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Video: Paddleboarders Hang Out With Great White Sharks Off Huntington Beach
When reports came in that around ten (ten!) great white sharks were kickin' it in Orange County, these two paddleboarders did the most reasonable thing: go out into the water to see them for themselves.
Courtney Hemerick and Joseph Trucksess hit up Huntington Beach's Sunset Beach on Friday, and came back with some pretty cool footage shot with GoPros attached to their paddles. It's kind of remarkable how... chill the sharks are in the footage. "My perception of sharks has been so distorted by Jaws and other movies," Trucksess told the Orange County Register. "It was cool to see how peaceful and non-aggressive they are."
"It was cool to be in their territory, on their turf."
In the three hours they spent out in the water, Trucksess says the biggest one they saw was about 7 feet long, making them all juveniles. Experts say the sharks are hugging the shoreline to eat the stingrays. Even though shark attacks on humans are rare and most of the sharks off Orange County are barely larger than a full-grown man, lifeguards are still warning people to remain cautious.