Shark Sightings at Gaviota State Park Pier

According to a few regular visitors to Gaviota State Park’s pier, a large shark, believed by eye witnesses to be a great white, has been frequenting the area during the past week, swimming in close to the pier’s pilings and, in one reported instance, chomping a fish right off a fisherman’s line. The rumors come just two weeks after Santa Barbara City officials placed shark warning signs at several area beaches in the wake of an injured adult sea lion — believed by experts to have been on the receiving end of a great white shark bite — washing ashore. Those signs have since come down after 72 hours passed without any further incident.