On the morning of October 28, 2026, a white shark estimated at 12 to 15 feet swam very close to surfer Joel Hendrix off Pier Avenue in Oceano, San Luis Obispo County. It flicked its tail, splashed him, and swam off. Local drone pilot David Steiner filmed the encounter from above, and no one was hurt. Hendrix told the San Luis Obispo Tribune the shark had ‘baptized’ him with a splash. The sighting came during ‘Sharktober,’ when adult white sharks return to the Central Coast.
A 12-to-15-foot great white brushes terrifyingly close to Joel Hendrix off Oceano, captured in eerie detail by local drone pilot David Steiner.
Source: Surfer. Headline and summary belong to the original publisher. We link, we don’t copy.
Sources
- Surfer: Great White Shark ‘Baptizes’ California Surfer: https://www.surfer.com/news/shark-surfer-san-luis-obispo-video
- ABC7 on YouTube: Large shark splashes surfer off California coast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llUJcAf6ht8
