Fin-tastic sight: Leopard sharks return to Southern California waters

Fins to the left, fins to the right. Fins in Southern California waters.

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Leopard sharks have returned to the La Jolla beaches near San Diego in large numbers, KNSD reported.

“They show up every summer when the water is really warm, and they like this particular spot because it’s especially calm,” marine biologist Andrew Nosal told the television station. “All of these leopard sharks are pregnant females, and they are here because they are incubating their developing embryos.”

Nosal, a professor with the University of San Diego’s environmental and ocean sciences department, has been studying leopard sharks since 2007. He said that unlike many species of sharks, leopard sharks do not pose a threat to humans.

“They are completely harmless, as long as you’re not a crab or a fish,” Nosal told KNSD. “In fact, most of the species off our shore are completely harmless to humans.”

While leopard sharks can be found in other waters along the West Coast, they seem to gravitate toward the La Jolla beaches.

“The sharks that we see this summer -- it’s the same sharks, the same individuals that are coming back year after year,” Nosal told the television station. “So this place is really special to them.

“That’s called philopatry, which means home-loving. They come back every single year.”

Nosal said the peak months to see leopard sharks are August and September, although they can be typically found from late June until early December.

“When the sharks are shallow, that’s all you have to do and they are swimming around your legs,” he told KNSD.

Even though the sharks do not pose a threat, Nosal said it is important for swimmers not to touch the animal.

“We need to remember that we are guests here and we need to respect the animals that live here,” he told the television station.

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