Great White Shark Sightings Continue Off Orange County
SUNSET BEACH (CBSLA.com) — An increasing number of great white shark sightings have caused some beach closures in Orange County.
Miles of beach at Sunset Beach and Huntington Beach will be closed until Saturday after a 12-foot great white was spotted about 300 yards off shore this morning. Signs have been posted to warn swimmers.
Video of the capture of a another great white shark, being yanked up on to the Huntington Beach Pier by a group of fisherman, could be a crime and now state fish and wildlife wardens are investigating.
The video was shot Tuesday evening and was streamed live on Facebook.
Huntington Beach lifeguards say they saw it for the first time today.
"As soon as they have a visual of the fish on the surface and they determine that it's not legal to fish for, they need to cut the line right way," said Lt. Claude Panis, a safety officer with the Huntington Beach Marine Patrol.
Great white sharks are a protected species. A fish and wildlife spokesman says there's good chance the shark -- between 5-6 feet long -- died from it's injuries. Witnesses said the fishermen tossed the shark back into the water. It is unclear if the shark was alive at the time.
Mike Hefner, was on the pier taking the video. He told Gile the fishermen caught the shark and then tried to bring it up in a net but it was too big. They then decided to pull it up using a large rope and a hook called a gaff. Once on the pier they posed for a photo..
It was quite a different scene a few hours earlier with another white shark a few miles away in Sunset Beach. It was recorded on a GoPro camera.
A local fisherman hooked a 7-8 foot shark, immediately recognized that it was great white and cut the line. The footage shows him and a friend dragging the shark's tail to get it back into the water.
