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<\/p>\nTracking sharks off the California coast is a full-time job. One program that does that is on the brink of losing its funding, even as they want to help track sharks during the 2028 Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n
The Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach recently announced a plea for private contributions to fund another year of research and data collection focused on keeping the public safe.<\/p>\n
The plan leading up to the 2028 Summer Olympics is to create a tracking system specific enough to share real-time monitoring information with local lifeguards through state-of-the-art autonomous boat and drone technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are going to be Olympic events in Long Beach Harbor, down in San Clemente \u2013 there are white sharks in all those places,\u201d said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab, highlighting the importance of the tools not only for athletes, but for the public also visiting from all over the world.<\/p>\n
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\u201cLifeguards will be scrambling for monitoring data, and they won\u2019t have it if we run out of money,\u201d Lowe explained.<\/p>\n
In 2019, the lab\u2019s Shark Safety program began after it received nearly $4 million from the state to set up a research program to tag white sharks and use drones to monitor them from the air, while using new EDNA technology to measure their presence in the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat money was scheduled to last 5 years; we made it last 6,\u201d Lowe said. \u201cLast year we tried to get state money back, but we were told \u2018the budget\u2019s too bad, we can\u2019t fund you this year.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
State Sen. Tony Strickland of Huntington Beach put in a request this year for $1.7 million in NOAA funding. \u201cThe funds requested for FY 2026\u201327 represents the immediate need to prevent program reductions as existing funding expires and to maintain continuity of operations,\u201d said Strickland in his budget request. The lab\u2019s annual operating budget is around $1 million, and the hope was that the extra funding could expand the program to Monterey Bay.<\/p>\n
Since Strickland\u2019s request was denied from this year\u2019s budget, the lab\u2019s funding is set to run out in September. Going a year without funding would be detrimental to the program\u2019s support system, Lowe said. He says half of the budget goes toward the salaries and training of highly experienced and educated technicians, required to keep the program moving.<\/p>\n
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The lab monitors sharks up and down the California coastline.<\/p>\n
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Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab<\/p>\n
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Roughly $700,000 worth of equipment is set up in the ocean, monitoring around 260 white sharks from Morro Bay to San Diego. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of money in the water that we have to constantly maintain and download\u2026 but it provides huge amounts of data, and we share that data with everybody,\u201d said Lowe.<\/p>\n
Lowe is also worried about the potential crisis local beaches may face in the event of an incident such as a shark bite, as the public may be dissuaded from visiting a beach following an incident.<\/p>\n
Lowe sees education as a crucial way to mitigate that risk and raise awareness. The Shark Lab created summer outreach programs led by undergraduate students that visit beaches along the coast, teaching beach safety surrounding marine life and risks like rip currents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve teamed up with psychologists to look at people\u2019s perceptions, and we\u2019ve teamed up with an economist to look at what those costs really are,\u201d Lowe explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are all projects with the goal of keeping both people and sharks safe,\u201d Lowe said. \u201cWe just need help. We need financial help.\u201d<\/p>\n