Gentle and jaw-some, sharks in La Jolla are more plentiful – and more harmless – than most realize.

If you’re heading into the ocean, you’re likely aware that you won’t be alone, and you might even know that La Jolla is the most biodiverse place in the country, home to myriad species under the waves.

Among those, the La Jolla sharks, plural. Lest you believe you’re in constant danger from these ubiquitous elasmobranchs, sink your teeth into our guide to all things local shark.

La Jolla’s shark tank

Smoothound shark. Photo via Shark Research Institute.

“La Jolla is a really special place for lots of reasons, including marine biodiversity,” said Dovi Kacev, a shark expert and teaching professor at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 

The abundance of sharks in La Jolla is “a testament” to that diversity, he said, as sharks need “relatively healthy ecosystems for them to thrive.”

Horn shark. Photo via nausicaa.

On any given day, a swimmer can wade into the water outside The Marine Room at Shores and swim towards The Cove, likely spotting La Jolla leopard sharks incubating themselves in the warm, shallow waters.

As you make your way through the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve (SMR), one of three state-protected Marine Protected Areas in La Jolla where ocean activities are restricted to protect the marine ecosystems there, you might see a smooth-hound shark in the water, Kacev said, and then you’re swimming with horn sharks, soupfin sharks (also called topes) and swell sharks.

Those are the most commonly sighted sharks in La Jolla, Kacev said.

Sevengill shark. Photo via Zach’s Scuba Shack.

Divers who extend deeper under the water might encounter more types of sharks, like the sevengills that swim through the kelp forests in summer.

Most sharks have five pairs of gills, so the extra two pairs on the sevengill shark make it a “neat looking shark,” Kacev said.

Occasionally, he said, the pelagic, or open-ocean, sharks will swim a little closer to land, so if you venture further offshore, you might see a blue shark, mako shark or juvenile thresher shark, which tend to be larger but sighted much less often.

“The adult [thresher sharks] tend to be further offshore,” Kacev said, “but the juveniles definitely come through. They’re really shy, so they avoid people.”

White shark. Photo via Getty Images.

The big headline-maker, of course, is the juvenile white shark, prevalent in Southern California, particularly in San Diego, with the closest aggregation of the juvenile white sharks off Torrey Pines and Del Mar, Kacev said. “They don’t really come into La Jolla and The Cove very often, but it’s certainly possible.”

Last year, a megamouth shark was spotted off La Jolla’s coast, a “bizarre” sighting as those are rarely seen, he said.

Chew on this: A La Jolla shark attack is improbable

Also extremely rare are the chances of a shark attack here, Kacev said.

Though all sharks are carnivorous, the dozen or so species of La Jolla sharks are mainly eating “very small things,” he noted.

And which species are aggressive or dangerous? “The human beings,” Kacev said. 

Signage posted at Del March Beach in June 2024. Photo via NBC 7 San Diego.

Though there was a recent case of a man in Del Mar bit by a shark while swimming in June, “the majority of species that we see in La Jolla” do not bite humans, Kacev emphasized, “unless you are harassing the shark.”

Yes, sharks have teeth and are predatory, but “as long as you are respectful and give them their space, [you’re] more likely to be struck by lightning, more likely to have a vending machine fall on you,” he said.

A rock and a shark place

What brings these sharks to La Jolla? Not only is water temperature a factor, drawing our pregnant leopard sharks here, but the healthy reefs and ecosystems, encouraged by the shielding of the Marine Protected Areas, lead to the sharks’ food populations thriving.  

 “Having a reasonably healthy ecosystem is important,” Kacev said, noting that are are various ecosystems here, from the kelp forests to the dense, rocky reef to the sand patches.

Swell shark. Photo via Monterey Bay Aquarium.

There are also ecoclines, which are the boundaries between ecosystems and provide even more variety in habitat type, he said. 

Reiterating the unlikelihood of a shark attack, Kacev said “La Jolla is a fairly safe place for people to be swimming. … I know that that doesn’t speak to the primal fear that people do have.”

Above all, awareness is crucial, he said.

When we step into the water, we’re stepping into the wild, and just as we take precautions at the beach against being hit by a car walking across the road, experiencing sunburn and being swept away by a rip current, it’s important to heed lifeguard instructions and ensure you’re comfortable in the water, Kacev said.

Soupfin shark. Photo by Andrea Fieber/iNaturalist.

“If you follow those rules, you will be safe.”

A shark sighting is a reminder “how lucky you are to be able to see such elegant, beautiful creatures out in the wild,” Kacev said. “Most people don’t have that opportunity.”

Sharks “are animals that we’re still learning a lot about,” he said, speaking to lajolla.ca from the annual American Elasmobranch Society conference in Pittsburgh, where leading shark experts gather to share their research and discoveries.

Sharks can be “misunderstood,” Kacev said, and could “certainly use our help and understanding.”