Article updated at 2:12 p.m. on March 5
By Eric Heinz
About 10:30 a.m. on Monday, March 5, the city of San Clemente announced on Twitter that the waters it patrols would be closed due to a confirmed shark sighting near the Pier.
This is the first shark sighting of the calendar year. The shark was announced as a great white that was at least 8 feet long. The closure is marked from Lasuens Beach to North Beach.
— CityofSanClemente,CA (@CitySanClemente) March 5, 2018
The city closes its waters for four hours at a time during confirmed shark sightings. If no sharks are sighted after that, the closure is typically downgraded to a warning, but the waters are reopened. Today’s closure went into effect at 9:10 a.m. and was lifted at 1:10 p.m.
Intermittently throughout the spring and summer of 2017, shark sightings closed beaches from San Clemente to northern parts of Orange County. A woman was attacked by a shark at San Onofre State Beach in April, which was the start of closures and prompted studies of shark behavior throughout the area.
This is a developing story. More information will be provided when it becomes available.
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