A 10-foot great white shark was filmed by a drone as it approached children swimming in the ocean off the Southern California coast. The shark, described as battle-scarred, circled the young swimmers multiple times before swimming away without incident. The drone footage was captured by shark enthusiast Carlos Gauna, also known as The Malibu Artist.
Gauna expressed his alarm at the close encounter, noting that this particular shark had an injury to its back and dorsal fin, potentially from a boat propeller. He observed that this injured shark seemed to approach people more frequently than other sharks he had documented. "I don’t often get nervous, but this was one of those rare instances where I did. The young swimmers had no idea. I’m standing over a mile away," Gauna stated. He added that the shark appeared quite active, breaching twice in one day, and he speculated the injury might be making it more alert or seeking easier prey.
Commenters on social media expressed their fear, with some suggesting that seeing a drone overhead while swimming should be a signal to leave the water immediately. This incident follows a separate event in late April where a great white shark bit one of Gauna's cameras during an excursion off the same coast. Gauna noted that this behavior was unusual, stating, "They don’t normally come at you like that."