Very scary.
Southern California’s millions of surfers were put on notice, overnight, that this coming summer may be their last. Long Beach State University’s renowned Shark Lab announced that it was running out of funds and would be forced to shutter programs that monitor, and report upon, shark activity off the coast. It has been keeping eyes on the hundreds of juvenile Great Whites plotting limb feasts, alerting lifeguards when they malinger into the lineup.
Without cash money, though, the spying will cease.
Shark Lab director Chris Lowe told the local ABC affiliate, “It’s getting pretty serious. We have enough money to carry us through June but after that, if we don’t get more funding, we’re going to have to pull out all of the equipment out of the water. We won’t be able to monitor sharks along California anymore.”
The program has been running since 2018 and is considered one of the most advanced in the world. It utilizes a “high-tech system of receivers, buoys and underwater monitors that allow them to track and tag sharks in real time.”
An instant notification of juvenile Great Whites swimming around with bibs and hungry eyes can be sent directly to lifeguards to help keep surfers uneaten.
But, after June, no longer.
July and August soaked in blood.
September probably too.
The World Surf League’s Final’s Day a whole new shade of awful.
Ugh.