A juvenile great white shark launched out of the water near a boogie boarder off Lifeguard Tower 40 in Newport Beach on Saturday, July 26, at approximately 6:30 a.m. No one was injured.

Soaren Stevenson told KTLA 5 News he was filming his brother boogie boarding when the shark exploded out of the water in the distance. The footage was picked up by multiple outlets the same day.

Christopher Lowe, a professor of marine biology and director of the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab, reviewed the footage and identified the animal as a juvenile great white.

"Based on how they often jump and land on their sides or backs, I suspect they are jumping to dislodge parasites crawling on their sides and backs, relieving a case of the itchies," Lowe told KTLA. "The only other reason I can think of is that they are jumping for fun."

Lowe said the behavior was not predatory. In a separate interview with the Guardian on July 17, before the Tower 40 incident, he noted that white sharks generally ignore humans because people don't look, sound, or feel like prey to them.

More sharks this summer

The sighting fits a broader pattern along the California coast this year. Lowe told the Guardian on July 14 that his lab began detecting baby white sharks in February, months earlier than the typical April start, driven by El Niño conditions pushing juvenile sharks northward from Baja California. In 2015, the last comparable El Niño year, the lab recorded twice as many white sharks along the coast.

As recently as late May, Lowe told the Orange County Register there had been "little activity off Orange County." The Tower 40 breach marks the first notable shark sighting off Orange County this summer after that quiet stretch.

Safety context

The 6:30 a.m. timing aligns with what researchers have identified as a higher-risk window. Lowe told the Register in May that sharks are most actively feeding during dawn and dusk, and advised beachgoers to swim and surf in groups rather than alone.

Juvenile great whites, classified as those between 6 and 9 feet long, stay close to shore to feed on fish, rays, and squid, according to the Shark Lab's research. California has recorded fewer than 250 shark incidents since 1950, with 17 fatalities, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Newport Beach has 224 lifeguards on duty this summer, including 96 assigned to towers, truck patrols, and rescue boats, Chief Lifeguard Brian O'Rourke said in early July.

No official response confirmed

As of publication, neither the Newport Beach Fire Department nor the Newport Beach Police Department has issued a public statement confirming whether any beach advisory or temporary closure was enacted following the sighting. Residents who observe sharks or other marine hazards can contact the Newport Beach Fire Department's Lifeguard Division at (949) 644-3047.