Great white shark swims with paddleboarders off Calif. coast

How would you react if you saw the fin of a great white shark pop up in the ocean next to you?

Francesca Nash was pretty calm when a juvenile great white approached her paddleboard Saturday at Santa Claus Beach in Carpinteria (Santa Barbara County).

Nash said she and her friend Rose Lebow had just passed the shore break when the curious shark came to check them out. She started taking video as the shark swam back and forth between the two paddleboarders.

Nash studies marine science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, so she said she was "thrilled at the opportunity to witness a great white shark" up close.

While the shark was a juvenile, it certainly wasn't small. Nash estimates the great white was between and 10 and 12 feet long.

A juvenile great white shark approached two paddle boarders off the coast of Santa Barbara County Saturday. A juvenile great white shark approached two paddle boarders off the coast of Santa Barbara County Saturday. Photo: Screenshot / Francesca Nash Via Storyful Photo: Screenshot / Francesca Nash Via Storyful Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Great white shark swims with paddleboarders off Calif. coast 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

"It was a bit shaking to see the shark so close to where all the children were and where surf camp was taking place, but it is clear that the sharks are not interested in the people and are minding their own business, eating the stingrays in the area."

The video shows the great white swimming around the paddleboarders for about a minute, before it goes on its way. Nash hypothesized the shark was likely in the area looking for food. The beach's location isn't far from the Channel Islands, a national marine sanctuary with abundant prey for great whites, and Carpinteria is also home to a harbor seal preserve.

Carpinteria is also close to a location that researchers recently identified as a nursery for great white sharks, making it a hotspot for shark activity and sightings.

Shark sightings — and attacks — have been on the rise in recent months. The city of Santa Cruz instituted a four-day ban on entering a three-mile stretch of water on July 11 after a great white shark attacked a kayaker.

Chris Lowe, a professor of marine biology at CSU Long Beach and director of the school's shark lab, told SFGATE in May that the rise in shark sightings can be attributed in part to increased environmental protections. Populations of other marine animals, like otters and sea lions, have been thriving, which has given sharks more prey to feed on. That could in turn be contributing to a growth in the shark population.

For those worried about shark attacks, Lowe reminds people that the ocean is sharks' natural home. "We have unfettered access to the ocean," he said. "Humans have forgotten how to share habitats with wild animals, and they have to be re-educated."

Nash echoes Lowe's sentiment, saying, "I think it is important now, as their presence is increasing, that locals and visitors develop a healthy relationship with the ocean and sharks," Nash said. "I think it is experiences like this that help to demonstrate they are peaceful creatures of the ocean."