Leopard shark -- Photo by Neal Matthews
There’s talk that never before have so many leopard sharks congregated off the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. That would be strange if true. (And it probably isn’t, according to local marine biologists.) This species (Triakis semifasciata) is known for showing up en masse when the water is warmest — typically July through September. But the temperatures right now are bouncing around in the low 60s, a full ten degrees lower than they were running last year at this time.
Still I can report it wasn’t hard to find the local leopards when I stepped into the surf with two friends earlier this week. We’d left our towels and car keys on the sand just north of the club, then walked to the south end and entered the water there. Snorkeling out beyond the breakers, we saw nothing for a while and feared we might be out of luck. Instead we were just out too far. When we moved landward, the ghostly shapes began emerging. Leopard sharks are bottom feeders (and have the harmless mouthgear adapted for that), so most of the ones we spotted cruised close to the white sandy bottom. They’re also shy. But a few times a sharkish shape emerged from the fog closer to my eye level, and each time that happened, my rational brain went offline, replaced by a tiny atavistic frisson of nerves.
We could only see for about 10 feet in any direction, and the biggest cluster that ever surrounded me consisted of no more than 6 or 8 animals — nothing like the concentration captured by the chopper-borne NBC 7/39 photographer a few weeks ago. Still, I felt awed and grateful for my close, if less crowded, encounter with these alien beings who have their own, if mysterious, reasons for heading to the beach in La Jolla in the summertime.
Yeah, I’d have a flight reaction with one.