After numerous sightings of one or more great white sharks in the past few weeks at San Onofre State Beach, a surfer was attacked on Sat., July 11. The following report was provided to SurfPulse by the Shark Research Committee:
San Onofre State Beach — On July 11, 2009 Brian Hovnanian and companion Lance E. were Stand Up Paddleboarding at the reef south of Dog Patch, San Onofre State Beach. It was 8:30 AM and they had been on the water 1.5 hours. It was sunny with little or no wind and an air temperature in the low 70s Fahrenheit. The ocean was calm and glassy with water visibility 4–5 feet and a temperature in the upper 60s Fahrenheit. They were about 50 yards from shore over water about 6 feet deep with a sandy, rocky bottom. No marine mammals were observed in the area. Hovnanian reported: “I was paddle surfing at the reef south of Dog Patch, with one other paddle surfer, Lance E. I have had many shark sightings of 5′ to 6′ sharks jumping all of the way out of the water at this same place for the last two months, as I paddle surf there a couple times a week. I had not seen any today and did not see this one coming. We both had just ridden waves in from a nice set. As I was paddling out, my friend was paddling about 30 feet behind me when all of a sudden it felt like something hit the back of my SUP, then slammed into the back of my left calf, forcing me to lose my balance and I fell backwards. The shark was now on top of my SUP and I was lying backwards on top of the shark, as it was on my board. The shark slithered off the board back into the water. This all happened so fast, and I believe when I fell on the shark, it scared it and it tried to get away from the board and me. I still had my paddle in my hand, jumped to my feet on my board and looked at my leg, to notice nothing had happened to my body or board. By now my friend had paddled quickly to me and could not believe what he had just seen right in front of him. He made sure I was OK; luckily I was, then we paddled back out to the line-up and caught a wave from the next set and paddled in thinking how lucky I was. I’m not sure what kind of shark it was, but it did have a gray back and white underside and was about 5 feet in length. It might have been a Mako or White Shark.”
By definition an unprovoked shark attack is “any physical contact between a shark and human, or piece of equipment being utilized by a human, without any known provocative action by the subject which might cause the shark to strike out.” This is the second authenticated unprovoked shark attack for 2009 from the Pacific Coast of North America. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.
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shark wanted to join the sup craze. no biggie
it’s just the sharks way of saying, “what’s sup?”
used to surf there, old mans and lowers. I used to see lots of smallish (2-3 ft) leopard sharks there…also a ton of OC snakes
just wondering….is this the San Onofre down south, just between San Diego and camp Pendelton? and by the way….Stand up paddlers are lame : )
who are you “kimmy”
everyone has a right to surf what they want out there
you should not judge
you have no right
True that! You can’t have a website called “surf love” and then hate on a group of surfers, “kimmy”! Plus giving directions to a local surf spot on your website is not cool! Lets all appreciate surfing and all its different aspects, but not hate other groups nor give spots away on homemade websites.
jeez, I’m sorry if I offended anyone…I was just kidding around. The stand up paddlers just make me laugh a little…
Kimmy, how old are you, 16??
I’ll tell you what’s lame, is you, your website, and more so your art work.
Its people like you that give surfers a bad name.
I don’t stand up paddle, but i have respect for others who enjoy the ocean. No matter how they enjoy it.
So what makes it so lame, and why the hell do you think your so special Kimmy, way cool surfer girl chick.
Work on the art, its lame.
As long as sup’ers stay at SanO (giving directions to secret 60-yr old SanO? haha) and are circled by sharks. They don’t make me laugh, they are lame and dangerous in the lineup of any performance wave. Thank you Sharky-
SUP kooks deserve what they get! Sharks will always go for the slower, weaker prey. Whomever invented SUP’s should be banned from the oceans forever! And don’t tell me about all the hawaiian pros who do it because they can rip on a friggin kitchen table. Anything over 6′2″ isn’t surfing sorry.
whats a SUP??
any sharks in the SAN FRAN BAY AREA THAT YOU GUYS heard or seen? is a SUP a kite with a surfboard? help…i know wat surfing is but it seems like peeps are just inventing weaker versions of surfing becasue a) they suck at real surfing b) they hate to work for the waves they catch
SUP = Stand Up Paddleboard
Notice how the’re not called stand up “surfboards”.
It truly is the lowest form. Spongers can rejoice in the fact that they no longer hold bottom honors.
Maybe the next thing will be 20′foot motorized panga boats in order to make the sections at rincon. That would be great, wouldn’t have to be in the water at all!
That is one cool shark encounter.
Re: artwork. If you do not like someone’s art do not look! Who cares what you think about it? I sure don’t.
The guy’s shark encounter was interesting, and the fact that he SUP’s at San O means he knows which tool to pull out for which job. San O is the perfect spot to SUP. Bodyboarding is the perfect thing to do at a thumping shorebreak. Surfing is good for many other types of breaks. I do all three, plus bodysurf, and so do most real surfers. I’m a grandma too.
So there ya have it, kook whippersnappers. ;-D
Don’t take it to heart Kimmy, none of these people would say such mean things in person. Keyboard ninjas. I think your art is just fine and your cartoons are pretty clever. Keep it up. as far as secret spots go, there aren’t many in Cali. People just get weird about these things–some kind of pack mentality.
I mostly SUP these days. Makes me laugh too. My paddle blades have stickers on them that make them look like brooms. Most versatile water craft I’ve ever found. Surfing, racing in flatwater, downwinders, cruising, fishing, exploring, running whitewater.
Amazing fun. give it a try sometime. Modern SUP surfboards are no longer than your longboards, and many are shorter. I know 200 pound guys who rip on 7″ SUPs. They’re just wider and thicker.
obviously it wanted to be a sweeper as well…
Much of this discussion is why surfers have such a snotty reputation. Can’t we (you) just get along?