TORREY PINES (KGTV) — California State Park officials are warning beachgoers at Torrey Pines State Beach after a reported shark sighting.
Park officials confirmed around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday a shark was spotted swimming offshore near Lifeguard Tower #5.
Based on the investigation, officials believe the shark is seven to eight feet in length, and it reportedly bumped into a swimmer before swimming away.
Out of an abundance of caution, State Park Officers have posted warning signs at beach access points near Towers #2, #5 and #7.
There is a warning posted at the north boundary with Del Mar City Beach. The warning will remain in effect for 24 hours.
ABC 10News reached out to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to see what explanations are behind Tuesday's sighting.
Jack Elstner, a PH.D. student at Scripps studying juvenile white sharks, said shark season has just begun here in Southern California.
Shark season is typically April-November.
"Juvenile white sharks use near-shore beach environments as nursery habitats, and they like these areas because the waters are warm, which allows the sharks to grow quickly," Elstner said. "There's tons for them to eat, so there are lots of stingrays and little fish."
When Elstner heard the shark spotted was seven to eight feet in length, he said he immediately knew it was a juvenile.
"These sharks really like the warmer water temperatures, so when the water gets cold, they go south down to Baja a lot of the times, but when the water warms up in Southern California, we start to see them coming back to our beaches," Elstner said.
Elstner also added that seeing a shark sighting on a hot summer day like Tuesday is a sign that the sharks are coming back to these aggregation sites.
"A lot of people think that shark sightings can be scary, and of course these are large predators in the ocean that we have to respect, but also the presence of sharks in these habitats is a sign that the ecosystem is healthy and recovering," Elstner said.
