Big Sur, that rugged and wild stretch of Pacific coast running south of Monterey Bay to the mouth of San Carpóforo Creek, is renowned as one of the most beautiful seaboards in the world.
Many come here to make the winding drive along the coastal bluffs and mountainsides, while hearty souls backpack in the rough, remote Santa Lucia Range.
Farflung Big Sur beaches, meanwhile, also draw surfers. And anyone considering checking out regional breaks such as Sand Dollar Beach and Willow Creek ought to practice some shark-awareness.
This spectacular coastline, after all—marked by productive upwellings along the California Current and scattered with kelp forests, rocky shelves, and submarine canyons—also offers excellent habitat for a wide variety of North Pacific sharks.
Let’s dive deep into the question: Does Big Sur have sharks?
The main types of sharks found in the waters surrounding Big Sur, CA are:
- Great white sharks
- Shortfin mako sharks
- Salmon sharks
- Common thresher sharks
- Blue sharks
- Basking sharks
- Broadnose sevengill sharks
- Bluntnose sixgill sharks
- Pacific sleeper sharks
- And more!
Surfers and swimmers, however, have very little to fear. The entire surrounding area has seen fewer than 30 confirmed shark attacks since 1926 — that’s almost 100 years! Your chances of running into an ornery great white or any other shark in Big Sur are very, very low.
Types of Sharks at Big Sur
Most of the 30-plus species of sharks found along North America’s Pacific coast could conceivably be encountered off Big Sur.
In this roundup, though, we’ll look at only some of the more common—or more noteworthy—sharks native to these waters.
Great White Shark
Well, might as well start with the big guy, right?
The great white is understandably the shark that first comes to mind when one contemplates wet-suiting up for California breakers.
White sharks are the biggest predatory shark in the world, and California is one of their global epicenters. With their massive size and power, mammal-hunting habits, and nearshore-cruising nature, great whites are without question the most dangerous shark off Big Sur, though all things considered they rarely attack people. (More on that later.)
Recent research suggests California’s Central Coast supports a smallish but healthy—and possibly growing—population of white sharks.
While most common between Bodega Bay and Monterey Bay, they certainly range southward and can be expected anywhere in California’s coastal waters.
Juvenile white sharks prey primarily on bony fishes, but as they grow in size, their diet starts to include larger—and more warm-blooded—fare.
Mature white sharks—the largest of which (females) may exceed 20 feet and a couple of tons—especially target seals, sea lions, porpoises, and other marine mammals, though they’ll also readily hunt large fish such as tuna and swordfish.
It’s not unusual for sea otters to be nailed by white sharks off California, and the carcasses of gray whales, humpbacks, and other baleen whales are a prized food source that may draw numerous great whites.
Haunting the margins of kelp forests, white sharks in the Big Sur area, as elsewhere, are particularly drawn to pinniped haul-outs such as the elephant-seal rookery of Point Piedras Blancas.
One of the mainstay hunting methods employed by great whites after elephant seals and other big, potentially risky prey is to strike them at the surface without warning, deliver a huge, catastrophic bite, and then draw back to allow them to bleed to death.
Shortfin Mako Shark
The shortfin mako is a smaller but still good-sized relative of the great white, and resembles a big-eyed, super-streamlined, and snaggletooth version of its hulking cousin.
Reaching 13 feet or more in length and well more than 1,000 pounds, makos are famed for their tremendous speed (and, when hooked by sportfishermen, high-flying jumps and gritty fight).
They use that fleetness to catch such equally athletic and swift prey as tuna, swordfish, and dolphins.
Typically found in offshore pelagic waters, shortfin makos often hunt the California Current in the summer. They’re more frequently seen in Southern California, which appears to be a significant nursery ground for this spectacular species.
Salmon Shark
Ranging the entire coast of California, the salmon shark is another member of the mackerel-shark family that includes the great white and mako.
It shows the same general form: torpedo-shaped body, sharp pointed snout, large gills, caudal (tail) fins of equal length.
Like white sharks and makos, salmon sharks are highly active, top-level predators, especially targeting salmon and other small to midsize fish, but also known to occasionally snatch seabirds and even sea otters.
Like makos, salmon sharks are mostly a bluewater species less likely than the great white to cruise inshore, but beached specimens—especially juveniles—are not uncommon sights.
Common Thresher Shark
There’s no mistaking this pelagic shark, which sports an astoundingly long upper tail fin that may be more than half the fish’s total length (which reaches 20 feet).
Threshers use that scythe-like tail to confuse and stun the small fish and squid they favor.
You’re highly unlikely to see a common thresher close to the Big Sur coast, but young individuals do sometimes utilize nearshore habitats; if you’re exceedingly lucky, you might see one breaching fully out of the water.
Blue Shark
The blue shark (occasionally called the “great blue”) ranks up there among the most all-around beautiful sharks.
It’s as lean and stretched-out as they come, with a strikingly long and slender snout, big black eyes, and a vivid blueish hide.
These graceful pelagic sharks are especially common off Southern California, but are thought to range northward seasonally with warmer water.
Well off the Big Sur margin, they hunt small schooling fish and squid, perhaps the occasional unwary seabird, and are also keen scavengers of dead whales and other marine mammals.
Basking Shark
Bigger even than the great white, the mammoth basking shark is the second-largest species of shark after the whale shark:
It typically grows between 20 and 30 feet long, and may approach 40 feet in exceptional individuals.
Despite this enormous size—and a body plan that rather resembles the white shark, for which it’s often mistaken—the basking shark is a basically harmless filter-feeder that engulfs plankton and small fish with its great gaping mouth.
Studies suggest basking sharks in the California Current have declined precipitously since the 1970s and ‘80s for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.
Thus count yourself especially lucky if, from some panoramic headland or offshore boat, you see the huge dorsal and tail fin of a lazily meandering basking shark at the surface.
Broadnose Sevengill Shark
Apex predator of California’s bays and continental shelf, the broadnose sevengill shark reaches about 10 feet in length and is a heavy-bodied bruiser, with massive jaws that sort of call to mind a bulldog’s.
It gets its name from having seven gill slits rather than the five most sharks possess, and is also notable for having only a single dorsal fin.
Those broad sevengill jaws pack some impressive teeth: the bottom row serrated and comblike, the upper row more daggerlike.
That spells trouble for anything caught between, including such regularly taken prey as smaller sharks, rays, crabs, octopuses, and harbor seals, which, observations suggest, sevengills sometimes pursue in groups.
Bluntnose Sixgill Shark
The bluntnose sixgill is a larger relative of the sevengill that—surprise, surprise—sports six gill slits and may exceed 15 feet.
This primarily deepwater shark—which ranges into surface waters and occasionally shallower areas at night to hunt fish, cephalopods, and occasionally marine mammals—is more of an offshore species and much less likely to be seen along the coast.
Pacific Sleeper Shark
It’s worth mentioning another of the very biggest predators that ranges off California’s Central Coast, even though your chances of seeing one are about nil: the Pacific sleeper shark, which prowls depths of the continental shelf and slope down past 6,000 feet.
This shark may grow 20 feet and possibly longer, and despite its sluggish outward appearance, it’s apparently swift enough to hunt large squid and even pinnipeds. Giant Pacific octopuses are another favored prey.
Smaller Big Sur Sharks
A host of more diminutive sharks call Central Coast waters home.
Among the loveliest is the leopard shark, a very common hunter of California’s kelp forests and inshore bays and estuaries. Typically four to seven feet long, this dainty shark—which scarfs up crabs, clams, worms, and small fish—dazzles the eye with its pattern of blotches.
The spiny dogfish, a distant relative of the Pacific sleeper, is another abundant species in nearshore waters, named for the mildly venomous dorsal spine used for defense and reaching about five feet at maximum.
The horn shark is the other local species with a poisonous dorsal spine; this colorfully patterned, stubby-snouted little shark, growing no larger than about four feet, lounges along rocky outcrops and sandy flats, and reaches the northern extent of its Eastern Pacific range in Central California.
Another bottom-dweller common in kelp forests is the swell shark, found from about Monterey Bay southward. Both the horn and swell sharks are vulnerable to predation from a host of creatures, among them the same northern elephant seal that the great white shark hunts.
A heftier benthic shark, though growing only to about five feet long, is the flat-bodied Pacific angel shark, which is more common south of Point Conception (an important biogeographic boundary of the Central/Southern California coast) but which does range as far north as Southeast Alaska.
Other smallish Big Sur sharks include the brown smoothhound and the soupfin shark, both coastal species that normally top out around five feet long.
Potential Shark Danger & Shark Attack History in the Big Sur Region
Most people enjoying Big Sur don’t have to worry about sharks at all, given they’re mainly relishing the ocean views dryshod from highway overlooks or chilly beachfronts.
Boaters may certainly see sharks at the surface, but aren’t really in danger (though white sharks very occasionally attack boats).
Surfers are the main demographic here crossing paths with sharks in the water, followed by swimmers, snorkelers, and scuba divers.
As we’ve mentioned, the white shark poses the greatest danger off Big Sur—and elsewhere along the Pacific coast of the mainland U.S.
Other large, powerful species, such as the sevengill shark and shortfin mako, certainly shouldn’t be provoked, as they may respond defensively and could pack a major punch.
But the great white is responsible for by far the most shark attacks off California.
Big Sur proper hasn’t seen very many confirmed shark attacks, but the vicinities of Monterey Bay to the north and Morro Bay to the south have seen quite a number (over recorded history, that is).
Among the recent regional shark incidents are two fatal attacks to the south of Big Sur, both attributed to white sharks: a bodyboarder killed in Morro Bay in 2021 and a swimmer off Avila Beach killed in 2003.
In addition, there have been a couple of non-fatal attacks on surfers off Sandspit Beach in recent years (2019 and 2014), and a surfer had her board bitten off Morro Strand State Beach in 2015.
Yet your chances of being attacked even by the mighty great white when surfing along the Big Sur coast are very low.
To put things into perspective, San Luis Obispo County has (according to the International Shark Attack File) logged a dozen confirmed unprovoked shark attacks since 1926, while Monterey County has recorded 11.
California as a whole saw 29 shark attacks between 2012 and 2021, just three of them fatal.
Let’s close out by digging a bit more into the risk and what you can do to minimize it further.
Avoiding Shark Attacks at Big Sur (Tips & Things to Know)
A great white shark is easily capable of killing a person in a single bite, and certainly we’re much spindlier than such regular prey items as Steller sea lions and elephant seals.
But here’s the good news: White sharks—and, indeed, other sharks as a whole—seem to normally not regard human beings as prey.
The majority of attacks, including fatal ones, are thought to be cases where the shark mistakes us for typical prey.
When you imagine a surfer paddling on a surfboard as perceived from below, it’s not hard to see how a white shark might confuse the silhouette with that of a sea lion or seal.
The dark wetsuits surfers wear makes them look all the more like a pinniped. The same goes for a surfacing scuba diver.
First, your chances of being attacked may be greater in the early morning and evening hours when sharks are more active.
Avoid swimming or surfing during these times of day if possible. Again, attacks are unlikely, but if you’re worried this is a good way to minimize your chances.
You certainly should try to get out of the water if you notice harbor seals, sea lions, elephant seals, or porpoises in the vicinity.
More than a few people attacked by great whites were in the vicinity of such normal shark prey, likely because of mistaken identity. For example, the 50-year-old swimmer killed by a great white off San Luis Obispo County’s Avila Beach in 2003 was among pinnipeds immediately before she was struck by the shark.
Meanwhile—and this goes for ocean safety in general—don’t enter the water alone.
Practice the “buddy system.” This could save your life on the very odd chance you’re bitten by a great white shark; it could certainly save your life in the much more likely situation of being caught by a rip current or overwhelmed by heavy surf.
Wrapping Up
Shark attacks off California’s Central Coast—Big Sur included—are uncommon, just as they are on a global basis when one considers just how many people are in the water near these incredible marine predators at any given time.
Sharks generally want nothing to do with people, and we should appreciate their presence in coastal waters such as Big Sur’s, where they provide critical ecosystem services as apex predators.
For more guides, check out:
- Sharks in Malibu
- Sharks in Laguna Beach
- Sharks in Huntington Beach
- States with the most and least shark attacks
Hope this helps!