When Sharks Attack (2013–2020): Season 1, Episode 3 - Panic in Paradise - full transcript
The hunt is on for a shark
that attacked and killed a man
north of San Diego.
In 2008
Southern California
is under siege
from a series of shark attacks
that no one can explain.
Although there were
severe wounds inflicted,
no tissue had been
removed from his body.
These beaches haven't
seen attacks in over 50 years.
Shark attacks do not happen
in San Diego.
It's basically impossible
that something like that
could happen.
And as the terror spreads...
Something has changed
along this coastline
in this state.
It seems anyone could be next.
And I just thought, okay,
by the time I get to my boat,
I'm not gonna have legs.
Solana Beach is beautiful.
It's serene and it's such
a place for outdoor enthusiasts
and surfers and water people.
I love to stay active.
And when I moved to San Diego,
the first thing I did,
I Googled "triathlon,"
and I found the Triathlon Club
of San Diego.
I had probably been in town
for maybe two days
and instantly made a whole
new group of friends,
and was inducted into a group
of athletic people immediately.
I get down to the beach and
see the group of people
getting ready to go swim.
And we all quickly
exchanged pleasantries,
walked down to the ocean,
and we were off very quickly.
I never had a fear in the water.
I had been told that sharks
aren't an issue,
nothing to worry about
by friends, you know.
Among the swimmers is
66-year-old retired veterinarian
Dr. Dave Martin.
I kept looking over
and seeing Dave.
And I always feel
more comfortable
when I see people around me
when I'm swimming.
You just like to know
kind of where people are.
And I kept seeing him,
and he just seemed so relaxed
and so peaceful
while he was swimming,
and it put me at ease.
And then at one point
I heard a noise...
...that didn't sound
right to me.
So I slowed down
and I noticed that Dave wasn't
next to me anymore.
And then I heard
the noise again.
And I looked back...
...and Dave was motioning and
waving his hands in the air.
And very clearly I could hear
that he had said, "Shark."
And then within a split second
I just knew
that he was in trouble,
and I swam to him.
When I heard the word "shark,"
I'm thinking, there hasn't been
a shark attack, there's no way.
But the water was moving
in a way that you can tell
a large animal is still there,
and I remember thinking clearly
that it was swimming
really fast.
Both my parents
have passed away,
and I just remember
saying a prayer
and asking my parents to watch
over me while I was out there.
Help! Help!
Swimming just ahead
of Laurene and Dave
is veteran team member
Kenn Flagg.
Someone says, "I
think Dave had a heart attack,"
and I knew that's
not what happened.
Kenn and his teammates
ignore the danger
and swim to the scene.
When we get there, there's
lots of blood in the water.
The damage was extensive.
His femoral arteries were
completely severed.
Dave is bleeding badly,
but for some reason the shark
hasn't removed any of his flesh.
He was white, and he was
certainly not conscious.
And I realize we need
to get back to shore
as quickly as possible.
Pretty much everybody grabs a
limb and starts pulling on him.
And I was very concerned
that he wouldn't make it.
Help!
Paramedics arrive within minutes
and desperately attempt
to save Dave's life.
About an hour later,
one of the paramedics came over
and said that he hadn't made it.
Yeah, it, it didn't sink in
for a long time.
Shark attacks do not
happen in San Diego.
It's basically impossible
that something like that
could happen.
And I don't know if
I've accepted it yet.
I would say that
the community was shocked.
It's something that
is extremely rare.
My understanding was that
it had been 51 years
since there had been a fatality
due to a shark
in the San Diego area.
There were helicopters
and all these reporters
set up here on the grass.
He was screaming
according to witnesses.
Both legs severely injured.
Experts say shark
attacks in Southern California
are extremely rare.
Swimmers, surfers,
anyone else being told
to stay out of the waters
here in Southern California.
An attack in normally
safe waters begs the question,
what species is responsible
and why would it bite a person
without removing any flesh?
The case attracts the attention
of local expert Ralph Collier.
Whenever you have
a fatal shark attack,
communities are shocked,
I'm always shocked by it.
It's a tragedy, especially
in the case of Dave Martin.
Because that area had never
really experienced
any kind of interaction
between a shark and a human.
We always thought that
the majority of the attacks
that occurred along
the California coast
occurred in Central California.
Dave Martin, however,
was attacked in San Diego,
in Southern California.
Something's not right here.
The manner of
the attack is also perplexing.
The one thing that was atypical
about this attack on Dave Martin
was that it had nothing to do
with feeding.
Although there were
severe wounds inflicted,
no tissue had been removed
from his body.
If you were to take all of
the flaps of skin and muscle
that he had, you could,
like a jigsaw puzzle,
put them back in place.
So the behavior exhibited by the
shark doesn't make any sense.
This strange behavior
renders the sharks species
a mystery.
And as concern in
the local community grows,
the question of public safety
falls to lifeguard captain
Larry Giles.
Dispatch, this is 23-0-5,
be advised I'm gonna be
on assignment
at the north end of the
district, available on air.
I've been a lifeguard here
for over 25 years.
And from what I understand,
and to my knowledge,
we haven't had any issues here
with sharks.
A lot of people were just trying
to come to grasp,
that, you know, is that
what really happened?
You know, we didn't know
what type of shark it was.
Our concern after that point
was, you know,
how, why, when, how could it?
Because it's just so rare.
Larry's first task
is to figure out
if the shark responsible or any
sharks are still in the area.
We thought it would be
best to get a helicopter
up in the air and look
for sharks in the water,
'cause they could see obviously
more than we can.
The hunt is on for a shark
that attacked and killed a man
yesterday north of San Diego.
Over a two-day period,
a sheriff's department
helicopter scans back and forth
along a 30-mile
stretch of coastline.
But not everyone supports
this strategy.
Finding a shark on the water
is like the proverbial
needle in the haystack.
A shark doesn't have to swim
that far out from the beach
to be in water deep enough
that if it simply descends into
the depths, it disappears,
it becomes stealth.
And if you do spot it
using a helicopter,
what are you going to do?
By the time you put together
a crew and a boat
to get out and catch it,
the shark is gone.
Sure enough, the
search leaves Larry frustrated.
It went on for maybe two days.
And we didn't see anything.
To my knowledge,
it wasn't confirmed
what type of shark it was.
The shark that
attacked Dave Martin
doesn't seem to attack for food,
swims rapidly...
...and is still out there.
I grew up near the water,
and just to think about
going in the water
and being part of the ocean,
it just makes me happy.
One of the places where
my family and myself
enjoy spending time
is in Catalina.
It's in this direction.
Santa Catalina is
a 22-mile-wide island
that lies just 60 miles
from where Dave Martin was
killed two months earlier.
Bettina, her husband and
two sons are frequent visitors.
And as avid kayakers
have recently bought a boat
big enough to store kayaks
on board.
My family and me were
out in a fishing tournament,
and I decided to
go out kayaking.
I was about 700 feet
away from shore.
And there was about
five other boats,
but I got my distance from them,
and I was more out in the open.
I, all of a sudden,
feel a big...
...push in my kayak.
It feels like when a car
hits you from behind,
that's how hard it was.
And I'm turning around
and I'm looking,
because I'm thinking,
who hit me?
I mean, I'm thinking
it's a small dinghy
or, you know, a small boat
that didn't see me.
So I'm looking, and under the
kayak I see this great mass.
It's dark.
And I automatically know
this is a shark.
Next thing I know,
he comes from underneath,
and he tosses me up in the air.
And all of sudden
I drop from the kayak
and land standing up
on his back.
I'm looking straight down
and I'm balancing on it.
I just decide, okay,
I'm gonna just dive off
the shark and start swimming.
And the shark is coming out of
the water with an open mouth
and his tail is thrashing.
And I'm swimming, I'm swimming
as fast as I can.
And at that moment
fear came into my body,
and I just thought, okay,
by the time I get to my boat,
I'm not gonna have legs.
I'm swimming away
from the shark,
and he's right behind me.
With her husband and
sons helplessly anchored
over 200 yards away,
Bettina Pereira faces
a swim for her life.
And I'm swimming
as fast as I can.
But I'm thinking my family's
gonna watch me die.
Local fisherman Bill Weilbacher
witnesses the scene unfold.
It was just the
sickest thing I've ever seen,
is just watching her swimming.
I could see tail thrashing
back and forth
as the shark is propelling
itself forward after her.
I mean, any second the shark
is gonna come up and hit her.
And it was just, you know,
such a feeling of helplessness.
And we've just anchored,
but there were two other
smaller boats
that were... if she would be here,
they would kind of be over here
maybe another 50 yards
behind us.
They're not anchored,
they're drifting.
And so we're screaming at them,
you know,
"Shark, shark, go, go, go!
Go get her!"
I couldn't believe my eyes
when I saw the fishermen
just show up in front of me
and say, "Over here, lady."
I just couldn't believe
that I wasn't seeing blood
come off her,
and she appeared to be
completely untouched.
I was in shock.
One of the fishermen,
he's tapping me,
"Lady, lady, it's okay,
the shark is gone."
Santa Catalina Island
lies just 60 miles
from Solana Beach where
Dave Martin was killed
only two months earlier.
They are the first unprovoked
shark attacks at these locations
in over 50 years.
Not surprisingly,
Bettina's miraculous escape
attracts the attention
of the local media.
Shark attacks are an interaction
that always takes people
by surprise.
However, we really had
never had reports
of those kinds of encounters
from that area.
So it was quite a shock
to the community,
and to those of us
in the science field.
Whenever you investigate
a shark attack,
you're more of a detective
than you are a research
biologist or scientist,
because the idea is to obtain
as many clues as you can.
These clues help us determine
the species of shark
and its size and also
the possible motivation.
Such clues might come
from eyewitness Bill Weilbacher,
who had a partial view
of the shark
that attacked Bettina Pereira.
The splashing was obscuring
really what was going on
at the shark's head.
But the top portion of the tail
was approximately
three feet high.
The girth was extremely large.
You know, something on this
order, a very, very big fish.
An experienced fisherman,
Bill is familiar with
one species in the area
that could match
this description.
There have been
1,000-pound makos
caught within 15 miles,
20 miles of that location
within the last three years.
This footage was shot
just a few miles
from the site of
Bettina's encounter,
and shows large mako sharks
are common to the waters
of Santa Catalina.
They reach up to
12 feet in length
and are one of the fastest fish
in the ocean,
capable of speeds approaching 20
miles per hour.
Sometimes you'll see them
actually jump.
And frequently what's happening
is that mako is down deep,
they're very fast,
they'll see some prey species
on the surface,
and they'll come
charging up through,
and their momentum will carry
them right out of the water
and somersault right back down.
It seems mako sharks
could be attacking people
in Southern California.
Those big makos,
that's probably the toughest
fish around here.
Ralph Collier,
however, is skeptical.
Mako sharks are very long
and narrow in shape,
which allows them to be
very sleek and very swift
instead of being broader.
Therefore, the attacks on
Bettina and Dave Martin,
they were not by a mako shark.
In fact, to the best
of my knowledge,
we have never had
an authenticated mako attack
in United States coastal waters.
Whatever species
attacked Dave and Bettina
remains a mystery.
And the strange behavior of the
shark involved in each attack
is proving difficult
to interpret.
Determining possible motivation
helps us in determining
the species of shark.
However, in the case of Bettina
and Dave Martin,
the behavior exhibited
was completely different.
Dave Martin was bitten
a number of times
before the shark left the area.
Bettina, she was struck once
by the shark, and she swam off.
So we had different motivation
by the animal.
It seems different
species might be involved.
And if that's the case,
it only makes the sudden flurry
of attacks more perplexing.
One thing is sure, the waters
of Southern California
cannot be considered
completely safe.
It was late afternoon,
just a little bit
before sundown,
and my girlfriend and I
had decided
to go for a quick little surf
at San Onofre after work,
you know,
before the sun went down.
San Onofre Beach
lies just 30 miles north
and 50 miles east of
the previous two attacks.
The nice thing about it
was that the beach is deserted,
completely deserted.
I was surfing for about maybe
half an hour, 45 minutes,
had a few fun rides.
I'm feeling a lot of small,
maybe four or five, six-inch
fish swimming around my legs.
Which is common, that doesn't
freak me out at all,
I mean, you know,
that's San Onofre.
I feel something brush
against my leg.
And it was definitely
not seaweed,
it was definitely not bait fish.
It feels rough.
And I literally feel it
wrap around my leg.
I never felt anything
like that before.
And then I feel pressure
compacting on my foot,
and I feel punctures going into
the top and the bottom
of my foot.
So pretty much instantly
I realize that
there's a shark that has
my foot in its mouth.
There's a lot of sand
churned up,
so I can't clearly
see the shark.
I say to my girlfriend,
"I've been bitten.
Get out of the water."
Instinctively, Scott
tries to shake his leg free
of the shark's jaws.
It felt like a vice,
you know, being tightened.
As I began to resist, it tried
to pull the opposite way.
My only reaction was to
try to shake my leg
as hard as possible.
Eventually, I did basically
kick the shark off of my leg,
and it swam away, didn't feel it
or see it again.
Scott is left with
four deep puncture wounds
on his foot.
His is the third mysterious
attack within a 40-mile radius
in the usually safe waters
of Southern California.
But the strange behavior
of the shark
as it wrapped itself
around Scott's leg
could implicate
an unlikely suspect.
Here we are
at San Onofre State Beach.
It can be a really heavily used
beach during the summer.
It tends to be much more crowded
during the winter.
But we rarely, rarely ever have
any problems with shark attacks
along this coastline.
Jim Serpa is visiting
the site of the shark attack
on Scott Barton,
the third such incident
within a 40-mile radius.
These areas are normally
considered safe,
but a clue that strikes Jim
as relevant
is that Scott reported
seeing an abundance
of four to five-inch fish
before he was bitten.
If you were to have
a surfer out here,
and prior to a shark attack
maybe he said he saw
lots of little fish.
Probability would be that
it was probably grunion,
at least in this area.
Grunion are small silver fish
around four to five inches long
that are known for their unique
breeding habits.
The female will come up
at the peak of a high tide,
bury themselves tail first
up to their little fins
or their gill slits,
lay their eggs,
up to 3,000 at a time,
two to three inches
below the surface.
The males will come up, wrap
themselves around the female,
it'll fertilize the eggs.
The eggs will stay there
up to two weeks,
till the next big
high tide comes.
And the turbulence
caused by the wave
actually causes
the egg case to break.
And the little grunions
swim out.
You can see grunion, grunion,
so many grunion,
literally you can't see
the sand anymore.
You just see a beach
that's covered in silver,
and it's shimmering
like it's alive.
It's just crazy.
Obviously, that would be
easy pickings
and a tasty buffet
for a predator.
And there's one shark
common to these waters
that's particularly
fond of grunion.
Around here you're gonna
find thresher,
would definitely feed on 'em.
Thresher sharks spend
most of their time
in deep water offshore, but
sometimes visit coastal waters
where they exhibit
their unique feeding behavior.
A thresher shark is
a really cool shark.
You can look at a thresher shark
and half of its body is tail.
And the reason
half of its body is tail
is they use that tail
as a fishing mechanism.
And what they do is they'll herd
the fish with their tail
into a really tight ball,
and then they'll bite into
that ball and feed.
This hunting strategy
could explain
why Scott felt the shark wrap
itself around his leg
before biting down.
Not only that, but another
feeding behavior of the thresher
might implicate it in
the attack on Bettina Pereira.
Thresher sharks will also
swim in a circle
and move towards the surface,
and then they will leap
out of the water.
And when they land in the water,
they take their tail
and slap it.
And that stuns the fish,
and they can come back around
and feed on it.
So the attack pattern
of the thresher shark
could make it the prime suspect
for the attacks
on Bettina Pereira
and Scott Barton.
But what about
Dave Martin's death?
Is a thresher also capable
of killing a swimmer?
Even though we
occasionally get a thresher
in close to shore, thresher
sharks have very small teeth.
They seldom, if ever,
attack marine mammals.
They're not really capable,
as far as their dentition,
to tackle such an animal.
Therefore a thresher could not
produce those wounds.
So while the thresher
shark is a strong candidate
for the attacks on
Scott and Bettina,
Dave Martin's killer
is still mystery.
And the biggest question
still lingers...
Why have there been
so many encounters
in locations that are
normally considered safe?
Lucas and I,
we arrived at the beach
about 15 minutes before sunrise.
I waxed up my surfboard,
and he waxed up his bodyboard,
and then we headed out
into the water.
I met Lucas freshman year
of high school.
And he is just the most colorful
character you will ever meet.
Very loving, very accepting
of everybody.
Everyone's friend,
a real people person.
Lucas is having
the time of his life.
I watched him take
this really big wave,
and he comes by me, and he's
just like making faces at me,
'cause he's on the wave
and I'm not.
And he was like, "Dude, I could
fit a VW in that barrel."
And I was like,
wow, that's crazy.
That is just nuts.
And he just paddles
right next to me,
and then we just look out
into the horizon
waiting for the next set
to come.
And he made the comment that
it seemed like we were in
a different world almost,
because it was just us,
and it was a perfect
beautiful day of waves,
and it was just unreal.
As we're waiting, I hear
the water break behind me.
Something just was coming out.
And I looked over and it was
a shark breaking the water.
It just grabbed him.
There was no test bite.
He was hungry and hunting.
I'm looking back, and I just see
Lucas come over the top
of a very, very large wave,
all red, just completely red.
And he took two big strokes,
and then dropped lifelessly
into the water.
And then at that moment
I realized that
my friend was gonna die.
I sprinted towards him
to grab him and bring him home.
I noticed he was missing
his entire leg.
There was just no blood
on the beach.
There was no more blood
for him to bleed out.
Desperately Matthew begins CPR.
As I was doing compressions,
water was coming
out of his mouth,
and I mean, eventually foam
started to come out,
and then he left me.
Lucas's death sends
the media into a frenzy
and leaves the community
in mourning.
He is the latest victim
in a series of shark attacks
sweeping Southern California.
Ralph Collier is drafted in to
help investigate the incident.
I was called by
the authorities in Santa Barbara
following the attack
on Lucas Ransom.
They asked if I could assist
them in making a determination
as to the species of shark
and its size,
and they also wanted to know
what should be done
to alleviate these types
of events in the future.
To do this, Ralph has
devised an ingenious method.
We discovered
that by using clay,
we get a dental impression.
The distance between
each individual tooth
will relate well to not only the
species of shark, but its size.
In the case of Lucas Ransom,
during the attack his surfboard
had this piece removed.
To determine the size
and species of shark,
in a case of a surfboard,
we'll take a tracing where
we will trace the surfboard.
We place paper on the board,
we use a pencil,
and we trace over the paper.
This gives us an impression
of the bite.
Here's a tooth puncture.
A second, a third, a fourth,
and so on down the side.
These impressions
give a clear indication
of the species that killed
Lucas Ransom.
We were able to determine
that the shark
in his case was a great white,
16 to 17 feet in length.
Growing up to 22 feet in length,
great whites are the largest
predatory fish on Earth,
and can reach speeds of
up to 35 miles per hour
as they torpedo out of the water
to take their prey.
So could a great white also
explain the mystery
of Dave Martin's attack?
Although the attack on
Dave Martin was not predatory,
the shark did not
think he was food,
he was still bitten
a number of times
before the shark left the area.
In my opinion, this is typical
of a certain behavior
of great white shark.
By all accounts,
Lucas Ransom and Dave Martin
were both killed
by great white sharks.
But there is a bigger issue
at stake.
Historically, it's believed that
most attacks by great whites
in California have taken place
in the center of the state.
The attacks on
Lucas Ransom and Dave Martin
occurred in the southern part
of California.
It doesn't make any sense.
To try to understand
why great whites
might be attacking people
in Southern California,
Ralph Collier looks closer
at its strange behavior
in the case of Dave Martin.
When it comes to interactions
between sharks and humans,
there are only three things
that can take place.
One is a predatory attack
which is very high energy,
very forceful.
The second type is investigation
where the shark takes a nibble
to determine whether
it's food or not.
The last one we refer to
as displacement behavior.
That's when the shark is
defending a territory,
perceives you as a threat,
so it strikes out at you
to drive you away,
to get you out of its area.
In the case of Dave Martin,
it was more of
a displacement behavior,
because it had nothing
to do with feeding.
Otherwise that shark would have
removed tissue, and it didn't.
And I think because
Dave was a large man,
larger than the individual
next to him,
he was singled out as
a potential predator.
But why would an apex predator
like a great white shark
see a swimmer as a threat?
The behavior
exhibited by the shark
in the case of Dave Martin
was a little bit different
in that there was no consumption
of any tissue.
I think the shark
was striking out
as a way of clearing the area
of a potential predator
in case it's going
to give birth.
If great whites are
using the south to breed,
this could shatter the theory
that a thresher shark
attacked Bettina Pereira
and Scott Barton.
The feeding habits of
newborn great whites
are particularly important
in the case of Scott Barton.
Sharks store their excess energy
in the form of an oil called
squalene in their liver.
When a juvenile white shark
is born
less than 10% of its body mass
is the liver,
which means it has very little
reserve energy,
so it has to start
feeding immediately.
In Southern California,
we know every two weeks
millions of grunion
are going to spawn,
providing that shark with
a substantial amount
of nourishment
simply from the numbers of fish
that are available to it.
Scott Barton's attack occurred
during a grunion spawn.
When we gather all of this
information and put it together,
I don't think his was
a thresher shark.
I believe he was hit by
a juvenile white shark.
In the case of Scott Barton,
the initial contact by the shark
was investigation.
There were lots of bait fish
in the water,
it saw something move,
and it struck
and knew that it had
made a mistake
and released him and swam off.
The inquisitive nature
of the white shark
also matches the circumstances
of Bettina Pereira's attack.
So the way a white shark
investigates an object
is it will look at it.
Sometimes they'll even bump it
to feel the texture.
Well, the last thing they do,
is they put it in their mouth
to take what I would refer to as
an investigation or a test bite.
Therefore, what occurred
in Bettina's case
was the shark came up
and hit the kayak.
And in doing so realized
it wasn't what it thought,
so it leveled out.
As it leveled, its back made
contact with the kayak,
startled the shark and
it flinched and shot forward,
and in doing so catapulted her
up into the air,
and she ended up landing
on the shark's back.
Even though we had vastly
different sized sharks
and different potential
motivations for these attacks,
the species was exactly the same
for all four cases.
And the shark responsible
was a white shark.
But a more chilling
question still lingers...
When for so long the waters
of Southern California
were considered safe,
why are great whites
attacking people here?
Originally the majority
of the attacks that occurred
along the California coast
occurred within this designated
area, which was rather limited,
so it was given a nickname,
the Red Triangle.
So here we have
the coast of California.
The Red Triangle extends
from this area
out to the Farallon Islands
and then south down
Half Moon Bay, that area.
In fact, about 40% of
the attacks that had occurred
along the Pacific Coast
of North America
had occurred within
the Red Triangle.
It was thought that the majority
of the attacks in here
were by white sharks, and that
if you were outside this area,
you were pretty much safe.
However, what's surprising to me
is that today we have cases
in Southern California
outside of this Red Triangle.
Something's not right.
Something has changed along
this coastline of this state.
An historic case
from inside the Red Triangle
might shed light on the danger
spreading down
California's coast.
Well, this is the northern edge
of The Red Triangle, Bodega Bay.
A lot of people come to
this beach for the surfing
and picnicking and just
playing in the sand.
All my life
I've been in the water,
since I was a little kid.
My dad commercial fished.
You know, it's always been
in my blood.
Rodney is
an experienced spear-fisherman
and takes his board out
hoping for a good catch.
I wanted to shoot some fish.
I was having fun.
Actually, a harbor seal
swam up to me
and almost scared my suit off.
But you know, I was comfortable,
had no bad feelings or
anything like that.
I was on the surface, getting
ready to make my first dive.
I just kicked over
and started down.
As soon as I kicked
under the water,
it just snapped onto me fast.
A massive great white
has Rodney's head in its jaws.
All of a sudden
I could see the water down
about three feet.
So it had me with its head up
out of the water
carrying me south.
My head was like
stuck on a fork,
and I couldn't move it.
It sounded like
a garage door closing.
And then I realized
the noise I heard
were the teeth going
through my bones.
Rodney's head is stuck
in the jaws of a massive
great white shark.
The thing was huge
around, looked like a submarine.
I don't think three of us could
have reached around it.
I couldn't pull my head out,
I couldn't do anything,
I had no control at all.
As his life hangs by a thread,
survival instincts kick in.
I went berserk and
started beating on it.
I had the gun,
and I whacked him on the head
with it a couple times.
And then all of a sudden
it just spit me out.
The shark has punctured holes
in Rodney's nose and cheekbone.
But despite his injuries, he
manages to paddle back to shore.
When I got close to the beach,
I was about only 30 or 40 feet
before people started noticing
I was covered with blood.
But I figured if I'm still
alive, you're ahead of the game.
This historic encounter
from inside the danger zone
of Central California
could hold a clue to unraveling
why attacks seem to be
spreading down the coast.
Rodney Orr was bitten in
the Red Triangle
in Central California.
That's an area that is
utilized by pinnipeds.
Pinnipeds are seals
and sea lions.
They haul out there,
they have rookeries there.
There were more shark attacks
in the area
because the sharks were
drawn to that area,
because that's
their natural prey.
You and I go to
the grocery store,
they go to pinniped
haul-out sites.
This designated area
was rather limited,
because the sharks helped
control the pinniped population,
keeping the ecosystem
balanced out there.
So we had more shark attacks
within that region.
But Collier believes
something has now upset
the stability of
this delicate ecosystem.
We're in Carpinteria
at a place called
Carpinteria Bluffs.
This is typical of most of
the coastline of California.
Carpinteria lies in
Southern California
over four hours south
of the Red Triangle.
20 or 30 years ago
seldom would you ever see
a pinniped hauled out on
a sandy beach like this,
here in Southern California.
Along of the California coast
today we now see them.
There's a perfect example.
There's a couple of them there.
The pinniped population
has exploded
for a number of reasons.
One of the things that happened
was the movie "Jaws" came out
in the mid '70s.
Well, suddenly white sharks
were just a nuisance
in most people's minds.
They were now hunted.
When we removed them, the
pinniped population exploded.
But an explosion in pinnipeds
and a reduction in great whites
should make the beaches safer.
So why the sudden rise in
shark attacks in the south?
Nearly 15 years ago
the White Shark Protection Act
was passed here in California,
which means you cannot go out
and hunt them.
So now today the white shark
is slowly coming back,
which is good.
It's not so not good that now
we're getting white sharks
moving along the coast
in Southern California
following their food
in areas like this
that are utilized by humans.
Dave Martin,
Lucas Ransom,
Scott Barton,
Bettina,
were all in areas that are
utilized by pinnipeds.
If the pinnipeds
hadn't been there,
there's a good chance the sharks
wouldn't have been there.
So it doesn't matter if you're
in Northern California
or Southern California,
going into the water
there's always the potential
that you might have an encounter
with a white shark.
And so the fact that
we have these interactions
between white sharks and humans
along this coast
is not surprising.
What is surprising is
that we don't have more.
that attacked and killed a man
north of San Diego.
In 2008
Southern California
is under siege
from a series of shark attacks
that no one can explain.
Although there were
severe wounds inflicted,
no tissue had been
removed from his body.
These beaches haven't
seen attacks in over 50 years.
Shark attacks do not happen
in San Diego.
It's basically impossible
that something like that
could happen.
And as the terror spreads...
Something has changed
along this coastline
in this state.
It seems anyone could be next.
And I just thought, okay,
by the time I get to my boat,
I'm not gonna have legs.
Solana Beach is beautiful.
It's serene and it's such
a place for outdoor enthusiasts
and surfers and water people.
I love to stay active.
And when I moved to San Diego,
the first thing I did,
I Googled "triathlon,"
and I found the Triathlon Club
of San Diego.
I had probably been in town
for maybe two days
and instantly made a whole
new group of friends,
and was inducted into a group
of athletic people immediately.
I get down to the beach and
see the group of people
getting ready to go swim.
And we all quickly
exchanged pleasantries,
walked down to the ocean,
and we were off very quickly.
I never had a fear in the water.
I had been told that sharks
aren't an issue,
nothing to worry about
by friends, you know.
Among the swimmers is
66-year-old retired veterinarian
Dr. Dave Martin.
I kept looking over
and seeing Dave.
And I always feel
more comfortable
when I see people around me
when I'm swimming.
You just like to know
kind of where people are.
And I kept seeing him,
and he just seemed so relaxed
and so peaceful
while he was swimming,
and it put me at ease.
And then at one point
I heard a noise...
...that didn't sound
right to me.
So I slowed down
and I noticed that Dave wasn't
next to me anymore.
And then I heard
the noise again.
And I looked back...
...and Dave was motioning and
waving his hands in the air.
And very clearly I could hear
that he had said, "Shark."
And then within a split second
I just knew
that he was in trouble,
and I swam to him.
When I heard the word "shark,"
I'm thinking, there hasn't been
a shark attack, there's no way.
But the water was moving
in a way that you can tell
a large animal is still there,
and I remember thinking clearly
that it was swimming
really fast.
Both my parents
have passed away,
and I just remember
saying a prayer
and asking my parents to watch
over me while I was out there.
Help! Help!
Swimming just ahead
of Laurene and Dave
is veteran team member
Kenn Flagg.
Someone says, "I
think Dave had a heart attack,"
and I knew that's
not what happened.
Kenn and his teammates
ignore the danger
and swim to the scene.
When we get there, there's
lots of blood in the water.
The damage was extensive.
His femoral arteries were
completely severed.
Dave is bleeding badly,
but for some reason the shark
hasn't removed any of his flesh.
He was white, and he was
certainly not conscious.
And I realize we need
to get back to shore
as quickly as possible.
Pretty much everybody grabs a
limb and starts pulling on him.
And I was very concerned
that he wouldn't make it.
Help!
Paramedics arrive within minutes
and desperately attempt
to save Dave's life.
About an hour later,
one of the paramedics came over
and said that he hadn't made it.
Yeah, it, it didn't sink in
for a long time.
Shark attacks do not
happen in San Diego.
It's basically impossible
that something like that
could happen.
And I don't know if
I've accepted it yet.
I would say that
the community was shocked.
It's something that
is extremely rare.
My understanding was that
it had been 51 years
since there had been a fatality
due to a shark
in the San Diego area.
There were helicopters
and all these reporters
set up here on the grass.
He was screaming
according to witnesses.
Both legs severely injured.
Experts say shark
attacks in Southern California
are extremely rare.
Swimmers, surfers,
anyone else being told
to stay out of the waters
here in Southern California.
An attack in normally
safe waters begs the question,
what species is responsible
and why would it bite a person
without removing any flesh?
The case attracts the attention
of local expert Ralph Collier.
Whenever you have
a fatal shark attack,
communities are shocked,
I'm always shocked by it.
It's a tragedy, especially
in the case of Dave Martin.
Because that area had never
really experienced
any kind of interaction
between a shark and a human.
We always thought that
the majority of the attacks
that occurred along
the California coast
occurred in Central California.
Dave Martin, however,
was attacked in San Diego,
in Southern California.
Something's not right here.
The manner of
the attack is also perplexing.
The one thing that was atypical
about this attack on Dave Martin
was that it had nothing to do
with feeding.
Although there were
severe wounds inflicted,
no tissue had been removed
from his body.
If you were to take all of
the flaps of skin and muscle
that he had, you could,
like a jigsaw puzzle,
put them back in place.
So the behavior exhibited by the
shark doesn't make any sense.
This strange behavior
renders the sharks species
a mystery.
And as concern in
the local community grows,
the question of public safety
falls to lifeguard captain
Larry Giles.
Dispatch, this is 23-0-5,
be advised I'm gonna be
on assignment
at the north end of the
district, available on air.
I've been a lifeguard here
for over 25 years.
And from what I understand,
and to my knowledge,
we haven't had any issues here
with sharks.
A lot of people were just trying
to come to grasp,
that, you know, is that
what really happened?
You know, we didn't know
what type of shark it was.
Our concern after that point
was, you know,
how, why, when, how could it?
Because it's just so rare.
Larry's first task
is to figure out
if the shark responsible or any
sharks are still in the area.
We thought it would be
best to get a helicopter
up in the air and look
for sharks in the water,
'cause they could see obviously
more than we can.
The hunt is on for a shark
that attacked and killed a man
yesterday north of San Diego.
Over a two-day period,
a sheriff's department
helicopter scans back and forth
along a 30-mile
stretch of coastline.
But not everyone supports
this strategy.
Finding a shark on the water
is like the proverbial
needle in the haystack.
A shark doesn't have to swim
that far out from the beach
to be in water deep enough
that if it simply descends into
the depths, it disappears,
it becomes stealth.
And if you do spot it
using a helicopter,
what are you going to do?
By the time you put together
a crew and a boat
to get out and catch it,
the shark is gone.
Sure enough, the
search leaves Larry frustrated.
It went on for maybe two days.
And we didn't see anything.
To my knowledge,
it wasn't confirmed
what type of shark it was.
The shark that
attacked Dave Martin
doesn't seem to attack for food,
swims rapidly...
...and is still out there.
I grew up near the water,
and just to think about
going in the water
and being part of the ocean,
it just makes me happy.
One of the places where
my family and myself
enjoy spending time
is in Catalina.
It's in this direction.
Santa Catalina is
a 22-mile-wide island
that lies just 60 miles
from where Dave Martin was
killed two months earlier.
Bettina, her husband and
two sons are frequent visitors.
And as avid kayakers
have recently bought a boat
big enough to store kayaks
on board.
My family and me were
out in a fishing tournament,
and I decided to
go out kayaking.
I was about 700 feet
away from shore.
And there was about
five other boats,
but I got my distance from them,
and I was more out in the open.
I, all of a sudden,
feel a big...
...push in my kayak.
It feels like when a car
hits you from behind,
that's how hard it was.
And I'm turning around
and I'm looking,
because I'm thinking,
who hit me?
I mean, I'm thinking
it's a small dinghy
or, you know, a small boat
that didn't see me.
So I'm looking, and under the
kayak I see this great mass.
It's dark.
And I automatically know
this is a shark.
Next thing I know,
he comes from underneath,
and he tosses me up in the air.
And all of sudden
I drop from the kayak
and land standing up
on his back.
I'm looking straight down
and I'm balancing on it.
I just decide, okay,
I'm gonna just dive off
the shark and start swimming.
And the shark is coming out of
the water with an open mouth
and his tail is thrashing.
And I'm swimming, I'm swimming
as fast as I can.
And at that moment
fear came into my body,
and I just thought, okay,
by the time I get to my boat,
I'm not gonna have legs.
I'm swimming away
from the shark,
and he's right behind me.
With her husband and
sons helplessly anchored
over 200 yards away,
Bettina Pereira faces
a swim for her life.
And I'm swimming
as fast as I can.
But I'm thinking my family's
gonna watch me die.
Local fisherman Bill Weilbacher
witnesses the scene unfold.
It was just the
sickest thing I've ever seen,
is just watching her swimming.
I could see tail thrashing
back and forth
as the shark is propelling
itself forward after her.
I mean, any second the shark
is gonna come up and hit her.
And it was just, you know,
such a feeling of helplessness.
And we've just anchored,
but there were two other
smaller boats
that were... if she would be here,
they would kind of be over here
maybe another 50 yards
behind us.
They're not anchored,
they're drifting.
And so we're screaming at them,
you know,
"Shark, shark, go, go, go!
Go get her!"
I couldn't believe my eyes
when I saw the fishermen
just show up in front of me
and say, "Over here, lady."
I just couldn't believe
that I wasn't seeing blood
come off her,
and she appeared to be
completely untouched.
I was in shock.
One of the fishermen,
he's tapping me,
"Lady, lady, it's okay,
the shark is gone."
Santa Catalina Island
lies just 60 miles
from Solana Beach where
Dave Martin was killed
only two months earlier.
They are the first unprovoked
shark attacks at these locations
in over 50 years.
Not surprisingly,
Bettina's miraculous escape
attracts the attention
of the local media.
Shark attacks are an interaction
that always takes people
by surprise.
However, we really had
never had reports
of those kinds of encounters
from that area.
So it was quite a shock
to the community,
and to those of us
in the science field.
Whenever you investigate
a shark attack,
you're more of a detective
than you are a research
biologist or scientist,
because the idea is to obtain
as many clues as you can.
These clues help us determine
the species of shark
and its size and also
the possible motivation.
Such clues might come
from eyewitness Bill Weilbacher,
who had a partial view
of the shark
that attacked Bettina Pereira.
The splashing was obscuring
really what was going on
at the shark's head.
But the top portion of the tail
was approximately
three feet high.
The girth was extremely large.
You know, something on this
order, a very, very big fish.
An experienced fisherman,
Bill is familiar with
one species in the area
that could match
this description.
There have been
1,000-pound makos
caught within 15 miles,
20 miles of that location
within the last three years.
This footage was shot
just a few miles
from the site of
Bettina's encounter,
and shows large mako sharks
are common to the waters
of Santa Catalina.
They reach up to
12 feet in length
and are one of the fastest fish
in the ocean,
capable of speeds approaching 20
miles per hour.
Sometimes you'll see them
actually jump.
And frequently what's happening
is that mako is down deep,
they're very fast,
they'll see some prey species
on the surface,
and they'll come
charging up through,
and their momentum will carry
them right out of the water
and somersault right back down.
It seems mako sharks
could be attacking people
in Southern California.
Those big makos,
that's probably the toughest
fish around here.
Ralph Collier,
however, is skeptical.
Mako sharks are very long
and narrow in shape,
which allows them to be
very sleek and very swift
instead of being broader.
Therefore, the attacks on
Bettina and Dave Martin,
they were not by a mako shark.
In fact, to the best
of my knowledge,
we have never had
an authenticated mako attack
in United States coastal waters.
Whatever species
attacked Dave and Bettina
remains a mystery.
And the strange behavior of the
shark involved in each attack
is proving difficult
to interpret.
Determining possible motivation
helps us in determining
the species of shark.
However, in the case of Bettina
and Dave Martin,
the behavior exhibited
was completely different.
Dave Martin was bitten
a number of times
before the shark left the area.
Bettina, she was struck once
by the shark, and she swam off.
So we had different motivation
by the animal.
It seems different
species might be involved.
And if that's the case,
it only makes the sudden flurry
of attacks more perplexing.
One thing is sure, the waters
of Southern California
cannot be considered
completely safe.
It was late afternoon,
just a little bit
before sundown,
and my girlfriend and I
had decided
to go for a quick little surf
at San Onofre after work,
you know,
before the sun went down.
San Onofre Beach
lies just 30 miles north
and 50 miles east of
the previous two attacks.
The nice thing about it
was that the beach is deserted,
completely deserted.
I was surfing for about maybe
half an hour, 45 minutes,
had a few fun rides.
I'm feeling a lot of small,
maybe four or five, six-inch
fish swimming around my legs.
Which is common, that doesn't
freak me out at all,
I mean, you know,
that's San Onofre.
I feel something brush
against my leg.
And it was definitely
not seaweed,
it was definitely not bait fish.
It feels rough.
And I literally feel it
wrap around my leg.
I never felt anything
like that before.
And then I feel pressure
compacting on my foot,
and I feel punctures going into
the top and the bottom
of my foot.
So pretty much instantly
I realize that
there's a shark that has
my foot in its mouth.
There's a lot of sand
churned up,
so I can't clearly
see the shark.
I say to my girlfriend,
"I've been bitten.
Get out of the water."
Instinctively, Scott
tries to shake his leg free
of the shark's jaws.
It felt like a vice,
you know, being tightened.
As I began to resist, it tried
to pull the opposite way.
My only reaction was to
try to shake my leg
as hard as possible.
Eventually, I did basically
kick the shark off of my leg,
and it swam away, didn't feel it
or see it again.
Scott is left with
four deep puncture wounds
on his foot.
His is the third mysterious
attack within a 40-mile radius
in the usually safe waters
of Southern California.
But the strange behavior
of the shark
as it wrapped itself
around Scott's leg
could implicate
an unlikely suspect.
Here we are
at San Onofre State Beach.
It can be a really heavily used
beach during the summer.
It tends to be much more crowded
during the winter.
But we rarely, rarely ever have
any problems with shark attacks
along this coastline.
Jim Serpa is visiting
the site of the shark attack
on Scott Barton,
the third such incident
within a 40-mile radius.
These areas are normally
considered safe,
but a clue that strikes Jim
as relevant
is that Scott reported
seeing an abundance
of four to five-inch fish
before he was bitten.
If you were to have
a surfer out here,
and prior to a shark attack
maybe he said he saw
lots of little fish.
Probability would be that
it was probably grunion,
at least in this area.
Grunion are small silver fish
around four to five inches long
that are known for their unique
breeding habits.
The female will come up
at the peak of a high tide,
bury themselves tail first
up to their little fins
or their gill slits,
lay their eggs,
up to 3,000 at a time,
two to three inches
below the surface.
The males will come up, wrap
themselves around the female,
it'll fertilize the eggs.
The eggs will stay there
up to two weeks,
till the next big
high tide comes.
And the turbulence
caused by the wave
actually causes
the egg case to break.
And the little grunions
swim out.
You can see grunion, grunion,
so many grunion,
literally you can't see
the sand anymore.
You just see a beach
that's covered in silver,
and it's shimmering
like it's alive.
It's just crazy.
Obviously, that would be
easy pickings
and a tasty buffet
for a predator.
And there's one shark
common to these waters
that's particularly
fond of grunion.
Around here you're gonna
find thresher,
would definitely feed on 'em.
Thresher sharks spend
most of their time
in deep water offshore, but
sometimes visit coastal waters
where they exhibit
their unique feeding behavior.
A thresher shark is
a really cool shark.
You can look at a thresher shark
and half of its body is tail.
And the reason
half of its body is tail
is they use that tail
as a fishing mechanism.
And what they do is they'll herd
the fish with their tail
into a really tight ball,
and then they'll bite into
that ball and feed.
This hunting strategy
could explain
why Scott felt the shark wrap
itself around his leg
before biting down.
Not only that, but another
feeding behavior of the thresher
might implicate it in
the attack on Bettina Pereira.
Thresher sharks will also
swim in a circle
and move towards the surface,
and then they will leap
out of the water.
And when they land in the water,
they take their tail
and slap it.
And that stuns the fish,
and they can come back around
and feed on it.
So the attack pattern
of the thresher shark
could make it the prime suspect
for the attacks
on Bettina Pereira
and Scott Barton.
But what about
Dave Martin's death?
Is a thresher also capable
of killing a swimmer?
Even though we
occasionally get a thresher
in close to shore, thresher
sharks have very small teeth.
They seldom, if ever,
attack marine mammals.
They're not really capable,
as far as their dentition,
to tackle such an animal.
Therefore a thresher could not
produce those wounds.
So while the thresher
shark is a strong candidate
for the attacks on
Scott and Bettina,
Dave Martin's killer
is still mystery.
And the biggest question
still lingers...
Why have there been
so many encounters
in locations that are
normally considered safe?
Lucas and I,
we arrived at the beach
about 15 minutes before sunrise.
I waxed up my surfboard,
and he waxed up his bodyboard,
and then we headed out
into the water.
I met Lucas freshman year
of high school.
And he is just the most colorful
character you will ever meet.
Very loving, very accepting
of everybody.
Everyone's friend,
a real people person.
Lucas is having
the time of his life.
I watched him take
this really big wave,
and he comes by me, and he's
just like making faces at me,
'cause he's on the wave
and I'm not.
And he was like, "Dude, I could
fit a VW in that barrel."
And I was like,
wow, that's crazy.
That is just nuts.
And he just paddles
right next to me,
and then we just look out
into the horizon
waiting for the next set
to come.
And he made the comment that
it seemed like we were in
a different world almost,
because it was just us,
and it was a perfect
beautiful day of waves,
and it was just unreal.
As we're waiting, I hear
the water break behind me.
Something just was coming out.
And I looked over and it was
a shark breaking the water.
It just grabbed him.
There was no test bite.
He was hungry and hunting.
I'm looking back, and I just see
Lucas come over the top
of a very, very large wave,
all red, just completely red.
And he took two big strokes,
and then dropped lifelessly
into the water.
And then at that moment
I realized that
my friend was gonna die.
I sprinted towards him
to grab him and bring him home.
I noticed he was missing
his entire leg.
There was just no blood
on the beach.
There was no more blood
for him to bleed out.
Desperately Matthew begins CPR.
As I was doing compressions,
water was coming
out of his mouth,
and I mean, eventually foam
started to come out,
and then he left me.
Lucas's death sends
the media into a frenzy
and leaves the community
in mourning.
He is the latest victim
in a series of shark attacks
sweeping Southern California.
Ralph Collier is drafted in to
help investigate the incident.
I was called by
the authorities in Santa Barbara
following the attack
on Lucas Ransom.
They asked if I could assist
them in making a determination
as to the species of shark
and its size,
and they also wanted to know
what should be done
to alleviate these types
of events in the future.
To do this, Ralph has
devised an ingenious method.
We discovered
that by using clay,
we get a dental impression.
The distance between
each individual tooth
will relate well to not only the
species of shark, but its size.
In the case of Lucas Ransom,
during the attack his surfboard
had this piece removed.
To determine the size
and species of shark,
in a case of a surfboard,
we'll take a tracing where
we will trace the surfboard.
We place paper on the board,
we use a pencil,
and we trace over the paper.
This gives us an impression
of the bite.
Here's a tooth puncture.
A second, a third, a fourth,
and so on down the side.
These impressions
give a clear indication
of the species that killed
Lucas Ransom.
We were able to determine
that the shark
in his case was a great white,
16 to 17 feet in length.
Growing up to 22 feet in length,
great whites are the largest
predatory fish on Earth,
and can reach speeds of
up to 35 miles per hour
as they torpedo out of the water
to take their prey.
So could a great white also
explain the mystery
of Dave Martin's attack?
Although the attack on
Dave Martin was not predatory,
the shark did not
think he was food,
he was still bitten
a number of times
before the shark left the area.
In my opinion, this is typical
of a certain behavior
of great white shark.
By all accounts,
Lucas Ransom and Dave Martin
were both killed
by great white sharks.
But there is a bigger issue
at stake.
Historically, it's believed that
most attacks by great whites
in California have taken place
in the center of the state.
The attacks on
Lucas Ransom and Dave Martin
occurred in the southern part
of California.
It doesn't make any sense.
To try to understand
why great whites
might be attacking people
in Southern California,
Ralph Collier looks closer
at its strange behavior
in the case of Dave Martin.
When it comes to interactions
between sharks and humans,
there are only three things
that can take place.
One is a predatory attack
which is very high energy,
very forceful.
The second type is investigation
where the shark takes a nibble
to determine whether
it's food or not.
The last one we refer to
as displacement behavior.
That's when the shark is
defending a territory,
perceives you as a threat,
so it strikes out at you
to drive you away,
to get you out of its area.
In the case of Dave Martin,
it was more of
a displacement behavior,
because it had nothing
to do with feeding.
Otherwise that shark would have
removed tissue, and it didn't.
And I think because
Dave was a large man,
larger than the individual
next to him,
he was singled out as
a potential predator.
But why would an apex predator
like a great white shark
see a swimmer as a threat?
The behavior
exhibited by the shark
in the case of Dave Martin
was a little bit different
in that there was no consumption
of any tissue.
I think the shark
was striking out
as a way of clearing the area
of a potential predator
in case it's going
to give birth.
If great whites are
using the south to breed,
this could shatter the theory
that a thresher shark
attacked Bettina Pereira
and Scott Barton.
The feeding habits of
newborn great whites
are particularly important
in the case of Scott Barton.
Sharks store their excess energy
in the form of an oil called
squalene in their liver.
When a juvenile white shark
is born
less than 10% of its body mass
is the liver,
which means it has very little
reserve energy,
so it has to start
feeding immediately.
In Southern California,
we know every two weeks
millions of grunion
are going to spawn,
providing that shark with
a substantial amount
of nourishment
simply from the numbers of fish
that are available to it.
Scott Barton's attack occurred
during a grunion spawn.
When we gather all of this
information and put it together,
I don't think his was
a thresher shark.
I believe he was hit by
a juvenile white shark.
In the case of Scott Barton,
the initial contact by the shark
was investigation.
There were lots of bait fish
in the water,
it saw something move,
and it struck
and knew that it had
made a mistake
and released him and swam off.
The inquisitive nature
of the white shark
also matches the circumstances
of Bettina Pereira's attack.
So the way a white shark
investigates an object
is it will look at it.
Sometimes they'll even bump it
to feel the texture.
Well, the last thing they do,
is they put it in their mouth
to take what I would refer to as
an investigation or a test bite.
Therefore, what occurred
in Bettina's case
was the shark came up
and hit the kayak.
And in doing so realized
it wasn't what it thought,
so it leveled out.
As it leveled, its back made
contact with the kayak,
startled the shark and
it flinched and shot forward,
and in doing so catapulted her
up into the air,
and she ended up landing
on the shark's back.
Even though we had vastly
different sized sharks
and different potential
motivations for these attacks,
the species was exactly the same
for all four cases.
And the shark responsible
was a white shark.
But a more chilling
question still lingers...
When for so long the waters
of Southern California
were considered safe,
why are great whites
attacking people here?
Originally the majority
of the attacks that occurred
along the California coast
occurred within this designated
area, which was rather limited,
so it was given a nickname,
the Red Triangle.
So here we have
the coast of California.
The Red Triangle extends
from this area
out to the Farallon Islands
and then south down
Half Moon Bay, that area.
In fact, about 40% of
the attacks that had occurred
along the Pacific Coast
of North America
had occurred within
the Red Triangle.
It was thought that the majority
of the attacks in here
were by white sharks, and that
if you were outside this area,
you were pretty much safe.
However, what's surprising to me
is that today we have cases
in Southern California
outside of this Red Triangle.
Something's not right.
Something has changed along
this coastline of this state.
An historic case
from inside the Red Triangle
might shed light on the danger
spreading down
California's coast.
Well, this is the northern edge
of The Red Triangle, Bodega Bay.
A lot of people come to
this beach for the surfing
and picnicking and just
playing in the sand.
All my life
I've been in the water,
since I was a little kid.
My dad commercial fished.
You know, it's always been
in my blood.
Rodney is
an experienced spear-fisherman
and takes his board out
hoping for a good catch.
I wanted to shoot some fish.
I was having fun.
Actually, a harbor seal
swam up to me
and almost scared my suit off.
But you know, I was comfortable,
had no bad feelings or
anything like that.
I was on the surface, getting
ready to make my first dive.
I just kicked over
and started down.
As soon as I kicked
under the water,
it just snapped onto me fast.
A massive great white
has Rodney's head in its jaws.
All of a sudden
I could see the water down
about three feet.
So it had me with its head up
out of the water
carrying me south.
My head was like
stuck on a fork,
and I couldn't move it.
It sounded like
a garage door closing.
And then I realized
the noise I heard
were the teeth going
through my bones.
Rodney's head is stuck
in the jaws of a massive
great white shark.
The thing was huge
around, looked like a submarine.
I don't think three of us could
have reached around it.
I couldn't pull my head out,
I couldn't do anything,
I had no control at all.
As his life hangs by a thread,
survival instincts kick in.
I went berserk and
started beating on it.
I had the gun,
and I whacked him on the head
with it a couple times.
And then all of a sudden
it just spit me out.
The shark has punctured holes
in Rodney's nose and cheekbone.
But despite his injuries, he
manages to paddle back to shore.
When I got close to the beach,
I was about only 30 or 40 feet
before people started noticing
I was covered with blood.
But I figured if I'm still
alive, you're ahead of the game.
This historic encounter
from inside the danger zone
of Central California
could hold a clue to unraveling
why attacks seem to be
spreading down the coast.
Rodney Orr was bitten in
the Red Triangle
in Central California.
That's an area that is
utilized by pinnipeds.
Pinnipeds are seals
and sea lions.
They haul out there,
they have rookeries there.
There were more shark attacks
in the area
because the sharks were
drawn to that area,
because that's
their natural prey.
You and I go to
the grocery store,
they go to pinniped
haul-out sites.
This designated area
was rather limited,
because the sharks helped
control the pinniped population,
keeping the ecosystem
balanced out there.
So we had more shark attacks
within that region.
But Collier believes
something has now upset
the stability of
this delicate ecosystem.
We're in Carpinteria
at a place called
Carpinteria Bluffs.
This is typical of most of
the coastline of California.
Carpinteria lies in
Southern California
over four hours south
of the Red Triangle.
20 or 30 years ago
seldom would you ever see
a pinniped hauled out on
a sandy beach like this,
here in Southern California.
Along of the California coast
today we now see them.
There's a perfect example.
There's a couple of them there.
The pinniped population
has exploded
for a number of reasons.
One of the things that happened
was the movie "Jaws" came out
in the mid '70s.
Well, suddenly white sharks
were just a nuisance
in most people's minds.
They were now hunted.
When we removed them, the
pinniped population exploded.
But an explosion in pinnipeds
and a reduction in great whites
should make the beaches safer.
So why the sudden rise in
shark attacks in the south?
Nearly 15 years ago
the White Shark Protection Act
was passed here in California,
which means you cannot go out
and hunt them.
So now today the white shark
is slowly coming back,
which is good.
It's not so not good that now
we're getting white sharks
moving along the coast
in Southern California
following their food
in areas like this
that are utilized by humans.
Dave Martin,
Lucas Ransom,
Scott Barton,
Bettina,
were all in areas that are
utilized by pinnipeds.
If the pinnipeds
hadn't been there,
there's a good chance the sharks
wouldn't have been there.
So it doesn't matter if you're
in Northern California
or Southern California,
going into the water
there's always the potential
that you might have an encounter
with a white shark.
And so the fact that
we have these interactions
between white sharks and humans
along this coast
is not surprising.
What is surprising is
that we don't have more.