On Wednesday, a handful of surfers had a surprise visitor in the water.
Around 10:30am, just south of the Pismo Beach Pier in Central California, a substantial, 8-to-10-foot great white shark began sniffing through the lineup, weaving its way in and out of surfers. And if it weren’t for the drone above, nobody would’ve even known.
See the footage below.
David Steiner, who goes by caveman_476 on Instagram, posted the footage.
“This one!” Steiner wrote “The V ripple on approach, the tiny bit of fin the shark exposes, the moment the surfer switches his attention from the drone to the shark. As a surfer I know that you just can’t see them from the board. I’m pretty sure yesterday’s two sharks would have gone 100 percent unnoticed if my drone wasn’t alerting people. I love how Jess snaps into action, follows protocol, and puts you between her and the shark. Great white shark checking out surfers at Pismo Beach pier, California. 5/20/26 10:25am.”
Speaking further about the encounter, Steiner told the San Luis Obispo Tribune:
“It’s insane. I was just trembling. It’s so interesting just to see how long it takes people to even see one.”
@slotribune A great white shark swam into a group of surfers about 300 feet south of the Pismo Pier on May 20, 2026. Learn more at sanluisobispo.com. #shark #surf #pismobeach
The shark was about 300 feet south of the pier, and at one point got within about eight feet of another surfer. Judging by the size of the boards, and the estimated distance between the surfers, the shark appears to be near the 10-foot range. So, just on the cusp of being a juvenile and graduating into a full-fledged adult.
Related: Great White Shark Swallows Camera in Wild SoCal Encounter (Video)
Typically, it’s the small great whites that hang out in the shallows. And this summer, as the experts are projecting, is going to be particularly sharky in Southern California.
“We started seeing baby white sharks about four-and-a-half feet long about a month ago, which is really early,” said Dr. Chris Lowe of the Shark Lab. “Now the simple explanation for that is the water is really warm right now, unusually warm for this time of year. So based on that, we predict it’s going to be a very sharky summer.”
Related: Great White Shark Relentlessly Hunts Foil Surfer for 10 Minutes in California (Video)
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