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Local lobsterman gets a too-close view of a great white shark
Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 30, 2002
As a commercial lobsterman with more than 20 years on the water, Dan Higgins has seen a lot of spectacular nature.
But Higgins, 49, of Clairemont, never saw anything like what he witnessed 11 days ago off La Jolla.
In search of the great white shark
Higgins said he was checking the last of his lobster traps in about 130 feet of water, about a half-mile to a mile off Children's Pool, a sanctuary for harbor seals and sea lions, when he noticed some seagulls on the water. There was some movement on the surface, so he looked to see what it was.
Suddenly, the water erupted about 25 to 30 feet from him, and Higgins spotted a scrap of sea lion or seal float to the surface.
And just like that, the shocking drama that plays out every day in the sea, but few get to see, unfolded before him. A great white shark had grabbed a mother sea lion or harbor seal and ripped it apart, the attack being so powerful that Higgins believes the shark ripped an unborn pup from the female's body, turning the water around him into a sea of blood.
"I've been out there over 20 years, and I've never seen anything close to that," Higgins said. "Nothing rivals it. You see films and documentaries of shark attacks, but believe me, they just don't do it justice until you've actually seen it first hand. It was forceful, a quick flash. It came up quickly, and it was over."
Higgins motored toward where the unborn pup floated in the water to get a better look, but he didn't stick around for more than a few minutes after the attack. He did stay long enough to see the shark swim directly under his boat, four to five feet under his 25-foot lobster boat.
"I saw the pup floating in the water, and it wasn't moving," Higgins said. "The water was bright red all around me. I didn't stay because it just felt dangerous. It's not like I went through any thought process. It was mostly instinctual. Seeing the blood, the big animal, the pup floating and not moving. I said, 'OK, I've seen enough.'
"In hindsight, I've been thinking, 'Wow, it was a once in a lifetime experience, the power of nature and all that.' Maybe if I stayed I would have seen it get the baby seal, too. But the final straw was when it swam under my boat and I saw its size. I started thinking about the 'Jaws' movie and that shark going up on the boat. I said, 'OK, I've seen enough now.' "
Higgins went home and took a tape measure out to figure the shark's size.
"I'll say it had to be a minimum 14 feet long, maybe as long as 18 feet," Higgins said. "It was 3 to 4 feet wide."
Higgins said he didn't want to make a big deal out of the attack on the seal, and he was reluctant to talk about it at first. He fears causing a "Jaws"-like frenzy or panic in the beach community.
"This stuff goes on out there all the time, but we never see it," he said.
Word of the fantastic shark sighting spread through the beach community for the last week. At Windansea Beach, one of Southern California's most popular surfing spots, there was an unconfirmed report of a shark sighting by land. The shark was finning about three-quarters of a mile from the beach, beyond the surf line, but well inside the kelp beds.
Charlie Barringer of La Jolla, a regular at Windansea, heard of that sighting and had a tale of his own.
Earlier this week, Barringer and his Frisbee-catching dog, Breezy, were walking along Little Point at the north end of Windansea when they discovered a piece of seal carcass. It was two feet long and about eight inches wide.
"It was just the outside of a carcass, but it was definitely from a seal," he said.
Lt. Brant Bass of the city of San Diego Lifeguard Department said there have been sightings of great white sharks here for as long as he's been a lifeguard – covering 28 years. He said SeaWorld had a dead one on display in the mid-1970s, and it was discovered to have 3 seals in its stomach.
The last known shark attack off San Diego was in 1994 when a woman was killed off Sunset Cliffs by a shark that was determined later to be a mako, according to Sgt. Patrick Richardson of the San Diego Lifeguard Department.
Bass said that attack came 35 years after the previous known shark attack off San Diego. In 1959 Robert Pamperin was reportedly swallowed whole, feet first, by a 20-foot white or tiger shark off La Jolla Cove.
But Bass said lifeguards that patrol Black's Beach reported they've heard reports recently of seal carcasses washing up at Windansea.
Scientists know very little about great white sharks. Great whites can reach 21 feet long and weigh as much as 7,000 pounds. They have up to 3,000 teeth, each 3 inches long.
Higgins, the Clairemont lobsterman, said he never saw the shark's teeth.
"I saw that big white belly, and it really stood out," Higgins said. "There isn't a shadow of a doubt. It wasn't a mako."
Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 30, 2002
As a commercial lobsterman with more than 20 years on the water, Dan Higgins has seen a lot of spectacular nature.
But Higgins, 49, of Clairemont, never saw anything like what he witnessed 11 days ago off La Jolla.
In search of the great white shark
Higgins said he was checking the last of his lobster traps in about 130 feet of water, about a half-mile to a mile off Children's Pool, a sanctuary for harbor seals and sea lions, when he noticed some seagulls on the water. There was some movement on the surface, so he looked to see what it was.
Suddenly, the water erupted about 25 to 30 feet from him, and Higgins spotted a scrap of sea lion or seal float to the surface.
And just like that, the shocking drama that plays out every day in the sea, but few get to see, unfolded before him. A great white shark had grabbed a mother sea lion or harbor seal and ripped it apart, the attack being so powerful that Higgins believes the shark ripped an unborn pup from the female's body, turning the water around him into a sea of blood.
"I've been out there over 20 years, and I've never seen anything close to that," Higgins said. "Nothing rivals it. You see films and documentaries of shark attacks, but believe me, they just don't do it justice until you've actually seen it first hand. It was forceful, a quick flash. It came up quickly, and it was over."
Higgins motored toward where the unborn pup floated in the water to get a better look, but he didn't stick around for more than a few minutes after the attack. He did stay long enough to see the shark swim directly under his boat, four to five feet under his 25-foot lobster boat.
"I saw the pup floating in the water, and it wasn't moving," Higgins said. "The water was bright red all around me. I didn't stay because it just felt dangerous. It's not like I went through any thought process. It was mostly instinctual. Seeing the blood, the big animal, the pup floating and not moving. I said, 'OK, I've seen enough.'
"In hindsight, I've been thinking, 'Wow, it was a once in a lifetime experience, the power of nature and all that.' Maybe if I stayed I would have seen it get the baby seal, too. But the final straw was when it swam under my boat and I saw its size. I started thinking about the 'Jaws' movie and that shark going up on the boat. I said, 'OK, I've seen enough now.' "
Higgins went home and took a tape measure out to figure the shark's size.
"I'll say it had to be a minimum 14 feet long, maybe as long as 18 feet," Higgins said. "It was 3 to 4 feet wide."
Higgins said he didn't want to make a big deal out of the attack on the seal, and he was reluctant to talk about it at first. He fears causing a "Jaws"-like frenzy or panic in the beach community.
"This stuff goes on out there all the time, but we never see it," he said.
Word of the fantastic shark sighting spread through the beach community for the last week. At Windansea Beach, one of Southern California's most popular surfing spots, there was an unconfirmed report of a shark sighting by land. The shark was finning about three-quarters of a mile from the beach, beyond the surf line, but well inside the kelp beds.
Charlie Barringer of La Jolla, a regular at Windansea, heard of that sighting and had a tale of his own.
Earlier this week, Barringer and his Frisbee-catching dog, Breezy, were walking along Little Point at the north end of Windansea when they discovered a piece of seal carcass. It was two feet long and about eight inches wide.
"It was just the outside of a carcass, but it was definitely from a seal," he said.
Lt. Brant Bass of the city of San Diego Lifeguard Department said there have been sightings of great white sharks here for as long as he's been a lifeguard – covering 28 years. He said SeaWorld had a dead one on display in the mid-1970s, and it was discovered to have 3 seals in its stomach.
The last known shark attack off San Diego was in 1994 when a woman was killed off Sunset Cliffs by a shark that was determined later to be a mako, according to Sgt. Patrick Richardson of the San Diego Lifeguard Department.
Bass said that attack came 35 years after the previous known shark attack off San Diego. In 1959 Robert Pamperin was reportedly swallowed whole, feet first, by a 20-foot white or tiger shark off La Jolla Cove.
But Bass said lifeguards that patrol Black's Beach reported they've heard reports recently of seal carcasses washing up at Windansea.
Scientists know very little about great white sharks. Great whites can reach 21 feet long and weigh as much as 7,000 pounds. They have up to 3,000 teeth, each 3 inches long.
Higgins, the Clairemont lobsterman, said he never saw the shark's teeth.
"I saw that big white belly, and it really stood out," Higgins said. "There isn't a shadow of a doubt. It wasn't a mako."
