A juvenile great white shark circled a swimmer off Topanga Beach on Monday, coming close enough that the swimmer appeared to notice it was there before the shark lost interest and swam off. The moment was caught on drone video by an ocean photographer working near the Southern California shoreline, where sightings of young sharks have become increasingly common this summer.
The footage shows the shark approaching the swimmer and circling nearby, according to KTLA, which first reported on the encounter. The swimmer seemed aware the shark was close by, and the shark eventually swam away after apparently losing interest, the outlet reported. Topanga State Beach, a 31.21-acre stretch of state-owned shoreline at the mouth of Topanga Canyon along Pacific Coast Highway, is operated for public recreation by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, according to FindLaw.
Why Juvenile Sharks Keep Showing Up So Close To Shore
Experts with CSU Long Beach's Shark Lab say sightings like this one are typically not cause for alarm. Juvenile great white sharks are often simply curious or passing through when spotted near people, according to the lab, and are typically not aggressive toward humans, per the same account relayed by KTLA. Shark Lab experts described what calm shark behavior looks like, noting that “it's pretty easy to recognize calm behavior, because the sharks are moving along at a nice leisurely pace and constant direction.”
The behavior tracks with broader research on the region's coastline. A June 2023 study published in PLOS ONE by CSU Long Beach Shark Lab researchers analyzed 1,644 aerial drone surveys across 26 Southern California beaches and found juvenile white sharks swimming close to humans on 97% of survey days without a single attack. Southern California's shallow nearshore waters serve as a primary nursery habitat for juvenile white sharks in the Northeastern Pacific population, where the young sharks feed mainly on stingrays and flatfish before growing larger and moving offshore.
What To Do If You See A Shark In The Water
Shark Lab experts advise people who spot a shark nearby to remain calm and always face the animal so it knows it has been seen, since most sharks will eventually swim away on their own. Surfers and paddleboarders should point the nose of their board toward the shark, the experts say, while anyone in the water should keep their eyes on the shark, notify a lifeguard or others nearby, and return to shore once it has swum off.
State wildlife officials deliberately avoid the word “attack” for these encounters. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife officially classifies shark-human interactions as incidents rather than attacks, explaining that white shark bites on humans are typically exploratory or cases of mistaken identity rather than predatory hunting behavior.
A Summer Of Rising Sightings Along The Coast
Warmer Pacific Ocean water, driven in part by El Niño conditions, has led to increased shark sightings off the Southern California coast this summer, according to KTLA. Just days before the Topanga Beach encounter, a Los Angeles County fisherman captured video of a rare hammerhead shark near Malibu Pier on August 13. Warmer waters have also driven a rise in stingray encounters, with the number of people struck by stingray tail barbs at local beaches doubling compared with last year, according to lifeguard data cited by the outlet.
CSULB Shark Lab research tracking tagged sharks has found that environmental disruptions such as rapid ocean temperature shifts and El Niño patterns can cause juvenile white sharks to abandon familiar nursery grounds and redistribute to new coastal locations, as Hoodline previously reported. Statewide, California recorded 10 shark incidents in 2025, the highest single-year total on record, though only three involved human injuries, well below the historic high of seven injuries set in 1974, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife statistics reported by Surfer.
The Long-Term Odds Remain Firmly In Swimmers' Favor
Zoomed out over the decades, the numbers stay small. Roughly 230 to 250 total unprovoked shark incidents across all species have been documented in California waters between 1950 and late 2025, resulting in 16 to 20 fatalities, per the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Nationally, the United States recorded 25 unprovoked shark bites and one fatality in 2025, more than a third of the 65 total confirmed unprovoked bites and nine fatalities recorded worldwide that year, according to the International Shark Attack File cited by the Florida Museum of Natural History.
White sharks have also carried legal protection in California since 1994, under Fish and Game Code Sections 5517 and 8599, which bar anyone from pursuing, capturing, or possessing them without a state-issued scientific or educational permit. Regulations that took effect in 2023 further prohibit recreational anglers from using shark bait, lures, or attractants within one nautical mile of shore whenever a white shark is visible or known to be present, according to Hakai Magazine. The Topanga Beach sighting adds to a string of similar encounters up and down the coast this year, from Newport Beach to La Jolla, as juvenile sharks and their human neighbors keep sharing the same summer shallows.
