Last Friday Lecture Series – Understanding California’s White Sharks with Dr. Chris Lowe
September 27 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
This event will be in-person at the Trailhead Visitor Center and streamed live online.
Understanding California’s White Sharks: Research, Safety, and Coexistence
With the white shark population increasing due to successful conservation and management, increased shark activity along the CA coastline has raised public safety concerns. The CSULB Shark Lab has been studying white sharks for almost 20 years and in 2018 formed the CA Shark Beach Safety Program with funding from the California State legislature. New research has focused on population dynamics and behavior, particularly for juveniles that use coastal beach habitats as nursery. Research findings are dispersed to stakeholders (e.g., lifeguards, Harbor patrol, general public, K-12 schools) via large education and outreach program. Come learn about what we’ve discovered and how we’re learning how to live with white sharks off California.
Speaker
Dr. Chris Lowe
As Director of the Shark Lab at California State University, Dr. Lowe has been studying sharks, rays and bony fishes for over 30 years, focusing on their behavior, physiology and ecology. For the last 15 years, Dr. Lowe and his students have been studying juvenile white sharks off the coast of southern California. Using a wide array of technology, they have found that white sharks use southern California beaches seasonally as nursery habitat for their young. This brings juvenile white sharks in close proximity to beach goers. Dr. Lowe and his student use a wide array of technologies and educators to help lifeguards and the public understand the mysterious lives of sharks and just how much of a threat they may actually pose.
Trailhead Visitor Center