Marine Mammal Center

Virgin Creek Advisory: Surfers Urged to Stay Out of the Water

Photo of Frank Hartzell Frank Hartzell Send an email 45 minutes ago
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Sharks feed on a floating dead marine mammal in this stock image. Surfers should avoid the Virgin Creek area, where a dead sea mammal was reported in the water on Wednesday. Sharks often follow and scavenge dead whales, sea lions, seals, elephant seals, dolphins, and even other great white sharks, sometimes bringing them into the wave zone. Great white numbers have increased in recent years, and researchers are studying changes in their behavior as well. This was not here.

A strong smell from a dead sea mammal in the ocean is drifting across the Haul Road area—from south of Lake Cleone in MacKerricher State Park down past Virgin Creek. When a marine mammal dies, great white sharks often gather to feed. Because of that, we want to warn surfers to stay away from the area for now.

We contacted State Parks and local law enforcement to alert them. Sharks are known to scavenge dead whales, sea lions, seals, elephant seals, dolphins, and even other great white sharks.

The waves are choppy today, which likely means fewer people in the water—except possibly at Virgin Creek, which is closest to where the dead animal appears to be.

Recently, a great white shark made headlines when it chased a surfer in the ocean in Southern California for 10 miles.

Great White Shark Chases Foil Surfer for 10 Miles in Santa Barbara (Video)

Due to federal budget cuts, the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Stranding Hotline at 1-866-767-6114 no longer accepts live reports of marine mammal stranding. 

We reported it to the California (Marine Mammal Center): (415) 289-SEAL (7325)

We left a message there.

Great white sharks feasting on dead whale forces board riders to tow it to sea to protect surf break – ABC News

More to come:

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Photo of Frank Hartzell Frank Hartzell Send an email 45 minutes ago
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Photo of Frank Hartzell

Frank Hartzell

Frank Hartzell has spent his lifetime as a curious anthropologist in a reporter's fedora. His first news job was chasing news on the streets of Houston with high school buddy and photographer James Mason, back in 1986. Then Frank graduated from Humboldt State and went to Great Gridley as a reporter, where he bonded with 1000 people and told about 3000 of their stories. In Marysville at the Appeal Democrat, the sheltered Frank got to see both the chilling depths and amazing heights of humanity. From there, he worked at the Sacramento Bee covering Yuba-Sutter and then owned the Business Journal in Yuba City, which sold 5000 subscriptions to a free newspaper. Frank then got a prestigious Kiplinger Investigative Reporting fellowship and was city editor of the Newark Ohio, Advocate and then came back to California for 4 years as managing editor of the Napa Valley Register before working as a Dominican University professor, then coming to Fort Bragg to be with his aging mom, Betty Lou Hartzell, and working for the Fort Bragg Advocate News. Frank paid the bills during that decade + with a successful book business. He has worked for over 50 publications as a freelance writer, including the Mendocino Voice and Anderson Valley Advertiser, along with construction and engineering publications. He has had the thrill of learning every day while writing. Frank is now living his dream running MendocinoCoast.News with wife, Linda Hartzell, and web developer, Marty McGee, reporting from Fort Bragg, California.

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