Teen Captures Close Encounter With Great White Shark In Santa Barbara County

CARPINTERIA (CBSLA) – A teenager recently captured video of very close encounter he had with a great white shark off the Santa Barbara County coastline near Carpinteria.

Sixteen-year-old Jackson Krischer says he was paddleboarding in an area known as Santa Claus Beach searching for sharks when a great white swam under his board. He captured the event on video.

The encounter wasn't an accident. Krischer says he intentionally searches the area for sharks. He says he was terrified to be near them at first, but now he knows they aren't trying to hurt him and they usually just swim away.

Krischer told CBSLA that he has been around sharks so many times that he can even recognize their tags and marks.

On June 12, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department posted drone video to social media showing five juvenile great white sharks swimming near the shoreline of Santa Claus Beach.

SBCFD spokesperson Mike Eliason says that the waters off Santa Claus Beach are "widely known to shark researchers as a nursery environment for the great whites."