DANA POINT A stretch of Capistrano Beach that has been under a posted shark advisory for several weeks was closed just before noon, Monday, May 29, after OC Lifeguards received photos of a shark estimated at longer then 8-feet sighted in the area.
“To be safe, we’ve implemented a closure,” said OC Lifeguard Chief Jason Young, who was out on patrol advising his tower guards Monday. “We’ve been on an advisory in this area for three weeks. Lots of boats are out here looking for sharks. We have a hot spot here.”
The beach was shut down from south of Doheny State Beach through Poche Beach on the north end of San Clemente. The closure was expected to last most of the day.
The closure in this stretch of Dana Point follows one in San Clemente on Sunday after at least three sharks were spotted from the pier. San Clemente City Lifeguards shut down a two-mile stretch for four hours. That was changed to a posted advisory Sunday afternoon, meaning swimmers and surfers could enter the water at their own risk.
In addition to the shark presence off Capistrano Beach, Young said he is concerned about the high number of boats and watercraft just yards off shore with boaters looking for sharks.
“If we get a big swell, the biggest danger is that we will have a boat accident,” he said. “Boaters that are not that familiar with surf conditions could put themselves into danger when waves are breaking. If we get a swell, we’ll have waves breaking further on offshore reefs.”
Young is also worried about boaters chumming the water with fish or other animal products to lure the sharks.
“We’ve alerted Harbor Patrol, ” he said. “We consider that to be dangerous to public safety. We want to leave sharks alone and let them do their thing. We don’t want to be feeding wildlife.”
Young said these activities make it even more dangerous for surfers and swimmers because the unnatural feeding is keeping the sharks around.
“If it’s time for them to move on, we don’t want them to stay around because they’re being chummed,” he said.
Young said the cooler waters and news accounts of sharks in the area likely reduced crowds off Dana Point for the Memorial Day Weekend.