Overview
- A roughly 10-foot shark that a surfer said circled and approached near the south end of the beach on Thursday triggered a closure from Beach Boulevard to 17th Street under Huntington Beach’s eight-foot aggressive-behavior rule.
- The World Surf League placed the Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro on a 24-hour hold, though onshore event activities continued.
- Marine safety teams are using jet skis, lifeguard boats, drones, and a police helicopter to watch the area, and officials report no additional sightings and no confirmed species ID.
- Organizers set a Saturday 7 a.m. target to restart heats pending an early morning all-clear following Friday’s daylong shutdown.
- The incident tracks with a regional rise in nearshore shark activity linked by Long Beach Shark Lab to warmer waters, including March’s Newport Beach circling and an April juvenile great white freed at Hermosa Beach Pier.