Blue shark sightings in the Monterey Bay

(KION) There have been multiple sightings this week of a special type of shark! The blue shark.

Two of them have been spotted so far this week in Monterey Bay. One of them, just ten miles off of Moss Landing.

“They are probably one of the most attractive, visually appealing sharks there are,” says shark expert Sean Van Sommeran. 

On top of just looking cool, these sharks are one of the most widely traveled sharks we have in the bay. They’ve got a body built to glide through the water.  

These fish used to be heavily populated in the bay. Sommeran says, “If you were fishing rockfish, or just catching a lot of fish. Blue sharks would kind of swarm the boat basically.” That was about two decades ago.

They are now threatened, close to being endangered. 

On friday, a blue shark washed up on Sunset beach. It’s unknown how it died. But as a species, here’s what’s happening. “With modern gillnets, long lines, the thinning fisheries, big factor processing fleets… you know, wipes them out,” says Sommeran. 

Sommeran says there are rules in place to protect the shark, but it’s hard to enforce them when things happen over the open ocean.

As summer gets closer and closer, so does peak shark season. So keep your eyes peeled… you just might see a blue shark.