SAN DIEGO (USA)- Off the coast of La Jolla, close to San Diego, California, scuba divers have spotted large sevengill sharks swimming this week. The sharks, inhabitants of the US Pacific Coast disappeared about 70 years ago but made a spectacular comeback.
In the past several years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of sevengill shark sightings in the area. The 5-to-8 foot meat eaters don’t appear to be too interested in people, but people are interested in them.Divers are pushing for a scientific explanation to explain this recent phenomenon inside La Jolla Cove.
Rod Watkins, owner of Scuba San Diego Incorporated, says to NBC News he sees more and more sevengill sharks every season. “They’re the biggest breathing attraction in this ecological reserve.”
The sharks are native to the West Coast, but disappeared locally 70 years ago – now underwater encounters are growing.
Diver Michael Bear is so captivated by the mystery of their return he set up the website Sevengillsharksightings.org where divers can log encounters. So far, the website has more than 50 high definition videos and 200 photos of the rare sharks.
There have not been any reports of sevengill sharks being aggressive recently. There were a couple reports a couple years ago of divers being bumped at La Jolla cove, but that’s about it.
View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.