On November 2, 2005 Jeremy Handysides was surfing at Doran Beach near Bodega, about 1 mile South of Salmon Creek. It was 9:30 AM and he had been in the water about 40 minutes. Sean Trace was on the beach filming Handysides and several other surfers. The sky was overcast with a 10 - 20 mph wind causing white caps on the 2 - 4 foot swells. The depth of the water was 6 - 10 with a sandy bottom. There were more than two dozen pelicans diving on schools of fish out beyond the surfers.

Sean Trace recounted: “My friend, Jeremy Handysides, was out waiting for waves while I was on the shore filming for him. He had surfed a couple good sets and was sitting, staring out at the horizon of the open sea, when about 25 feet to his left a 2-foot high dorsal fin appeared in front of him and to his left. An unidentified surfer next to Jeremy also saw the shark. The shark was coming straight at Jeremy pretty aggressively and he was lucky enough to catch a quick wave in to the shore. We yelled to the other surfers in the area and they came ashore. Doran is a shore break so they were only about 30 - 40 feet out from the shore so they were all able to make it in safely. The White Shark was about 10 feet in length and dark grey. We were able to get everyone out of the water and notified the park ranger. On our way back home we stopped at a local surf shop and they told us that about a week earlier some people had actually gotten footage of a 10-foot white shark feeding on a seal carcass in between Doran and Bodega point.”

White Sharks are known to frequent the area around Salmon Creek and Bodega Bay. Caution should be exercised when utilizing this location for your ocean water activities. Please report any shark sighting, encounter or attack to the Shark Research Committee.