Shark forces officials to close Southern California waters

The Southern California city of San Clemente closed access to its waters on Monday after “aggressive shark behavior” was seen in the area.

According to a post on X, formerly Twitter, the city said, “Ocean water at all City of San Clemente beaches has been closed due to confirmed aggressive shark behavior in the vicinity of T-Street Beach. Beaches will remain open, but water access will remain closed until 8:00pm tonight (5/27/24), pending no additional shark sightings.”

Newsweek has reached out to San Clemente City Hall via email on Monday for additional information.

What We Know

The alert was posted to X around 9:30 a.m. PT on Monday, alerting residents and beachgoers of the “aggressive shark behavior.”

The behavior was spotted near T-Street Beach in San Clemente. T-Street Beach is located at 339 W. Paseo De Cristobal, according to the city’s website. Amenities of this beach include restrooms, metered parking and concessions.

According to local news station ABC7, a lifeguard boat was also seen patrolling the area on Monday.

San Clemente is south of Dana Point and Laguna Beach.

What’s Next

According to the city, water access will remain closed until 8 p.m., but this is pending “no additional shark sightings.”

It is immediately unknown to Newsweek what type of shark was spotted.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.