Great White Hype : Rumors of Huge Man-Eater Lurking Off Ventura Don’t Seem to Hold Water

Forget about the one that got away. A great white shark rumored to be cruising the cold coastal waters around the Ventura Harbor could be the one that never existed.

Consider this fish story.

A fisherman last week reported seeing a 12-foot great white snacking on a couple of sea lions outside the mouth of the Santa Barbara harbor. By the time the news made its way south and bubbled up in Ventura, the man-eater had doubled in size and was reported to be living in the waters around the Ventura Pier.

For the record, there has been no official sighting of a great white shark off the Ventura coastline. No beaches are being closed. It’s still safe, officials say, to go into the water.

Nevertheless, the reports have provoked a mild mania. Television news crews from across the Southland have boarded vessels and embarked on a hunt for the dreaded behemoth.

Worried beach-goers have phoned some shop owners in the harbor to ask whether it’s true that Ventura’s waters are shark-infested.

“Next week, it will be at the Channel Islands Harbor and 60 feet long,” said Dave Delano, who runs the aquatic equivalent of the auto club at the Ventura Harbor.

“Wherever there are sea lions, there are going to be great whites,” Delano added. “But I don’t think you’re going to see one this close in.”

The truth is, the waters off Ventura are filled with sharks of all stripes and sizes. And great whites--the ones with the nastiest reputation--sweep the sea lion hangouts around the Channel Islands.

In late 1994, for example, a diver scouting for sea urchins in the waters off San Miguel Island was attacked and killed by what was believed to be a great white.

But whether a great white is currently stalking the mainland coast is another matter.

“There is a possibility that this shark story is not just a story,” said Deputy Harbor Master Pat Hummer, who spent a good part of his day Thursday ferrying news crews out to a buoy half a mile offshore that has been commandeered by sea lions.

“There are no borders in the ocean,” he added. “If they are getting tired of sharing their food sources, maybe they’re coming in. But I wouldn’t be afraid to swim in the ocean right now.”

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That’s the same attitude adopted by Jeremy Williamson and Jason Fisher of Ventura. The 21-year-old surfers headed into the ocean Thursday afternoon armed with the confidence of those who spend a lot of time in the water.

“I’m not afraid of no shark,” said Fisher, a silver-plated shark tooth hanging from around his neck. “I could care less.”

Added Williamson: “I heard something about a great white cruising around. It’s probably out there, but if he thinks you’re human he won’t go after you.”

There was plenty of shark at Andria’s Seafood Restaurant but not the man-eating kind. In fact, it was the other way around. Thick shark steaks, piled high in a glass display case, were selling for $6.99.

And buried deep in an ice-filled trash can at the restaurant’s fish market, waiting to be skinned and fileted, were an angel shark and a leopard shark.

“We don’t have any great whites here,” said Aquilino Hernandez, 57, digging through the ice and pulling out the rubbery sea life. “And there are none in the harbor.”

Out at a boat slip, Rick Sanderson said rumors of a great white had not hurt his kayak rental business. But he did get a phone call and a few questions about the news reports.

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“I could only confirm a little 3-foot leopard shark,” he laughed. The great white “didn’t come visit me if it did come into the harbor.”

The same was true for Steven Adams, a 36-year-old Santa Barbara resident and veteran scuba diving instructor. While varnishing the handrail of the 85-foot Liberty on Thursday, he said it appeared that the harbor was a shark-free zone.

“I haven’t seen it, but of course I haven’t been looking for it,” he said. “It seems pretty strange that they would be in here when they have their designated restaurants already.”

It could be just a fish story. And like any good fish story, it keeps growing with time.

“As long as it keeps moving south as it grows,” cracked Bill Clawson, executive director of the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau. “To tell you the truth, I think it’s the media that’s having a feeding frenzy.”