According to the beach officials at La Jolla, the behavior shown by the hammerhead shark in the above video was a sign that it may be stalking its prey. In response, officials closed the California beaches from La Jolla Cover all the way to Scripps Pier just in case the hammerhead shark became even more aggressive.
In a related report by the Inquisitr , the great white shark named Deep Blue is pregnant and conservation organizations are trying to raise money so they can better protect her and her upcoming babies from poachers.
The number of shark attacks in the United States increased recently. In Florida, a 10-year-old girl who had just been bitten by a shark rushed back into the ocean to save a six-year-old child. A hammerhead shark attack in California also harmed a diver.
When it comes to the beach at La Jolla, shark attacks might be rare but the video recorded by the kayakers was enough to rattle some nerves. No one was injured but the kayakers claimed the hammerhead shark was acting very aggressive as it circled them just below the water line.
“The shark reportedly followed the kayakers all the way to the beach and was last seen outside the surf line at the foot of Avenida de la Playa at the south end of La Jolla Shores,” said Lee Swanson, spokesman for the San Diego Fire and Rescue Department.
Lifeguards used a boat to search for the hammerhead shark after Andy Nosal, marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, confirmed “the size, species and behavior of the shark warranted the closure.” They also ordered La Jolla beach closed immediately.
The Fire and Rescue Department also joined the hunt for the elusive hammerhead shark, but it appears to have left the area.
“There have been no additional sightings and no other reports since the original report,” Swanson said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Fortunately, La Jolla’s shark sighting was brief. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, California’s shark attack statistics show that the beaches near San Diego have suffered the largest number of shark attacks. There have been 17 shark attacks near San Diego alone, and the last fatal shark attack was in 2008.
There was also a close call with a recent California shark attack. According to KTLA, a juvenile great white shark bit off a sizable chunk of a surfboard.
[Image courtesy of San Diego Fire & Rescue Department]
