\u201cWe\u2019re already seeing a high number of white sharks,\u201d said Dr Chris Lowe, the director of the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach. \u201cWe started seeing baby white sharks in February, which we\u2019ve never seen before. Usually that happens in April.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s one major reason why: El Ni\u00f1o. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) confirmed the formation of the climate phenomenon in the Pacific in early June. El Ni\u00f1o can cause worldwide impacts, including heatwaves, drought, heavy rainfall and extreme weather, and science agencies have said this year\u2019s could be incredibly strong<\/a>.<\/p>\n For fish and ocean life, sharks included, warmer oceans can cause mass migrations<\/a> with cold water species moving from their usual ranges further north, or into deeper waters.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery El Ni\u00f1o is not the same; each one is unique with its own imprint on our weather,\u201d Ken Graham, the director of Noaa\u2019s National Weather Service, said last month.<\/p>\n It gets too warm and the \u2018white sharks don\u2019t like it\u2019<\/p>\n Lowe said the last time conditions seemed to match those that are forming in the Pacific, it was a sharky time for California.<\/p>\n His team at the CSULB Shark Lab have been tagging and tracking juvenile great whites for 20 years. In 2015 \u2013 an El Ni\u00f1o year that coincided with a marine heatwave known as the \u201cBlob\u201d<\/a> \u2013 the lab saw \u201ctwice as many white sharks\u201d along the California coast \u201cand we couldn\u2019t figure out why\u201d. A few years later, on a trip to Baja California, a known white shark nursery, Lowe heard that fishers had seen almost no sharks in Mexico\u2019s waters that summer.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we have these El Ni\u00f1o conditions, it gets too warm, and the white sharks don\u2019t like it,\u201d Lowe said. \u201cAnd it pushes them into California.\u201d<\/p>\n Cal State Long Beach\u2019s Shark Beach Safety Team. Photograph: Sean DuFrene\/CSULB Shark Lab<\/p>\n Adult white sharks are called great for a reason: they\u2019re massive. Full-grown specimens range in size from 10 to 20ft in length. But most of those off California\u2019s coastline are juveniles.<\/p>\n White sharks are born as live young at about 5ft in length. A juvenile is classified as any shark between 6ft and 9ft from snout to tail. The younger sharks spend much of their time closer to shore migrating between areas with shallower waters, where ample food is available. Stingrays, fish and squid are all on the menu.<\/p>\n Lowe says California waters will probably host a few more visitors than just white sharks while the water\u2019s warm, too.<\/p>\n A shark being tagged. Photograph: CSULB Shark Lab<\/p>\n In 2015, a big influx of smooth hammerhead sharks came up from Baja California, following schools of mahi mahi. Whole suites of subtropical species \u2013 the food source for great whites \u2013 replaced the usual populations of squid, anchovies and sardines and provided an El Ni\u00f1o buffet just off the coast of southern California.<\/p>\n \u201cI expect any day we\u2019re going to start seeing hammerheads,\u201d Lowe said, adding he wouldn\u2019t be surprised to also see some bull sharks and tiger sharks in the fray.<\/p>\n Wildlife officials move to limit interactions between humans and sharks<\/p>\n Local officials have already taken measures to protect both sharks and beachgoers. The California department of fish and wildlife said it was \u201canticipating a larger presence of white sharks\u201d. The body passed emergency regulations last month<\/a> to prohibit the use of certain fishing gear at beaches and on piers to limit any accidental hooking of white sharks.<\/p>\n The species are fully protected in California and it\u2019s illegal to catch them<\/a>.<\/p>\n But John Ugoretz, a pelagic fisheries and ecosystems program manager at the state\u2019s fish and wildlife department, said that hasn\u2019t stopped people from trying. Modern fishing equipment presents a major danger to swimmers and surfers, with a powerful shark snared on a metallic line creating the potential to \u201cbecome like a cheese cutter\u201d that could decapitate a person, Lowe says.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen already this year is a pretty significant increase in people interacting with those white sharks in southern California in particular,\u201d Ugoretz said. \u201cThat includes people fishing for white sharks.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784039477_634_500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n