A rare sighting of a fully grown great white shark just 50 yards off the coast of Santa Monica was captured on video this week, challenging long-held assumptions that only juveniles pass through the Santa Monica Bay.
The close encounter on Thursday was filmed by YouTuber The Malibu Artist, a marine filmmaker known for tracking sharks along the Southern California coastline. The footage shared with KTLA shows a large white shark swimming near a paddleboarder who appears unaware of its presence.
“I’m conservatively estimating this shark at around 14 to 15 feet long,” the filmmaker wrote in a post on Instagram. “I’ve seen a fair share of sharks in my days, and I’m pretty confident in my estimates.”
He said the shark was first spotted in the northern part of the bay before it began moving south toward the Santa Monica Pier. “It is an untagged white shark,” he noted. “Air space restrictions prohibited me from following it to the pier, but it was headed south. I’m guessing it’s well on its way through the bay.”
Although the Santa Monica Bay is widely known as a hotspot for juvenile white sharks, the filmmaker says this sighting proves a larger point: adult great whites also frequent these waters.
“This is not a juvenile,” he said in an email to KTLA. “I’ve logged in more hours than probably anyone in the world with great whites over the last five years. This is an adult white shark.”
He said public messaging around sharks in the region often downplays their presence, perpetuating the misconception that larger adults aren’t nearby.
“There are no rules in the ocean,” he said. “Big sharks live there, and we are around them more often than we think.”
Despite the proximity to shore — and to unsuspecting beachgoers — he emphasized that shark attacks remain extremely rare.
“It’s a good reminder that we do live next to these apex predators daily. It’s a testament to just how rare a negative encounter with one can be.”
The full video can be found on The Malibu Artist’s YouTube.
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