Watch: Shark Attacks Buoy In Dana Point

DANA POINT, CA — Captain Dave Anderson of Captain Dave's Whale Watching Tours in Dana Point is a local whale and dolphin watching expert. Considering a man who spends the majority of his week on the sea, Captain Dave is among many Orange County marine tour operators who are seeking to educate passengers on the Great White shark pods that have infiltrated the southern California waters.

"Whales and dolphins are my primary specialty, but I certainly am out on the water a lot," Captain Dave Anderson said in a recent phone interview. "We track our whales and dolphins, but as we see other sorts of marine life we do keep track of that."

Seeing aggressive shark behavior and large groups of Great White Sharks in Orange County, would be "more unusual, than usual," he said. "This year, in 2017, we have seen more sharks than most."

According to a basic tally chart they keep on marine life sightings, sharks are at the bottom of the list. In 2016, the primary shark sightings (over 7 per month) occurred from June through August, and again later in the winter.

Most of the observations with marine life is a peaceful, quiet experience as seen on his videos.

However, a recent experience captured much the opposite.

"The Great White sharks seen off of Capo beach have mostly been approximately 10-feet and under," he said. "If they're under about 12-feet long, they're typically juveniles between 3 and 5 years old."

This area is considered to be a "nursery area" according to Captain Dave.

Captain Dave is out on the water several days a week, sometimes every day. Usually, his team of captains seeks out wayward marine life, such as whales, who get tangled in fishing lines. His entanglement crews assist with rescuing such creatures, and when lucky, helping to set them free.

Earlier in 2017, while in the waters off of Capo beach testing a new tracking buoy to use with locating entangled whales, a great white attacked the buoy (see video).

"At the time we thought it might be a Great White, but we weren't sure," he said. A friend from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center took the footage, which shows the ferocity of a shark attacking the buoy.

"The shark hit it several times, attacking it," he said. "The tracking buoy held up real well, but it was funny seeing a shark behave that way."

The sharks spotted in Orange County waters, including two on Thursday afternoon, are becoming a more familiar sight for surfers and swimmers, especially in the San Clemente, San Onofre, and Seal Beach areas.

Among the sharks sighted by Captain Dave's Whale Watching Tours in Orange County waters include Great white sharks, Mako, Thresher, Blue Sharks and Hammer Head sharks.

"In 2015, a hammerhead shark, estimated by the crew to be about 6-feet-long, circled Captain Dave's whale watching catamaran just under the surface," he said. "It was seen off the coast of Dana Point, California, in less than 300 feet of water."

"It's a variety of sharks that we see," he said, though he admitted sharks aren't something they see every day.

May 5, 2012 the Captiain Dave's whale watching boat, Manute'a, encountered a rare Basking Shark off the coast of Dana Point.

"The animal was estimated to be about 20 feet long," he said. "These plankton eating sharks are the second largest fish in the world; only a whale shark is bigger. Whale watchers were awestruck when this huge shark turned and swam right up next to the boat!"

Learn more at: www.DolphinSafari.com

Courtesy Captain Dave's Dolphoin Safari; Keith Matassa, Pacific Marine Mammal Center