Environment |

Fascinated by great white sharks? Viral shark filmer to share unreal footage at Ocean Institute

Sometimes, the sharks simply meander, swimming calmly just feet from shore.

Other times, they’ll swim up close to unsuspecting surfers or swimmers to investigate before losing interest and darting off. And here’s an interesting tidbit Carlos Gauna has learned from spending hundreds of hours filming sharks: They like to munch on kelp.

“I like to joke that sharks are turning vegetarian,” said Gauna, better known to his 160,000 YouTube subscribers as TheMalibuArtist. 

Gauna will be in Dana Point on Friday, Sept. 2, as a guest lecturer for the Ocean Institute’s Distinguished Speaker series, highlighting what he’s learned during hundreds of hours filming sharks from shore, mostly in the Santa Monica Bay. His drone footage has been viewed millions of times online by shark enthusiasts and is also used by experts and researchers seeking insight about the mysterious creatures as more are seen across Southern California’s coastline in recent years.

Gauna’s footage is opposite of the dramatic, Jaws-like portrayal of the apex predator as seen on Shark Week segments. He described is approach as more simply wanting to show how great whites interact with the ocean around them.

“I think, in a way, public perception is changing,” he said. “I think here in Southern California especially, people are aware there’s more sharks around them. We’re now able to see them because (there are) eyes in the sky.”

More shark sightings across Southern California – including in the South Bay, Huntington Beach, Long Beach and San Clemente – started being reported around 2016 when waters warmed during an El Nino and juveniles were seen in bigger numbers hanging out near shore.

Gauna said he was fixated at the time on filming whales with his drone, a technology that was just catching on. Then one day, in 2017, he glimpsed his first shark from shore off Malibu.

There was just one problem – his drone was out of battery and he couldn’t share the surreal moment.

“A light bulb went off in my head and I started using the drone specifically for sharks,” Gauna said. “It was large, looked like an adult white shark – one of the biggest I’ve seen to this day.”

His focus turned to scouring the sea looking for sharks with his drone.

He used an online database that documented where sharks had been spotted in previous years and decided that’s where he’d check first. Then, he saw one. And another. And another.

“I was always searching too far out,” he said. “The thing about these juveniles, they hang out pretty much in the waves.”

On one special day, he saw 50 hanging out in a secret location, footage he is working with National Geographic to release.

Viral sharks

Gauna didn’t set out to be a Youtube sensation, but it was one video in particular – four sharks eating a dolphin – that went viral in 2020 with 3 million views that brought masses to his channel.

While that film showed the sharks in hunting behavior, Gauna said he prefers to show sharks in a non-bias way that doesn’t vilify the species.

“We’re all used to the click bait, people-in-danger stuff,” he said. “I really wanted to make the presentation about sharks’ everyday lives, instead of the super scary moments people think they are in when a shark is around, which is not always the case.”

In fact, when thinking about the countless times he’s seen sharks up close to humans, those interactions underscore that shark attacks are much more rare than he perceived.

“We’re around sharks consistently and there’s less than a handful of attacks per year,” he said.  “It’s pretty telling.”

How do sharks react when they come across humans in their space?

“They are pretty indifferent, there’s no other words I can use to describe it,” Gauna said. “They don’t seem to care half the time when there’s a human around.”

Still, people shouldn’t completely let their guard down.

“It can be a good thing, but also a negative thing,” Gauna said. “You don’t want people getting too comfortable because they are an apex predator, after all.

“Attacks are rare, but you have to treat it like a wild animal.”

 

On occasion, Gauna said he will try to let the people know there’s a shark nearby, not because he thinks they are in danger, but more as an advisement.

“If I was in the woods and there was a bear, I would expect them to tell me. It’s kind of a courtesy,” he said. “I’d much rather be around a shark than a bear, for sure.”

In his footage, he prefers not having humans in the shot.

“I’m more interested in seeing sharks in the wild, eating kelp or interacting with each other or chasing bat rays,” he said.

While he works often with experts from the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach and other research groups, Gauna notes he’s not a marine biologist – instead, simply a scout turned citizen scientist who has spent hundreds of hours observing shark behavior in the wild.

Garrett Staller, public programs specialists for the Ocean Institute, said Gauna was selected not only because his work appeals to the marine science community, but also everyday people such as surfers, beachgoers and photographers interested in his filming and editing process.

“He can speak to a lot of people about why sharks are important and work toward their conservation,” Staller said.

The Ocean Institute’s Distinguished Speaker Series, presented by the Nicholas Endowment, happens each month and the price of admission includes light snacks and refreshments. The discussion and slideshow starts at 6 p.m. Non-members $15, members $10.

More information: oceaninstitute.org