February 17th, 2024

0 North Bound 0 South Bound 3 hrs

Mix of sunny blue skies and overcast clouds throughout the day. Calm ocean with increased wind in the late afternoon. No Gray Whale sightings despite good conditions. No reports of sightings from REW (reliable eye witnesses). The unidentified Navy ship was seen again today at ~5pm zipping back and fourth at high speeds in the shipping lanes, 10+ miles off shore doing training maneuvers of some undisclosed type. The vessel moves with incredible swiftness and ease considering the enormous size.

Rarely seen marine life shared today with beach goers by Eric Pierson, a local Stone Mason known as “The Malibu RockMan”. He found a small 12-14″ juvenile leopard shark and 7-8″ Sheep Crab (loxorhynchus grandis) also known as spider crab that both washed up dead in the rocks at county line earlier in the day.

Leopard sharks are typically seen in water less than 60 ft deep and can live for up to 24 years. They can be seen year round near kelp forests, rocky shores beds and sandy beaches .The diet varies from small bait type fish to croaker, surf perch and rockfish or other benthic prey. Females can have 7-36 live birth pups from March to July. The behaviors are tidal driven, coming in with the high tide and going out to deeper water in low tides. Predators include sharks and sea lions. The Leopard shark seen today had a moderate separation area at the gills on the left side but otherwise looked to be in good condition

Sunset at 5:40pm behind a cloudy marine layer. Afterwards, interesting colors of pink, lavender and purple color were enjoyed by beach goers who stayed later.

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