Red Tide Makes "Oceanic Serengeti"

Undersea wildlife is making itself known up and down the California coast in recent days thanks to a so-called "red tide."

One man had a close encounter with two humpback whales and another with a great white shark.

Experts describe the waters off the Santa Cruz and Monterey coast as "oceanic Serengeti" referring to the region in Africa that hosts the largest mammal migration in the world.

Red tide is caused by the under water critters that swim to the top of the ocean and form a red-ish shadow on the water.

"October is regarded as shark-tober and that persists right through January with the peak of the Elephant seal landings and then in February and March most of the sharks are moving off shore into the deep sea,"  said shark expert Sean Van Sommerman.

 The extra wildlife brings in all kinds of sea creatures. Just last week, a photographer caught two breaching humpback whales coming within a few feet of a kayaker.

 For the kayaker, the moment was bliss.

 

For a Monterey man, the interaction was less than blissfull.  Eric Tarantino, 27, was out surfing this friends early Saturday morning when he was attacked by a great white shark.

Tarantino nearly lost his life. Dr. Michael Gynn at the Regional Medical Center in San Jose said Tarantino was lucky, because the shark missed all major vessels. Gynn said Tarantino is expected to make a full recovery and could be out of the hospital Monday.

In response to the attack, beaches up and down Monterey County will be closed to surfers this week, after a Monterey man was attacked by a shark at Marina State Beach.

Warning signs tell surfers that they should stay out of the water through next weekend, according to the Monterey Herald. 

Tarantino's damaged surfboard became an instant tourist attraction as it sat in the back of a state park ranger's patrol car in the beach parking lot. The teeth marks left on the surf board were 19 inches across.