Jonathan Kieran

I don’t know what sector of coastal land this seemingly uninformed dude considers to be “Central California” but I can assure him that Great White Sharks (and their offspring) have long hunted in healthy numbers through the waters off the central coast … for much longer than “the past ten years.” In fact, the very first fatality ever recorded by California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife occurred off the Central Coast, near the tip of Lovers Point, on Dec. 7, 1952. A Great White Shark took the life of a young fellow named Barry Wilson, in Pacific Grove, for those unfamiliar with the topography—just a mile and a half from Monterey and Steinbeck’s old haunts. That was … let’s see … SEVENTY–ONE years ago.

The gruesome and infamous attack upon surfer Lewis Boren took place just around the corner near Spanish Bay in 1981. In that horrific instance, the culprit was a 19-ft Great White that took such a chunk out of Mr. Boren’s torso that the bite-radius extended from his armpit to his hip. The same, exact size chunk was taken out of his surfboard, too.

I mean, come ON. The Central Coast waters are part of the infamous “Red Triangle” and attacks by Great Whites on people of the Central Coast going back 45-50 years are well-documented, as is the healthy population of Great White Sharks that have always hunted along this canyon. And attacks have continued to occur fairly regularly off the Central Coast up to this day.

Take a look at the rundown on Great White Sharks from the Monterey Bay Aquarium itself, for heaven’s sake. Great White Shark presence along the Central Coast is not some startling new phenomenon. Our ocean temps have remained fixed at 54 degrees. Cold, turbulent, sharky waters.

Conservation efforts and legislative acts implemented in the past thirty years have certainly contributed to healthier Great White Shark populations all over the globe, but the California Central Coast has always been one of their favorite seasonal places to convene. We have since time immemorial boasted loads of seals, dolphins, and whales, too. Things that Great White Sharks love to eat.

It’s one thing to hitch one’s ideological wagon to a discussion about shark populations in an attempt to fan the flames of climate change anxiety: that’s fine—the climate has definitely been changing and people need to be aware of these things.

But it’s another thing entirely when someone appears to pull “facts” completely out of one’s nether-regions and twist them in order to give more heft to some over-baked alarmist argument. There is a line. And as a lifelong shark-watcher and longtime resident of the Central Coast, I have nil respect for those who do not do their homework on this issue.

NEXT!

[Jonathan is busy writing and illustrating and finishing a whole slew of projects in preparation for upcoming major releases. Don’t expect a helluva lot of bloggin’ to get done unless something really strikes his fancy. Be patient. Marvelous things are on the way.]

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