• Print
• E-mail
• Add to My Trips

A surfer was attacked Tuesday morning off Monterey by what initially was described as a 20-foot great white shark.

Hours later, a younger, much smaller white shark was put on display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in an ongoing attempt "to change public attitudes and promote greater protection for these magnificent and much-maligned ocean predators."

The irony was not lost on those at the aquarium. They knew their timing was poor and presumed the attack would be sensationalized.

But they remained confident their 5-foot specimen would not be perceived as something evil.

"What's been really amazing with the past sharks is how visitors react with comments like, 'It's so small,' or 'It's cute,'" says Ken Peterson, aquarium spokesman. "Having a young-of-the-year shark seems to evoke the exact opposite of the 'something evil' reaction."

Sure enough, the attack on Todd Endris was sensationalized. Contrary to witness accounts and subsequent radio and TV reports, it turned out to be an estimated 12- to 13-foot specimen, a young adult, that dragged him under briefly as he sat on his board off Marina State Beach just north of Monterey.

He remained hospitalized Thursday with wounds to his torso and right thigh.

When white sharks reach about 12 feet, experts says, they begin preying on seals and sea lions, instead of fish. And the attack on Endris, like most or all white shark attacks on humans, was probably a case of mistaken identity.

"This is about the time they're returning to the area and there are a lot of people in the water," says Peter Klimley, a prominent researcher from UC Davis. "The sharks are moving to and from seal colonies and if you happen to be in the wrong place and you are an object at the surface" you risk being attacked.

Still, attacks on humans are rare. Fewer than three occur annually along the entire West Coast. State Department of Fish and Game Department records show that off California there have been 93 nonfatal and 10 fatal attacks since the 1920s.

There is no direct evidence showing consumption of victims; most died as a result of injuries sustained during the initial strike.

Endris, therefore, is extremely fortunate that the predator that bit him, before realizing its mistake, was not a 20-footer.

GW Junior on exhibit

The 67-pound male white shark in Monterey Bay Aquarium, captured incidentally three weeks ago by commercial fishermen off Ventura, is the third to occupy the facility's Outer Bay exhibit.

The first was held for 198 days and viewed by more than 1 million visitors. The second was kept 137 days.

Both were tagged and tracked after their release.

Besides using a captive specimen to deliver a conservation message, the aquarium since 2001 has spent more than $1 million toward extensive tagging studies.

Comments? Email travel-feedback@latimes.com