Don't feed tourists: new video of shark attack near Crissy

[windfind]

Crissy Field and the Hatch are 2 of my favorite places to sail. But the level of danger is quite different. At the Hatch we have to worry about getting taken out by a jumping salmon or sturgeon or unseen barge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNeCo0_NkFo&feature=youtu.be

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com/ikitesurf.com
Weatheflow.com

[CosmicShame]

Is that actually in the SF Bay? Or is this just a joke?

You forgot to mention that at the Hatch you also have to worry about overhead kiters flying by

[windfind]

Hi CosmicShame,

No it is totally real. There are several videos that have been posted of this event. Great Whites have been seen before inside S. F. Bay and windsurfers have reported seeing them in recent years while on the water. But this is the first video of an actual attack on a seal.

Here is the same attack from a different camera and a really crazy commentary from a young boy:

http://sfist.com/2015/10/11/video_alcatraz_shark.php

The really sharky places are Waddell and Tomales Bay. Tomales, just north of the Bay, is much like a miniature Gorge with powerful spring winds. But it is a breeding ground for GW's and it was always a bit spooky sailing there.

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com/ikitesurf.com
Weatheflow.com

[johnl]

Second that on Tomales Bay. Granted you are quite a way in from the mouth of the bay (my understanding of the breeding area), but when sailing there I have my quickest waterstarts.......

[dllee]

Interesting.....
Every summer, usually around late August, there is a swim organized by the Inverness Yacht Club that goes from Chicken Ranch to a marker near the E side oyster farm, and back to Chicken Ranch.
When I tried it in '95, there were 100+ swimmers.
I heard from one of the waiters at Pt.Reye's Station House that they still swam the roundtrip, but now only about 40 hard core locals doing it.
Nobody mentioned any shark bites.
The mouth of Tomales is a known Great White breeding ground, about 20 miles North, but consider....where you breed, you don't feed. Females are bigger and stronger in GW hierachy, so they chase the feeding males away when the little ones are around.
Like any predatory animal, if they allow feeding near breeding, how many examples would exist in nature?
Yes, I've heard of many shark sightings at Dillon Beach.

[boggsman1]

Mike...I don't think the sharks come that far into Tomales Bay. If I were a shark, I wouldn't go much further than Lawson's Landing....Never seen or heard of a sighting by Grassy point.

[windfind]

Hi zirtaeb and boggsman1,

I used to work at both the long closed Bolinas and Dillon Beach marine biology labs as a student and lived for decades in the area. So I know these waters pretty well.

Zirtaeb is right there has never been a Great White attack inside Tomales Bay. Like Zirtaeb one reason I never worried about sharks while windsurfing at Grassy Point was that the annual cross bay swim at the Yacht Club has never lost any participants to sharks. Of course Grassy Point, the most popular launch site, is much closer to the mouth of the Tomales next to Dillon Beach. And Dillon has definitely had shark attacks as you can see below.

Zirtaeb is wrong about why there are no swimmers missing in Tomales Bay. Very little is known about Great White reproduction but biologist definitely know that whites are ovoviviparous which means like many other shark species their eggs hatch inside the uterus and the cute baby sharks swim around in the womb eating siblings as ova. So birth occurs far from the mating grounds.

In short the Tomales Bay area is like a singles bar. Great Whites hang out there, party, eat, have sex and deal with the pregnancy months later... usually near Baja's Sea of Cortez. So the lack of missing swimmers in Tomales is not due to the females protecting the babes. More likely it is simply that the whites have not yet learned about the date of the annual swim and the easy pickings.

Just like the Great White that swam way into S.F. Bay to attack that seal whites have been known to swim the few miles from Dillon into Tomales. Years ago I stopped by Nick's Cove on the way home and talked to the Coast Guard crew I had seen while windsurfing at Grassy Point. They had been tracking a white that had been reported off Hearts Desire beach even deeper inside the bay.

So here is my Great White Tomales Bay story. The first day of this 3 day saga is second hand since I had just left Grassy Point when the story began.

It was late on a 30 knot day at Grassy Point and several windsurfers were using an orange thing bobbing below the surface just off Grassy Point as a jibe mark. After a while one of them blew a jibe and while water starting noticed that the orange thing was a life jacket and dead body.

Back then cell phone were rare so there was no way to contact any authorities. And, well, it is was still blowing 30 knots... and the body was already dead. So after sailing they contacted the coast guard OD who after, expressing dismay at the delay in being contacted, then told them that 3 men had left Nick's Cove earlier that morning before the winds ramped up and had capsized and drowned.

The next day Elizabeth and I read about the drownings in the S. F. Chronicle and the recovery of 2 of the 3 bodies. But what shook us up was the statement that the 2nd body recovered was missing both legs! That afternoon was another windy day at Tomales Bay and when Elizabeth and I arrived the whole local crew was discussing the story about the body missing both legs due to a presumptive Great White attack.

It was with some trepidation that people launched 4.2's/3.7 sails into the now scary waters. After an hour or so the wind built into the 3.7/3.2 range and as we returned to Grassy Point several people who had already returned said they had seen large shark fins. The anxiety quotient was way up as some people relaunched while others packed it up.

The next day the S. F. Chronicle had a follow-up story about the drownings and the recovery of the last body. Buried in the story was a mention that one of the men was a double amputee and his prosthesis were missing.

In retrospect we all felt foolish about how fast we had jumped to a sharky conclusion especially those who "saw" the large shark fins.

Moral: Windsurfing is probably the safest thing you will do on a windsurfing day. You are way more likely to be taken out by a 18 wheeler or a drunk driver. Forget about sharks unless there was an attack in the last few hours.

If there has been a recent attack do I as I do when surfing. There is almost always a long shore current. And sharks are most likely to move into the current to sample the water for interesting olfactory cues like mammal pee. So I used to simply get in the up current side of the pee trail in the line up. That way I would have a heads up if bodies started disappearing. Better to miss a few waves than a few toes.

Mike Godsey
iwindsurf.com/ikitesurf.com
Weatheflow.com

[jse]

[windfind]

Hi Steve,

Interesting about your waterstart technique at Tomales. I used to have a similar technique with one hand near the universal the other on the boom and I could be up and going in less than 5 knots of wind.

Here in the Gorge I had entirely forgotten about that technique until you mentioned it.

There was only one time when I really was grateful for that technique. Elizabeth and I had made the long upwind sail from Limantour to the endless long DTL waves at Tubamancha where the side off wind is usually stronger than Limantour. See image below.

When we got about 2/3 of the way to Tuba the wind dropped from 25 knots to maybe 10 knots or less. So we began the long slog back downwind to Limantour.

After 20 minutes or so Elizabeth noticed there was a 12 foot long dark gray shadow following us as we slogged. Ever the optimist I told her it was probably only a sea lion.

After about 5 minutes when it never surfaced for a breath she became skeptical. Since she weighs 125 vs. my 185 lbs. And because she was highly motivated she moved well in front of me.

As I pumped to gain ground I fell into the water. That is when I made the fastest waterstart of my life. Finally as we entered the junk shore break at Limantour the "sea lion" disappeared.

Mike Godsey

[dhanson928]

Brownsville has shark problems too....From what I understand, the entrance to the lagoon behind Padre has had lots of shark incidents...