Great White Shark Spotted Near Leadbetter Beach

A surfer spotted what he believes was a Great White shark off Leadbetter Point around 5:00 Tuesday night. He says it was about six to seven feet between the dorsal and the tail fins.Signs are posted at several area beaches telling beachgoers to swim at their own risk.Marine mammal experts say they’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of sightings and attacks on sea animals.They report six cases in Santa Barbara County alone this summer. But, what may be more unusual is the cases involve relatively small sharks attacking big sea animals.Peter Howorth, with the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center says “could be lack of prey, could be that there are more sharks… limited food. Sharks are competing with one another. We just don’t know.”Warning signs will be up at Leadbetter Beach through Thursday unless there are more sightings.Ryan Carmel shows us a harbor seal that was just attacked in local waters by a shark in the last few days.