Juvenile great white sharks sighted along popular Southern California coasts have become a media sensation this spring.

Now officials suspect that some media outlets aren’t satisfied with footage of naturally occurring shark sightings. Long Beach lifeguard officials say they strongly suspect film crews are throwing fish or bait in the water near shore to attract sharks, also known as “chumming.”

“We’ve gotten some reports from citizens who have seen recreational boats out chumming,” Gonzalo Medina, Marine Safety chief, said. “Some fishing boats too. They’re trying to get video footage of the sharks.

“But as soon as they see a rescue boat approaching, the activity stops. The officers do contact them, but that’s about it.”

The concern, Medina said, is that the film crews are doing the chumming near the beaches – sometimes as close as 100 yards – causing a safety hazard.

Juvenile great whites around 6 feet long have been sighted off Long Beach as well as popular beaches up and down the coast. There has been one report so far this year of a serious shark bite.

Medina said the marine safety officers can issue tickets for discarding material in the water that isn’t attached to a hook, but none have been issued so far. A flock of seagulls over a boat isn’t sufficient evidence of chumming, he added.

There are some crews that react responsibly after being contacted, Medina said.

“We had a crew from National Geographic,” Medina said. “We talked with them, and they were very receptive. Ultimately, they used rubber fish attached to a line that they could pull back in.”

There were no reports whether sharks fell for the decoys.

“By and large, everyone understands the need for safety,” Medina said. “We’re told that we may be seeing these sharks up and down the coast for quite some time now.”

Similar incidents have been reported in Orange County.

One person was fishing off the end of the San Clemente pier with a ham about a month ago, according to lifeguards. And there were unconfirmed reports recently about pig heads being put in lobster traps underwater to lure sharks close to shore.

Chris Lowe, founder of Cal State Long Beach’s Shark Lab, said he’s already noticing a difference in shark behavior, likely because of the increased human interaction, with people trying to get close to the sharks in recent months.

“People are doing crazy things,” Lowe said. “Dana Point seems to be the worst. People are putting out chum buckets off the beach; they are feeding sharks with drones. All of these things change the sharks’ behavior. The sharks are getting wary. People have to be careful.”

Lowe said laws prohibit chumming for sharks. And chumming can be dangerous for beachgoers.

“There’s too many people in Southern California … and that is really dangerous,” he said. “You have someone out on a board, someone outside in the line-up waiting for a wave, and (the sharks) are in scavenging mode. The sharks are not always eating while they are there, we know that – why put them in that mode? If they are out there foraging their own food, they seem to be minding their own business.”

Scientists say the return of the juvenile sharks indicates a recovery in the marine ecology. They are coming in closer to the shore to feed on stringrays and other smaller fish.

Harry Saltzgaver is executive editor for Gazette Newspapers. He can be reached at hsalt@gazettes.com.

Staff writer Laylan Connelly contributed to this report.