Enter at your own risk. That's the message from Capitola police after several shark sighting.
Police posted warning signs along the Capitola coastline late Wednesday morning, warning swimmers to be on alert.
A pair of surfers reported a possible great white just beyond the kelp line Wednesday. They estimated the sharks were around 6-8 feet.
On Tuesday, some fishermen told cops they also saw what they thought were great whites swimming around their boat in the same area. One of the sharks was about 20-feet long, according to the fishermen, the other was a bit smaller.
The beach is still open but most everyone is staying on land. The warning signs will stay up until further notice.
The owner of a Capitola bait shop told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that shark sightings were also reported on Friday or Saturday.
Shark sightings are not uncommon in that area, according to great white expert Sean Van Sommeran. But normally, a smaller great white would not travel with a larger one because of fears the smaller one would become prey, according to Sommeran.
It's basking shark season, Van Sommeran said, and basking sharks are often mistaken for great whites.
The reports are still unconfirmed and the beach will stay open for now. Lifeguards have been warned to keep an eye out upon news of the shark sightings.
In August 2009, officials closed access to beaches at Capitola and New Brighton after visitors spotted a shark eating a porpoise off the coast. Then, in October, Van Sommeran spotted a great white off Manresa Beach in the Capitola area. He estimated the shark to be about 16-feet long.
A Capitola man captured video of a great white off Seacliff Pier the day before Van Sommeran's sighting. Van Sommeran said at that time that he didn't think the two sightings were of the same great white.
