SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — A recent video shows a shark eating a meal in close proximity to La Jolla Shores. A student helicopter pilot captured the footage of shark seemingly chowing down on a sea lion Wednesday about 40 to 50 feet away from kayakers and swimmers.
The beach remained open at La Jolla Shores despite the sighting.
The amazing video that shows what looks like a large shark feasting on a sea lion right near swimmers and kayakers is astonishing to many including Dr. Andrew Nosal, a marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
“When I see a video like that of such a powerful animal eating, what appears to be, another very large animal… I am also filled with awe,” said Dr. Nosal. “We don’t know if the shark actually killed the sea lion or if the sea lion was dead and then the shark found it and happened to be scavenging on it.
The sight was certainly a surprise to the student helicopter pilot Asher Burke when he shot the video with his cellphone.
"It was just splashing, and you can see this huge silhouette of shark,” said Burke.
As the shark was getting closer and closer to other beachgoers, Burke tried to warn them.
"We kind of zoomed over there …. waving at them to stay away and thankfully they got the message,” said Burke.
Dr. Nosal is eager to determine what kind of big fish it was.
“I can’t tell whether it’s a white shark or a big Mako shark or it could even be a sevengill shark, which get to be quite big, they live in our local kelp forest and they are known to feed on sealions and they’re known to be scavengers,” he said.
Also in La Jolla, there has been a high abundance of bat rays near Scripps Pier.
"It’s a little unusual to see so many close to the pier over here,” said Dr. Nosal.
He took a dive in the ocean with News 8 GoPro to get a clearer view.
"[The temperature hit] the highest it’s been at the pier in the hundred years we have been recording it and it’s changing a lot of the ways that marine animals behave,” said Dr. Nosal.
With the record warm water, experts say unusual marine life behavior is expected.
“But now when it’s warm everywhere, the sharks are probably all scattered along the coast and not concentrated, or they could even be in deeper water where it’s cooler, so their behavior is changing,” said Nosal.
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