Celebrate Shark Week by Watching Live Video Stream from Discovery Channel

On Sunday, the Discovery Channel kicked off its weeklong shark extravaganza with a live video feed of the "Ocean Voyager" exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, GA. Be sure to watch live events including diver question and answer sessions and shark feedings via the stream.

Last week a was spotted off of Dana Point Harbor by Captain Todd Mansur who was at the wheel of the Dana Pride with 149 passengers on a whale watch. The shark was a first for fellow Captain Larry Hartmann, also on board, who said he hadn't seen a shark in the area for 47 years.

and have also been reported off Laguna Beach in recent weeks.

The folks at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point are all too familiar with sharks and encourage residents and visitors alike to stop by to learn about sharks especially during Shark Week.

According to Tim Sullivan, director of at sea programs for the Ocean Institute, all kinds of shark-related activities are conducted regularly by instructors of summer camps, ‘Life In the Abyss Overnight,’ and weekend public programs. 

“We have shark jaws with teeth, identification posters, and visual aids for understanding electroreception and smell directionality,” he said. “We also have a tank that includes horned sharks as well as sting rays, shovelnose guitar fish, and California skates—some of which can be touched in a special area of the tank,” he said.

He said before last week’s great white appeared, there have only been periodic reports of great whites in the area by surfers. 

“A couple of years ago, a kayaker was propelled out of her boat by a great white and retrieved without injury by witnesses in nearby power boats. Bottom-feeding non-dangerous sharks such as horned, swell, leopard, and rays are common in coastal and Channel Island waters, frequently seen by divers and some snorkelers,” he said.

Open water sharks including great white, blue, mako, and thresher are rarely seen by boaters, including on the OI's R/V Sea Explorer, but successfully caught by sports fishermen. Makos are sometimes seen from a distance jumping out of the water, but the untrained eye may mistake the sight for dolphin or billfish.  

“Open water shark sightings are relatively rare because they don’t often swim right at the surface, and tend to shy away from boat noise,” he said. “Fishermen can attract sharks by dragging a chum bucket leaving a trail of fishy smell with the strongest concentration near the boat,” he said.

The bottom-dwelling sharks and rays are commonly seen and generally, mutually ignored by divers and snorkelers. Leopard sharks tend to congregate in a few coves of Catalina and La Jolla during the summer months.