SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A Santa Barbara beach has been closed and warning signs posted after at least seven people reported seeing a great white shark.
KEYT-TV says Leadbetter Beach was shut down for at least 24 hours after the shark was spotted inside the swimming buoys Sunday.
Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol spokesman Ryan Kelly says officer interviewed two of the witnesses — a surfer and fisherman — then decided to close the beach. Kelly says the interviews include a series of questions to determine whether the sightings were legitimate, and investigators believe it was in fact a great white.
Kelly says there were about a dozen credible shark sightings in 2013 in the two-mile stretch from Leadbetter Beach to East Beach. The last was around Labor Day.
