Sharks off US coast lurk near swimmers 97% of time, study finds

Unwitting swimmers enjoying waters off Southern California are surrounded by great white sharks 97% of the time, a study has found.

Using images captured through 1,500 drone flights, researchers at California State University discovered young great white sharks in the area often swim within bite radius of humans.

Despite this, there were no reported shark bites in any of the 26 beaches surveyed between January 2019 and March 2021.

The juvenile white sharks mostly group together in two locations - southern Santa Barbara County and central San Diego County - the researchers at the university's 'Shark Lab' found over the two years.

In contrast, adult white sharks are generally solitary animals.

The sharks often swam within 50 yards of the wave breaks - closest to surfers and stand-up paddle boarders.

“Most of the time water users didn’t even know the sharks were there, but we could easily see them from the air,” said Patrick Rex, a Cal State Long Beach graduate student who led the study.

The researchers confirmed surfers, swimmers and sharks can coexist peacefully but “we never expected to see so many encounters every day with no incidents” of bites, said Chris Lowe, a marine biology professor and the Shark Lab’s director.

“It’s not just about sharks, it’s about people,” Mr Lowe said. “This study may change people’s perception of the risk sharks pose to people that share the ocean with them.”

So just keep swimming.

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