MANHATTAN BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A shark sighting Thursday near the Manhattan Beach Pier posed no threat to the public, authorities said.
A juvenile white shark was reportedly spotted around 10:30 a.m. swimming around the 928-foot-long pier located at the end of Manhattan Beach Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Lifeguard Division.
A Baywatch Redondo personal water craft unit responded to investigate and confirmed the sighting of the shark, which was approximately 7 feet long, authorities said.
After 45 minutes of monitoring, lifeguards deemed the shark non-aggressive and “not a risk to the public.”
The beach remained open and no advisories were made.
A message posted to the official LA County Lifeguards Twitter page downplayed the sighting: “It’s very common to see juvenile white sharks off the Southern CA coast. The juvenile sharks we have observed have been very docile.”
The sighting comes just two days following a Manhattan Beach City Council vote to lift a ban on fishing off the pier after swimmer Steve Robles was bitten by a shark in July.
By September, fishing will once again be allowed from the Manhattan Beach Pier, according to officials.
