News flash - no more dogs in LJ

[Whizz Bang]

Originally Posted by Dannowar

I could be wrong but from what I've gathered, Southern California is merely a stop where juveniles learn to hunt big fish. Elephant seals get it up north but there's not tons of seal carcasses washing up from great whites in la jolla.

Not could be wrong, you are wrong. Continue to gather Danno, or just read the article without the filter of bias... http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jul/26...rks-san-diego/

Do we have a resident population, nope. Do large animals come through here, yep.

I have been in this game for a while now and have been around when the beaches were closed due to a large animal sighting. Is it rare? Yes. Are attacks anywhere near approximating common or likely? Hell no. They are as rare as Unicorns around here.

I shared this experience with a few close friends, one of them chose fit to post it for reasons I absolutely agreed with. When he did so, it became incumbent on me to elaborate. At that point, I decided that if you, gentle reader, were undeterred then you deserved to know about the Tail portion of the story. Anyone who is interested in creating their own personal chum slick at the side of a plastic boat with an apex predator sighted in the area that was longer than what they were paddling...well, that is my kind of guy (or girl, Sharon, I think I saw you pedaling near the preserve line that day, hope you had limits of lizardfish or whatever you were hunting).

A while back I quit posting on this site, but I did not stop fishing. I quit when I found myself going more negative than positive. I did not see the benefit in posting late, it was all about self-aggrandizing and had nothing to do with timely intel. I don't need to do that for my ego, and you don't need to read that.

Do I care about scaring you off the water? No. Does DeepDvr? No again. A long time ago we chose sides in the whole post or wait debate and I am pretty sure we are both comfortable with our decision. This experience transcends that. It was worth sharing and it was timely (considering I was still on the water when it hit BWE). My advice, take it for what it was, a reminder that there is far more going on below you when you are out there than your fish finder will ever let on.

Tight lines.

[Dannowar]

[Old Man in the Sea]

Thank you team for posting timely reports of GWS sightings...That is important to help others know what is going on because it is not a daily occurrence. I feel sorry if kayak guy who definitely sees one up close and doesn't report and one new kayaker is killed in that same location a day or 2 later.

[beef78]

I happen to be one of those guys who has a massive fear of sharks and I have been kayaking on a weekly basis since I have been stationed here 4 years ago and I have never seen a gws. I have heard about guys that go to San Onofre and see them all the time. If you look at some of the gws research sights, they classify la Jolla as a recurring area. Even, so it is very rare to encounter them and I would consider it a treat, even if a terrifying treat, to spot a fin at a reasonable distance at watch it chase some seals.
http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.co...shark_news.htm

[lambadmin]

Well said Eric

[CKallday71]

Personally, I would LOVE to see one in the wild. Yes, I would probably pee a little but honestly, it's just such an AMAZING animal! All sharks are cool but Great White's are just incredible. They are on a equal level to Orca on the cool scale!

[Dail14]

I just would love to see one breach with a seal in its mouth in person. Preferably a seal after my future yellow.

[bigbarrels]

They are out there and looks like La Jolla had a fatality in the past.....more dangerous to drive to the launch

http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.co...ed_kayaker.htm

[Zed]

This is really turning into the Amnity Island, Jaws syndrome. Those yahoos from TX that caught the huge mako really perpetuated it. The interview I saw was really ridiculous. They made it seem like they were doing a service by killing that shark. "It was a killer, it came up to the boat and tried to chomp/bite/eat everything."

No shit. It was a large, old, wise, pregnant female doing whatever it took to get away. That's millions of years of nature.

You all bought the kayak knowing that when you passed the threshold of MHT (mean high tide) you enter the wilderness, complete with dolphins, seals, sea lions, whales, and even sharks, right? They are not serial killers on the loose where you need to keep the children locked up until they are caught. I appreciate the news of a sighting like I appreciate a bear or mountain lion sighting (I happened to see my first MT Lion and white shark in the same year, '08). It doesn't keep me from riding/hiking where it was sighted, because I know I have been seen already in all the times I have been in the woods or out on the ocean.

Buyer beware.

Z