Water access at all San Clemente beaches was closed Monday due to “aggressive shark behavior,” according to city officials. The Memorial Day edict came after a shark knocked a surfer off his board Sunday night.
The ocean will remain closed until 8 pm Monday night, pending further shark sightings, according to the city. Orange County city beaches are still open, but visitors will not be able to wade in the waves or swim.
A San Clemente lifeguard first received a report of a shark encounter at the popular surf destination T-Street Beach just before 8 p.m., according to San Clemente marine safety Lt. Sean Staudenbaur.
“The surfer and another surfer were sitting on their boards waiting for a wave when they saw a dark gray object approach and knock one of the surfers off his surfboard,” Staudenbaur said. The surfers then came to shore and reported the incident, at which point officials made the decision to close access to the water for 24 hours.
Staudenbaur said it was “unusual” for a shark to come so close to a surfer, noting that “most of our shark sightings are just sightings where there are no signs of aggressive behavior.”
Damage can be seen on a surfboard after a surfer encountered a shark off San Clemente Beach on Sunday.
(San Clemente Marine Safety)
A photo taken by San Clemente lifeguards and shared with The Times showed damage to the surfboard, with two indentations near the tip of the board where the shark was thought to have hit it.
“We have quite a few crowds on the beach, obviously not in the water today, but it's usually one of the busiest weekends of the year,” Staudenbaur said of San Clemente beaches on Monday.
