Shark chasing sea lion shuts down beach
L.A. County lifeguards cleared the ocean of surfers, swimmers and divers south of the Redondo Beach Pier Monday afternoon, July 21, after a shark was seen chasing a sea lion.
The beach was closed from 4:45 p.m. until 6 p.m., after no further sightings.
The shark was first reported 10 yards off of the Redondo Beach coastline near the 400 block of Esplanade Avenue.
The 8- to 10-foot juvenile Great White was initially said to have eaten the sea lion, though the L.A. County Fire Department was unable to confirm this.
When the call first came in, lifeguards summoned the Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol, which took its rescue boat out to patrol the water, along with a Baywatch Redondo lifeguard boat. No injuries and no additional sightings of the shark were reported.
Lifeguards, according to protocol, evacuated the water for one-mile in both directions up the beach for one hour after the last sighting, and put signs up informing people of the incident.
Jason May, Redondo Beach Fire Department Division Chief, Harbor Patrol, a 23-year veteran of the department, said he had seen only one other shark incident in his career – three years ago when a shark was reported inside King Harbor.
“This is somewhat of a unique event. It’s definitely unique to me,” he said.
On Wednesday, researchers from Cal-State University’s Shark Lab arrived to scan the area looking for juvenile great whites to tag.
Sharks near the South Bay coastline are not unusual. A study published by Cal State-Long Beach researchers in 2023 showed that when people are in the ocean, 97 percent of the time sharks are nearby.
Korean War veterans salute Sunday
A Korean War Veterans Day barbecue and celebration will be held Sunday, July 27, at noon at the Redondo Beach American Legion Post, 184 South Camino Real. The event features a commemorative ceremony during which the Ambassador for Peace Medal will be awarded to 10 local Korean War veterans, four posthumously, who served in combat roles.
The medals will be presented by the Korean Embassy Consulate General, Assigned to the City of Los Angeles.
The event is open to the public.
Sunday marks the 72nd anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War on July 27, 1953. ER
