One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Great White Sharks Are Now an Endangered Species in California
Photo of Great White Shark via Shutterstock
If you harbor some JAWS-like fantasy in which you take a small boat out into the ocean and do away with the savage beast that is the Great White -- the one that's been killing innocents and eluding you and your team for weeks on end, such that you look like a fool in the eyes of the locals -- well, you're going to have to let it go. As of today, great white sharks are protected under the endangered species list in California.
The mandate has been under consideration since February, according to City News Service, but it's not official until it's published in the California Regulatory Notice Register, and that's expected to happen today.
It's been illegal to fish for great whites for sport or commercial purposes since the mid-1990's, but now, it will be against the law to hunt, pursue, catch, capture or kill them, or attempt to do any of those things.
You'll recall that in JAWS -- the movie that gave some of us a lifelong fear of bodies of water -- the film's aquatic star meets a truly gruesome end when an oxygen tank is detonated inside its mouth.
Just to be clear, you can no longer do that.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
