Month: June 2016

Make me go nuts

 

Last week there was a 12 foot White shark spotted near 71st in Newport Beach.  The beach was closed, but the alert was kept quiet to the public.  Similarly, the shark attack just outside Big Corona over Memorial Day was underplayed as the beaches remained open throughout the weekend.  I’ve heard a similar plot line before, I think.

Amity Island, Memorial Day 1975, young woman killed by shark. Officials first blame a boating accident as the cause of death.

Corona Del Mar, Memorial Day 2016. Woman mauled by a shark. Officials blame possible boating accident or seal attack.

“A woman swimming about 150 yards offshore at Corona del Mar State Beach about 4:15 p.m. Sunday was apparently mauled by a shark or another animal,” said Tara Finnigan, a spokeswoman for the city of Newport Beach.  Initial reports also stated it may have been a boating accident.

Could Newport Beach be the site of the next JAWS?  They’re trying their damnedest, it seems.

Matt Hooper, oceanographer hired by Martin Brody to investigate the infamous shark attacks of 1973 off Amity Island, said then, “Well this is not a boat accident! It wasn’t any propeller! It wasn’t any coral reef! And it wasn’t Jack the Ripper! It was a shark.”

Over the weekend, several more juveniles were spotted north of 71st, while last week a juvenile Gray Whale almost beached itself when it got caught on the inside of several 10-foot waves.  The teen was able wiggle itself down towards Cyclinders and eventually successfully back out to sea.

Newport Beach officials have looked into hiring Collin Hooper, Matt Hooper’s son and oceanographer in his own right, to investigate the recent peak in animal-human interaction in Southern California over the past months.

In September of 2015, video emerged of an aggressive hammerhead attacking a kayaker off Dana Point, Ca.

Something’s in the water, we’re just not sure what. DUN UH. DUN UH.

Onya.