This giant fish [Whale Shark] is making a rare appearance off SoCal‘s coast

Thanks to warm coastal waters and the developing El Niño, Southern California is seeing an influx of sea creatures not commonly found in the region.

Last month, a hammerhead shark was captured on video near the Malibu Pier; they’re typically found in warm, tropical and subtropical coastal waters.

Then, on Wednesday, a pilot working with Southern California’s commercial fishing industry recorded footage of a lone whale shark between Malibu and Santa Barbara Island.

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world and, like hammerheads, are commonly found in warm, tropical waters – not California. Sbarounis estimated the shark was between 14 and 16 feet long, relatively small considering the species can grow to about 61 feet.

“I’ve been waiting for this,” said Dr. Chris Lowe of the California State University Shark Lab. “Normally when we have these strong El Niños, we get these subtropical visitors that come up from Mexico, which include whale sharks and manta rays, and smooth hammerheads. We’ll even occasionally get bull sharks and tiger sharks.”

Unlike many other shark species, whale sharks do not have sharp, menacing teeth and feed only on plankton. They are considered harmless to humans...

Sbarounis also posted rare footage of a “fever,” or school, of giant rays off the Orange County coast. He estimated each ray had a wingspan of about 10 feet.

“I’ve never seen as many as I’m seeing right now coming through Southern California,” he said. “Literally hundreds if not thousands of them from San Diego to Catalina.”

(not quite) My Shark Story.

A friend of mine, let's call him Chuck, who is somewhat crazy, tells this story. Knowing him I believe it!

One day, Chuck was out diving with friends off Davenport, about half way between Half Moon Bay, and Santa Cruz CA.

He was swimming along, minding his own business, trying out his new $80 flippers. A seal grabbed one of his flippers. Annoyed, he kicked his foot up to shake the seal loose. This flipped HIM up under what he describes as a boxcar with fins. His "seal" was a Great White Shark!

The shark didn't like the taste of rubber and spit out the fin. He boosted for the surface stuck his head up and said "HELP!" Head back down, look for shark. Head up: "SHARK!" At this point he sees everybody on the boat franticly running to and fro. He and the boat manage to get together.

Later he found out that some local fishermen were in the habit of cleaning their catch in that area.

Soooo, the shark came up beside the boat looking for a handout. Finding none it then swam off in his direction. His friends said it was as long as the boat, 12 feet.

OK, now fast forward a month and a half. Chuck is visiting friends in San Diego, They go out for a dive. There are Basking Sharks, a harmless filter feeder, in the area. So his friend who knows about the earlier dive says, "Hey, Chuck! Wanna swim with the sharks?"

Slow Learner Chuck says "Sure!"

Soon, he's in the water. He sticks his head up and can see the dorsal fin of a shark approaching him. Oh goody! Dunks his head and looks. The water is too murky. Head up. Fin still coming. Head down, too murky. Then...

Out of the gloom a mouth "big enough for me to stand up in in any direction" suddenly appears.

His friend says it was the funniest thing he ever saw. Chuck came straight up out of the water, walked 10 feet across the surface and sank back down...

Couple times off the Big Island,had a huge pelagic manta come crusing by to check out the divers.

Hard to describe how big they are, and how graceful they swim around you.

The night manta dives are cool, bu you really do not see their size in the lights.

Daytime is unreal, like swimming with a 747

My buddy I call Captain Karl, cuz that’s his name, is a ship’s captain for oil companies and others who need large equipment shipping via the ocean. While moving oil-rig gear in the Gulf of America a few years ago on a very calm day, 150 miles off the coast of Florida, he sees a large commotion on the water, so he swings the ship into that direction to see what it was. All the hands came up on deck as it was unusual to make such a quick turn when out to sea. When they arrived at the disturbance in the water it turned out to be an estimated 50 Whale Sharks in a “frenzy” of breeding. He said he’d never seen anything like it.

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