SAN DIEGO—
Lifeguards have issued a warning Monday after witnesses reported seeing a shark swimming close to the coastline of La Jolla on Sunday.On Sunday, a kayaker reported seeing a gray and white shark, it had a triangle shaped fin, and the body was must larger than his kayak. Three lifeguards also reported seeing the shark 50 yards off the shore near a group of swimmers.
"Every year there are shark sightings. The difference this year is that lifeguards observed this one very close to shore, near an area frequented by bathers," said Lt. Andy Lerum of the San Diego Lifeguards.
Great whites tend to migrate along Southern California during the summer, according to officials.
Lifeguards have not closed any beaches along San Diego's coastline due to the reported sightings. Although, they advised water goers to swim with a partner, avoid early morning and late evening water activities, and steer clear of areas where seals swim.
"You always keep an eye out there,'" said Jeff Rademacher, a veteran surfer. "I really don't know of anything else you can really do."
The warnings along a roughly two-mile-long stretch of shoreline from La Jolla Cove to Scripps Pier will cease Tuesday, unless more sharks are sighted, he said.
"We want to give people a chance to make their own informed decisions about what we saw,'' Wurts said.
The most recent local fatal shark attack occurred April 25, 2008, when a great white killed 66-year-old retired North County veterinarian David Martin as he swam with fellow members of a triathlon club near Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach.
The advisory was announced about a week after a surfer captured video of a baby great white shark off the coast of San Onofre State Beach.
