Just keep swimming: SoCal study shows sharks, humans can share ocean peacefully

By STEFANIE DAZIO
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Researchers at California State University, Long Beach, used drones to study juvenile white sharks along the Southern California coastline and how close they swim to humans in the water. Turns out, it’s pretty close. That’s according to the university’s Shark Lab, whose researchers published their findings Friday. There were no reported shark bites in any of the 26 beaches surveyed between January 2019 and March 2021. The juvenile sharks mostly congregated in two spots and swam near humans on 97% of the days surveyed in those areas. The sharks often swam within 50 yards of the wave breaks — closest to surfers and stand-up paddle boarders.