{"id":727622,"date":"2026-06-26T17:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T17:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/727622\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T17:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T17:40:16","slug":"the-shark-was-closer-than-they-knew-until-they-hit-shore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/727622\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shark Was Closer Than They Knew \u2014 Until They Hit Shore"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post The Shark Was Closer Than They Knew \u2014 Until They Hit Shore<\/a> appeared first on A-Z Animals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The rule of thumb is to stay out of the ocean when shark<\/a> sightings are reported. Recently, a male and a female paddleboarder disregarded warnings and decided to paddle out to see the shark in its natural habitat. Little did they know, the shark was so close that it could have leapt onto their paddleboards.<\/p>\n

Paddleboarders Get Up Close and Personal With a Shark<\/p>\n

Two paddleboarders off the coast of Santa Barbara did not realize how close their encounter with a shark truly was until they made it back to shore.<\/p>\n

On June 21, 2026, Kayla Ross and a companion were in the ocean on paddleboards after celebrating Father\u2019s Day with their family. They went out on their paddleboards specifically to try to locate the shark after sightings had been reported.<\/p>\n

According to ABC 7 News<\/a>, the pair headed out to the ocean to see the shark in its element. Kayla Ross\u2019s uncle assisted them by sending a drone out over the ocean. Shortly after reaching the drone\u2019s location, the male companion told Ross that the shark was trailing uncomfortably close and that it was best to head back in.<\/p>\n

\"Shark<\/p>\n

Kayla Ross and a male companion came uncomfortably close to a shark on Father\u2019s Day. <\/p>\n

\u00a9ABC 7 News \/ YouTube \u2013 Original<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe paddled pretty far out \u2019cause we went to the drone,\u201d Ross explained to ABC 7 News. \u201cAnd then he said that he saw something and that we had to head back to shore right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross said she did not see the shark because she was focused on paddling forward, and described the experience as \u201cnerve-wracking.\u201d The size and proximity of the shark were not discovered until Ross and her companion returned to shore.<\/p>\n

Luckily, for all involved, there were no injuries. For her part, the incident did not deter Ross from returning to the ocean; she said she \u201cwould go and do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shark in Question is Not Uncommon in Santa Barbara<\/p>\n

Great white sharks<\/a> are the most commonly sighted sharks off the coast of Santa Barbara. Therefore, it is not surprising that the shark that circled the paddleboarders was confirmed to be a great white.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The shark in question was identified as a great white shark. <\/p>\n

\u00a9Wirestock Creators\/Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Santa Barbara County, specifically off the coast of Carpinteria, is a known great white shark nursery location<\/a>. The sharks thrive in this area due to the shallow, warmer water ranging from 60\u00b0F to 71\u00b0F<\/a>. These juvenile sharks travel between Santa Barbara, the Channel Islands<\/a>, and Morro Bay<\/a> for several years before they are mature enough to move into deeper waters.<\/p>\n

Great White Sightings Will Be More Common This Year<\/p>\n

Great white shark sightings are not uncommon off the coast of Santa Barbara, especially between September and November when they are at the height of their migration. However, this year, due to El Ni\u00f1o conditions<\/a>, there are expected to be more great white sharks off the coast of Southern California, including Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n

\"Great<\/p>\n

More great white sharks are anticipated to be seen off the coast of Southern California this year due to El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n

\u00a9iStock.com\/ShaneMyersPhoto<\/p>\n

On June 11, 2026, the NOAA<\/a> officially declared El Ni\u00f1o was underway. El Ni\u00f1o brings warmer ocean temperatures to the Southern California coast, creating ideal nursery conditions for white sharks and providing abundant prey. Consequently, the number of great white shark interactions is expected to be higher this year<\/a> than in the past several years.<\/p>\n

Despite this, it bears repeating that shark attacks<\/a> are still uncommon. The chances of being attacked by a shark are one in 11.5 million<\/a> in the United States. That said, tempting fate is never wise. For safety, it is best to stay out of the water after a confirmed shark sighting rather than paddling out to find one.<\/p>\n

The post The Shark Was Closer Than They Knew \u2014 Until They Hit Shore<\/a> appeared first on A-Z Animals<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post The Shark Was Closer Than They Knew \u2014 Until They Hit Shore appeared first on A-Z…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[11342,312911,312910,18633,79,201],"class_list":["post-727622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-great-white-shark","tag-hit-shore","tag-kayla-ross","tag-santa-barbara","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}