Deadly Morro Bay shark attack likely involved a great white; beachgoers avoid the ocean

Morro Bay beachgoers avoided the water on Saturday, a day after a Christmas Eve shark attack killed a man boogie-boarding near the Rock, a harbor official said.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has not yet released the attack victim’s name, but Eric Endersby, Morro Bay Harbor director, said the man was likely killed by a great white shark.

A woman surfing near The Pit area of Morro Strand State Beach found the victim about 10:40 a.m. after seeing the boogie board floating in the water.

The woman found the man face down in the water and brought him to the beach, Endersby said.

The Morro Bay Harbor Patrol responded to the attack with the city’s police and fire departments, but the man was already dead with no possibility of resuscitation, Endersby said.

Victim likely attacked by great white shark

Endersby said the man was 31 years old and noted officials had identified him and notified his next of kin.

Authorities found the victim’s car parked in a small dirt lot on the south side of Morro Creek, he said.

On Saturday, Endersby told The Tribune there were no witnesses to the incident, although it was “definitely, clearly a shark attack” and likely involved a great white shark.

Endersby declined to describe the nature of the victim’s injuries. He said it’s unclear whether the man drowned or died from the injuries sustained during the attack, and the county Sheriff-Coroner’s Office will likely perform an autopsy early next week.

Morro Bay attack may be the only fatal shark encounter of 2021

Following the attack, Harbor Patrol cleared other swimmers and surfers from the area and closed city-patrolled waters through noon on Christmas Day, Endersby said.

After reopening the water, the city changed a large sign notifying beachgoers of the shark attack, and it now warns visitors to enter the water at their own risk. Endersby said the warnings would remain in place through Monday.

He said beachgoers seemed spooked by the attack, noting that “not a single person tried to enter the water” while it was closed.

Endersby said that trend continued even after it reopened on Christmas Day — he noticed almost no one in the water as far north as Cayucos, an unusual occurrence during the holiday.

Shark attacks remain extremely rare on the San Luis Obispo County coast, and fatal incidents are even less common. The Christmas Eve attack marks the first time someone has died from a shark encounter in local waters since 2003.

The New York Times on Saturday reported the attack may be the “only fatal shark encounter of the year in the United States.”

Endersby said shark attacks are “completely, 100% random,” although feeding activity from lower food chain animals, such as dolphins or birds, could signal there are sharks in the area.

Oceangoers should always use their best judgment when deciding whether to swim or surf in the water, he said.

“It’s the ocean, and there’s sharks, and we have no idea where this animal may be,” Endersby said.

This story was originally published December 25, 2021 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Deadly Morro Bay shark attack likely involved a great white; beachgoers avoid the ocean."

Lindsey Holden

The Tribune

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Lindsey Holden writes about housing, San Luis Obispo County government and everything in between for The Tribune in San Luis Obispo. She became a staff writer in 2016 after working for the Rockford Register Star in Illinois. Lindsey is a native Californian raised in the Midwest and earned degrees from DePaul and Northwestern universities.