“They saw a shark breach the water with what appeared to be a human body in its mouth.”
In one of the ghastlier ironies, although hardly surprising given the sorta fish that patrol the waters off Monterey in northern California, the body of swimmer Erica Fox has been found, identified by the Sharkbanz bracelet on her ankle.
The body of Erica Fox, a 55-year-old triathlete and co-founder of the open-water swimming group Kelp Krawlers, was recovered on December 27, 2025, one week after she disappeared during a group swim off Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, California.
Authorities suspect Fox was killed by a Great White shark, following witness accounts of a large shark breaching the water near the swimmers around noon on December 21, with one observer reporting what appeared to be a human body in its mouth.
An extensive search involving the U.S. Coast Guard, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, Pacific Grove police, divers, boats, helicopters, and drones covered a wide area but was suspended after about 15 hours.
Erica Fox’s remains were located south of Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz County, 25 miles north of the attack, by Cal Fire personnel.
Fox was still wearing her black wetsuit.
The body was identified by family members through distinctive items: a white Garmin fitness watch and a Sharkbanz 2, an electromagnetic shark-deterrent band worn on her ankle.
Examining the efficacy of SharkBanz
The device, which emits a magnetic field intended to disrupt sharks’ electroreceptive senses and create an aversive stimulus, had been adopted by many in the Kelp Krawlers group following a non-fatal great Great White shark incident involving another member in 2022.
As Chas Smith reported at the time,
Do you recall how surf brand Modom incorporated Sharkbanz tech into very expensive leashes ($180 in the U.S. $250 in Australia)? Do you recall how our friend’s at Stab jumped in with both feet, thrilling at the product and pushing it through parent company Surfstitch?
Earlier in the year, a Western Australian coroner ruled that even if the surfer Steven Payne had been wearing his SharkBanz when he was attacked and disppeared by a Great White shark in waist-deep water, it wouldn’t have done a damn thing.
If you’re a believer in these things, buy em here. One fifty shekels or thereabouts.