-diving locations.

So Martin proved his point. But mostly, he said, he satisfied his curiosity.

"I've always wanted to do that and it was so awesome," he said. "But I wish I would have had the GoPro."

–Photo courtesy of Dani Baker

Comments

[drudown]

Ps. another anecdote I gleaned from the shark encounter off Osprey Reef derived from a special on TV about how researchers had been wrangling the local Whitetip Reef shark population to insert tracking devices, et al. (enter sobbing housewife in bathrobe voice: "how could I know?")…and I wondered if the seemingly abrupt and unnecessary chomping motion (a la Basic Instinct) of the shark in my direction was triggered by (ahem) past molestation.

But like all victims, pelagic sharks and tortfeasors take them as they find them. Seems unwise to force an encounter based on the behavior exhibited by White sharks at Guadalupe Island. I remember thinking most of the White sharks were quite docile and definitely in "free meal at the Cafeteria" mode. Well, and I was so blown away at how fast they were when sneaking in, displacing the dominant White shark.

"okay, this is where you tell me that they are related to Mako sharks, right?" - Johnny Utah

"They're semi-warm blooded like tuna, maybe their favorite fish to eat- isn't it wild? Say, let's swim from cage to cage. It's the perfect opportunity, man." - Bodhi, 'Point Break'

[whoosh.]

As for undersea pier viewing, well, not sure everyone wants to force an "encounter" with ANY generalist feeder White shark- say, one that was bit by a more dominant shark at the White Shark Cafe ("step aside, son") or that was just hooked off San Onofre still in shock or, perhaps worst still, a 10ft shark that just went on one of its first migrations to the open sea…feeding?

Er,

unsuccessfully.

"After the event, even the fool is wise." - Viscount Symonds

[drudown]

Uh, I remember the "excitement" of following a "harmless" Whitetip Reef shark on a night dive off Osprey Reef, Australia…and what did I learn from the shark's aggressive response? [i.e., 'chomp chomp' at my torch]

"never follow a predator"

Well, without factoring in the possibility that it might bite before flight response accrues.

Just saying.

Moreover, the "theory" that 9 ft White sharks "only eat fish" sounds like an unfounded assumption. Certainly 19ft White sharks "still eat fish"…so perhaps the alleged "dietary shift" between fish and pinnipeds is more overstated than commonly believed. Certainly juvenile White sharks have been directly implicated in multiple instances of shark attacks in Australia (e.g., 2008-2009)

Above all, the notion that the behavior of White sharks under baited conditions at Guadalupe Island is in any way a reliable indicia of how this White shark would react? Not very sound Sociobiology.

[Bren]

Its got the wrong shape head for a great white its got an elongated nose like a dolphin!