Sharks in Los Angeles

• Shark species in this guide16 recorded off LA County
• White shark protected since1 January 1994 (California state law)
• Most seen from the beachJuvenile white sharks (Manhattan Beach to Malibu)
• Signature encounterHorn and swell sharks, Casino Point, Catalina
• Incidents in the database51 (1879–2025), 2 fatal
• Water temperature14–21 °C (57–70 °F)

Where sharks live off Los Angeles, and why they are here

Los Angeles sits inside the Southern California Bight, the great eastward bend in the coastline south of Point Conception. That bend does two things. It shelters the county from the full force of the cold California Current, so inshore water runs several degrees warmer than it does off San Francisco, and it traps a slow, clockwise eddy that keeps larvae, plankton and small fish circulating close to shore. The result is a warm, shallow, productive shelf: Santa Monica Bay from Point Dume to Palos Verdes, then the flat sandy shelf of the South Bay and Long Beach.

That combination is exactly what a newborn white shark needs. Female white sharks pup offshore in spring, and the pups spend their first years in warm water of 16 to 20 °C over sandy bottoms full of stingrays, croaker and small fish, with no adult sharks around to bother them. Santa Monica Bay, the water off Manhattan Beach and El Segundo, and the shallows of Malibu are among the most reliable juvenile white shark habitat on the Pacific coast; drone surveys by California State University Long Beach have repeatedly counted dozens of young sharks within 100 m of the surfline while people swam among them.

Two other habitats matter. The rocky Palos Verdes Peninsula and the coast off Malibu hold kelp forest, which is where the horn sharks, swell sharks and angelsharks live. And the county's water gets deep fast: the San Pedro and Santa Monica basins drop past 800 m only a few miles out, which is why sixgill sharks, sleeper sharks and other deep-water species occur inside county waters while nobody ever sees one. Catalina Island, 22 miles across the channel, is a separate world again, with clear water, healthy kelp and blue-water species close in.

List of the different types of sharks in Los Angeles

The table covers the sharks with a solid record in Los Angeles County waters, from the surf zone to the channel and around Catalina. The risk column refers to swimmers and surfers rather than to divers or anglers; several of these species will bite a person who grabs, hooks or spears them, which is a different question and one the incident record has a great deal to say about. Note that the “leopard shark” here is Triakis semifasciata, a harmless local houndshark, and has nothing to do with the zebra shark that Indo-Pacific dive guides call a leopard shark.

Species	Adult size	Risk to swimmers	Where in Los Angeles & notes
Great White SharkCarcharodon carcharias	Juveniles 1.5–3 m (5–10 ft); adults to 5 m+	High	Santa Monica Bay, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo and Malibu in summer; adults in the Catalina channelThe LA coast is a nationally important nursery: most local white sharks are juveniles eating stingrays within metres of swimmers. Named in 9 records here, including the county's only fatal attack, off Malibu in 1989. Protected in state waters since 1994.
Leopard SharkTriakis semifasciata	1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft)	Low	Marina del Rey, King Harbor, the Santa Monica Bay shallows and Catalina coves in summerBoldly saddled, completely harmless and the shark most Angelenos actually see. Feeds on clams, worms, crabs and fish eggs picked out of the sand.
Common Thresher SharkAlopias vulpinus	3–5 m (10–16 ft) including the tail	Low	Santa Monica Bay and the outer shelf; pups inshore in springHalf its length is the upper tail lobe, used like a whip to stun anchovies. Santa Monica Bay is a pupping area. A prized sport fish with no record of biting swimmers.
Shortfin Mako SharkIsurus oxyrinchus	2.5–3.5 m (8–11 ft)	Low	Blue water 10 miles and more off Marina del Rey and San Pedro, May–OctoberFast, warm-bodied and curious around chum. The two mako entries in the LA record, from 1906 at Avalon and 1941 at Santa Monica, both involve anglers and a shark they had already gaffed or boated.
Blue SharkPrionace glauca	2–3 m (7–10 ft)	Low	Offshore water of the Catalina channel and beyondThe second most-named species in the local record with 5 cases, essentially all of them divers filming or anglers handling hooked sharks. Slim, indigo blue and unhurried.
Bigeye Thresher SharkAlopias superciliosus	3–4 m (10–13 ft)	Low	Deep offshore water beyond the islandsHuge upward-facing eyes for hunting in near-darkness. Taken occasionally by longliners; divers essentially never see one.
Smooth Hammerhead SharkSphyrna zygaena	2.5–3.5 m (8–12 ft)	Low	Santa Monica Bay and the South Bay in warm-water yearsThe only hammerhead that regularly reaches Los Angeles, and only when the water is warm; the 2014–2016 El Niño brought them to local piers in numbers.
Horn SharkHeterodontus francisci	0.8–1.2 m (3–4 ft)	Low	Kelp and rocky reef at Catalina, Palos Verdes and MalibuPig-snouted, spotted and sluggish, with a sharp spine on each dorsal fin and spiral-shaped egg cases. Harmless unless handled; the spines go through gloves.
Swell SharkCephaloscyllium ventriosum	0.8–1 m (2.5–3.5 ft)	Low	Crevices and kelp holdfasts at Catalina, Palos Verdes and RedondoGulps water to swell up and wedge itself into a rock crack when threatened. Nocturnal, fluoresces green under blue light, and completely harmless.
Pacific AngelsharkSquatina californica	1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft)	Low	Sand flats beside reefs off Catalina, Redondo and Palos VerdesA flat, ray-like ambush hunter that lies buried with only its eyes showing. Bites hands that touch it. A gill-net fishery emptied the Bight of them in the 1980s and numbers have never recovered.
Soupfin (Tope) SharkGaleorhinus galeus	1.5–1.9 m (5–6 ft)	Low	Shelf water across the bay and around CatalinaNearly wiped out for its vitamin-A liver oil in the 1940s and slowly rebuilt since. Slim, shy and no threat to anyone in the water.
Broadnose Sevengill SharkNotorynchus cepedianus	2–3 m (7–10 ft)	Low	Uncommon here; deeper kelp edges and the Catalina channelFar more numerous in San Francisco Bay and at La Jolla than off Los Angeles. A seven-gilled, primitive predator of rays and seals; has bitten divers and anglers who handled it, never a swimmer.
Gray SmoothhoundMustelus californicus	0.6–1.2 m (2–4 ft)	Low	Marina del Rey, King Harbor, Long Beach and every sandy shallow in the countyThe small shark every LA pier angler catches, with flat crushing teeth for crabs and shrimp. Physically incapable of hurting a person.
Pacific Spiny DogfishSqualus suckleyi	1–1.3 m (3–4 ft)	Low	Cooler deeper water of the bay, mostly in winter and springAbundant but rarely seen from shore. Carries a mildly venomous spine in front of each dorsal fin, which is a problem for anglers and for nobody else.
Bluntnose Sixgill SharkHexanchus griseus	3–4.8 m (10–16 ft)	Low	Deep water of the Santa Monica and San Pedro basinsA big, ancient, slow deep-water shark living several hundred metres below the shipping lanes. Filmed by submersibles, never encountered by divers. No local bite record.
Basking SharkCetorhinus maximus	6–8 m (20–26 ft)	Low	Formerly a regular spring sight in the Bight; now very rareA harmless plankton feeder and the second-largest fish alive. Schools of hundreds were reported off Southern California into the 1960s; a single sighting is now news.

Several species from the original version of this page do not belong off Los Angeles at all. The nurse shark is an Atlantic and Caribbean animal with no Californian record, and the old table gave it a whale shark's size by mistake. The ragged-tooth or sand tiger shark is likewise absent from the eastern Pacific. The bull shark has never been confirmed anywhere in California; the closest population is in the Gulf of California, far down the Mexican coast. Whale sharks and oceanic whitetips are tropical animals that reach Southern California only in exceptional warm-water years, and you will not meet one from a Los Angeles beach. The frilled shark, goblin shark, megamouth, Pacific sleeper shark, cookiecutter, pygmy shark and the deep catsharks are all real members of the eastern Pacific fauna and some have been recorded from the basins off the county, but they live hundreds of metres down and are irrelevant to anyone in the water.

Where to see sharks in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is unusual among big cities in that you can see wild sharks without leaving the county line, and in several places without leaving the beach.

• Manhattan Beach and El PortoThe best-known juvenile white shark aggregation in the county. Through summer and autumn, one- to two-metre young sharks patrol just beyond the breakers, often filmed by drones a few metres from surfers. They are eating stingrays and fish. Lifeguards post advisories when animals come very close in; take the notice seriously and carry on.
• Malibu: Zuma Beach, Point Dume and Paradise CoveThe county's other white shark stretch, with a deeper and colder feel than the South Bay. Point Dume drops quickly into the Santa Monica Basin, sea lions haul out on the rocks below the headland, and larger sharks are occasionally seen here rather than the nursery-sized animals of the flat beaches.
• Casino Point Dive Park, Avalon, Catalina IslandThe single best shark dive in Los Angeles County and one you can do from the steps. The marine reserve holds horn sharks wedged under ledges, swell sharks in crevices, the occasional angelshark on the sand and, in summer, the odd leopard shark over the bottom. Visibility regularly reaches 20 m.
• Veterans Park and King Harbor, Redondo BeachA shore dive over the head of the Redondo submarine canyon. Horn sharks and swell sharks on the rocks, angelsharks buried in the sand, and in late summer leopard sharks and smoothhounds in the harbour shallows. Also the most reliable pier fishing in the county for small sharks and rays.
• Palos Verdes Peninsula: Point Vicente, Terranea and Christmas Tree CoveProper kelp forest on a rocky coast, with horn sharks, swell sharks and angelsharks, plus giant sea bass and sea lions. It is also where the 2016 record in the database happened, when a white shark bit the hull of a fishing boat off the peninsula and left a tooth fragment behind.
• Offshore from Marina del Rey and San PedroCharter and free-diving trips run from May to October into blue water 10 to 20 miles out for blue sharks and shortfin makos drawn to a chum slick. This is the only realistic way to see a large shark up close off Los Angeles, and the operators are licensed and experienced.
• Ship Rock and Farnsworth Bank, off CatalinaAdvanced boat dives in open water on the far side of the channel. Blue sharks are regular in summer, makos less so, and the 2019 entry in the database is a kayaker at Ship Rock whose boat, not the paddler, was bitten by a white shark.
• Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, and Heal the Bay Aquarium, Santa Monica PierLong Beach has Shark Lagoon, with touch pools of bamboo and epaulette sharks plus larger sand tigers and sandbars, and free evening access on Fridays. The small aquarium under the Santa Monica Pier shows the local species, including swell shark egg cases and horn sharks from the bay itself. Both are the sensible first stop with children.

For the highest chance of seeing a wild shark with the least effort, walk into the water at Casino Point on a calm summer morning: horn sharks and swell sharks are close to guaranteed. For the biggest animal, book an offshore blue and mako trip out of Marina del Rey in August.

Best time of year to see sharks in Los Angeles

The county's shark calendar runs on water temperature, and the swing is bigger than visitors expect.

• June to October: the season. Inshore water climbs from about 17 °C to 20 or 21 °C (63 to 70 °F), juvenile white sharks spread along the South Bay and Malibu beaches in their greatest numbers, leopard sharks come into the warm shallows and harbours, and blue sharks, makos and threshers are within reach of a day boat. August and September are the peak for everything.
• November to February: the quiet months. Water drops to 14 to 16 °C (57 to 61 °F), most of the young white sharks move south towards San Diego and Baja, and the beach fauna thins to smoothhounds, rays and the occasional angelshark. Kelp-forest diving at Catalina is actually at its best now, because winter visibility is the clearest of the year.
• March to May: the transition. Spring upwelling brings cold, green, plankton-rich water; thresher sharks pup in Santa Monica Bay and juvenile threshers turn up close inshore; basking sharks, once a common spring sight in the Bight, are very occasionally reported again.
• El Niño years: warm water pushes smooth hammerheads north into Santa Monica Bay, sometimes in numbers, as happened between 2014 and 2016 when they were being caught off local piers and filmed from the sand.

Almost everyone in the water here wears at least a spring suit outside high summer, which matters for the incident record: the people in the sea in the cooler months are surfers and divers, and that is who appears in the database.

Shark attacks in Los Angeles: what the record actually shows

For a coastline used by tens of millions of people a year, the list is short and remarkably mild. The SharkSider database holds 51 records for the Los Angeles area, from 1879 to 2025, of which 50 date from 1900 onward and 2 were fatal. Seventeen records fall since the year 2000, and not one of them killed anybody. The complete state record is on our shark attacks in California page. The six most recent entries for the LA area are listed here:

• 2025 · Catalina IslandSwimming — Leg and foot injuryunknown 1.2m shark
• 2021 · Catalina Island, Orange CountyCanoeing — Hand injuredSpecies not identified
• 2019 · Ship Rock near Catalina, Los Angeles CountyKayaking — No injury, shark bit kayakWhite shark
• 2016 · Off Palos Verdes peninsula, Los Angeles CountyFishing — No injury. hull bitten, tooth fragment recoveredWhite shark
• 2015 · El Pescador Beach, Los Angeles CountyStand-up paddleboarding — No injury, shark struck board, tossing her into the seaWhite shark, 11' to 12'
• 2014 · Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles CountySwimming — Provoked incident torso bitten by shark hooked by an anglerWhite shark, 7'

Read the activity column and the picture changes completely from the one people carry around. Surfing and board riding accounts for 16 records, fishing and boating for 12, swimming and wading for 11, and diving and spearfishing for 4. A large share of the fishing cases are anglers bitten by a shark they had hooked, gaffed or hauled onto the deck, which is a workplace injury rather than an attack, and several of the modern entries involve a bitten kayak, surfboard or boat hull with no injury to anyone. Where a species was named, the white shark leads with 9 records and the blue shark follows with 5, most of those divers and anglers handling hooked animals. The busiest decade in the whole list is the 1950s, with 12 records.

The two fatal cases deserve to be described honestly, because neither matches the story a film would tell. In 1952 a fishing boat exploded off Santa Monica; a man died and some of the survivors in the water were bitten by sharks. The only death caused by a shark attacking a person happened in 1989 near Latigo Point and Paradise Cove, west of Malibu, when a 5 m white shark bit a kayaker. That is one fatal attack in the county in the whole recorded history of the database, and it is now more than thirty-five years old. Anyone who wants the practical side of that should read what to do in a shark encounter; the honest summary for Los Angeles is that the ocean here is far more dangerous for its rip currents than for its sharks.

Is it safe to swim, surf and dive in Los Angeles?

Yes, and the numbers are not close. The sharks in the LA surf zone are juvenile white sharks that eat stingrays, leopard sharks that eat clams and worms, and smoothhounds that eat crabs. Young white sharks have been swimming among surfers off Manhattan Beach and Malibu for years, filmed constantly by drones, without producing a single serious injury; researchers who monitor the aggregations describe the sharks as indifferent to people and quick to move away. The one genuine surf-zone hazard on these beaches is not a shark at all: it is the round stingrays buried in the sand, which send hundreds of people a summer to the lifeguard station with a spined foot. Shuffle your feet.

Where sensible caution does apply is at the margins. Adult white sharks are present in the channel and around Catalina, and the county's few serious cases have all involved cold, deeper or more remote water: Malibu headlands, Palos Verdes, the Catalina channel. Avoid swimming alone at dawn or dusk near a seal haul-out or a river mouth, stay out of murky water after a storm, and if lifeguards post a shark advisory at Zuma or Manhattan Beach, believe them and wait it out. Divers and spearfishers should treat a sighting of a large adult white shark as the end of the dive, and spearfishers should not tow a bleeding catch on a belt.

The gentler species deserve respect of a different kind. Horn sharks have a sharp spine in front of each dorsal fin that will go straight through a neoprene glove; swell sharks wedge themselves into cracks and should be left there; and angelsharks lie invisible on the sand and bite hands that touch them. Almost every shark injury recorded in this county happened because a person took hold of the animal first.

Shark conservation off Los Angeles

The single most important measure is a state one. California has fully protected the white shark in its waters since 1 January 1994, making it illegal to target, take or keep one, and the Southern California nursery that Los Angeles hosts is one reason the north-eastern Pacific population now looks stable or slowly growing. The state also banned the sale and possession of shark fins in 2011, and the drift-gillnet fishery that killed large numbers of threshers, makos and blue sharks in the Bight is being phased out under state and federal law.

Locally, two changes have made more difference than any law. The Santa Monica Bay Restoration effort and the cleanup of the Hyperion treatment plant transformed water that was, in the 1970s and 1980s, badly polluted; kelp has been replanted along the Palos Verdes Peninsula and off Malibu by Bay Foundation divers clearing urchin barrens, and the fish and the sharks have followed the kelp back. Five marine protected areas now cover parts of the county coast, including Point Dume, Point Vicente and the waters around Catalina, as part of the network completed statewide in 2012.

The problems that remain are chronic rather than dramatic. DDT dumped off Palos Verdes decades ago still sits in the sediment and still shows up in the tissue of local sharks and their prey. Urban runoff after the first winter rains fouls the bay for days. Angelsharks have never recovered from the gill-net fishery that stripped the Bight in the 1980s, and basking sharks, once a regular spring sight here, have essentially vanished. Our page on why sharks are endangered explains why species that take fifteen years to mature take so long to come back.

Sharks near other US coastlines

Los Angeles is one county on a long coast, and the fauna continues in both directions. The full state picture, including the white shark rookeries of the Farallon Islands and the leopard shark shallows at La Jolla, is on our guide to sharks in California. North of Point Conception the water turns cold and the community shifts toward sevengills, soupfins and spiny dogfish: see Oregon and Washington, and Alaska for salmon sharks and sleeper sharks. South of the border, Baja Mexico holds the same Pacific species plus the Guadalupe Island white sharks and the hammerhead schools of the Gulf of California. Across the Pacific, the adult white sharks that leave this coast in winter head toward the waters between Baja and Hawaii. For a completely different set of animals on the other side of the country, see Texas and Florida, or start from Sharks in the US.

Written and reviewed by

SharkSider Editorial Team

A small team focused on researching sharks and making marine biology easy to understand. Every page is reviewed against current species records and the SharkSider attack database, and updated when new incidents or research appear.

Published May 13, 2023 · Last updated September 22, 2026 · Incident data from the SharkSider attack database (50 records for Los Angeles, 2 fatal).