Shark Week-Everybody Has A Story

My name is Rick Rickman.  I'm the guy who produces most of the patterns for our sun protective diveskins and I love to create these patterns that relate to sharks and other ocean creatures because the sharks are the kings of their domain and our diveskins are meant to honor them.

The truth is, that anybody who spends a considerable amount of time in the ocean in whatever activity, has a shark story.  So, in honor of shark week, I thought I'd share a couple of stories that are from my personal experience.

In the early 2000s, California State Authorities drug a dead whale just south of San Onofre State Beach here in California.  San Onofre is known as a great surf beach and I have surfed there regularly for years now for more than 20 years. 

Because of the buried whale, lots of Great White Sharks started patrolling the waters and a number of Great Whites were seen regularly in the area. 

One morning there was a lot of commotion and discussion about a "huge" great white shark in the water near trail 6 which is just south of San Onofre State beach. 

I've always wanted to see a really big white so, I jumped in my car and raced to the overlook.  Looking down, I spotted this enormous Great White Shark swimming 30 yards or so off shore.  She had to be 25 feet long and as wide as a pick-up truck. It was such an awe inspiring sight.  A small crowd had gathered on the overlook and everyone there was quite impressed. 

Several weeks later, I went back to the spot where I spotted this monster before and there she was again.  This time there were 2 smaller sharks with her.  I found out that she had given birth to twins.  Some regular surfers gave these youngsters names, Fluffy and Bumper, and the 2 juveniles stayed in the area for quite awhile. 

Fluffy has been a semi-regular resident at San Onofre now for several decades.  Fluffy now is quite sizeable and has been captured on film breaching the water several times.  Not too long ago, Fluffy was captured by an excellent photographer, Johnathan Anast, covering one of the local surf contests held in the San Onofre area.

On another day, I was in the water with a dear friend fellow surfer talking while waiting for the next set of waves.  My friend looked over and said to me very calmly, " Hey Rick. Here comes Fluffy."  I laughed and said,  well, it's too late to run now.  The fin was only about 10 yards away and heading for us.  We could see the shadow of the body and it just dove below us and was gone.

The closest call ever was a stand-up paddler who took off on a wave just in front of a very large Great White.  This is the kind of thing that would make your heart rate accellerate exponentially if you were aware of what was actually happening.

Luckily the paddleboarder had no idea he was being followed by this giant. In the end there was no incident and the shark went on it's way.  

If we all realize that when we are in the ocean we are in the shark's home and they may just want to see who is visiting.  If we just stay calm, keep a respectful distance, and appreciate what we are seeing,  thing usually work out and we will have an experience that will astound whomever we chose to tell.  As in all things, when we use good sense and choose not to be aggressive or invasive, sharing the ocean with the residence is a great adventure.