A shark was filmed swimming perilously close to surfers at a popular Los Angeles-area beach, with its dorsal fin cutting through shallow water only a few feet from shore.
The unsettling video, shared Friday by social media influencer Josh Hublitz, captures the animal moving through the surf at El Porto Beach in Manhattan Beach.
“Surfing with sharks in Los Angeles… I’ve actually never seen a shark in El Porto before. This is the first,” Hublitz said in an Instagram post.
“Ankle deep water. That is super sketch,” he added.
In the footage, the shark’s dorsal fin emerges above the surface as it glides through the water near the shoreline.
One Instagram user speculated that the animal could be a harmless “baby thresher,” a species known to pursue baitfish in waters close to shore.
Officials and experts have not confirmed the shark’s species.
The sighting follows a series of shark encounters reported along the Southern California coast in recent months.
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On Tuesday, the Huntington Beach Fire Department shut a two-mile section of beach after an “aggressive” great white, estimated at 10 to 12 feet long, was reportedly seen circling near Lifeguard Tower 16.
In late June, a 9-foot great white was spotted off La Jolla. Officials posted warning signs, although the shark was not reported to have behaved aggressively.
The recent encounters coincide with unusually warm ocean temperatures associated with a powerful El Niño pattern, which has also been linked to a wave of unusual marine-life sightings off Southern California.
Scientists say warmer waters could be driving some shark species northward from their typical habitats and bringing them closer to heavily visited California beaches.
Two endangered olive ridley sea turtles were also found nesting on Orange County beaches near Seal Beach and Huntington Beach Pier, marking the species’ first documented nests on the West Coast.
Other rare visitors have included a hammerhead shark spotted off Malibu and venomous sea snakes seen along the Southern California coastline.