October 12, 2021

Hi Shark People!

I wanted to share what we have seen so far at the beginning of this shark season. So far the weather and sea state have allowed us to go look for sharks at Tomales Point. From these outings, we can already tell that this season is different than last season. First, there are actually sharks here this season. Last season, we did not record an observation of a shark off Tomales Point until the end of November, which was extremely unusual. Secondly, the sharks we have seen so far are all sub-adults. Sub-adults are sexually immature sharks that have recruited to this area along the California coast from Ano Nuevo Island to Tomales Point to begin to feed on sea lions and harbor seals. They are the smaller sharks we see and range from about 7-12ft in length. However, we have yet to see any adult sharks, which is interesting as it is atypical for this area. We will see what happens as we progress through the season!

Here is a shot of little guy (8ft) that is new to our database. Notice the beautiful blue in the iris of the eye. Contrary to the movie 'Jaws', they do not have black, lifeless eyes like a doll!

Paul