Great white shark leaps near Newport Beach boogie boarder
A juvenile great white shark leapt from the water behind a boogie boarder at Newport Beach on Saturday, July 25, 2026. Captured on video near Lifeguard Tower 40 around 6:30 a.m., the roughly six-foot shark appeared to breach for parasites or play—not an attack—say Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab experts.
Key Takeaways
- Video shows a juvenile great white shark breaching behind a bodyboarder at Newport Beach on July 25, 2026.
- Soaren Stevenson filmed the leap near Lifeguard Tower 40 at about 6:30 a.m. while recording his brother.
- Shark Lab director Dr. Christopher Lowe said the jump was likely to shed parasites—or simply for fun.
- The bodyboarder appeared unaware as the roughly six-foot shark spun mid-air and crashed back down.
- The clip lands amid a busy Southern California summer for juvenile white sharks near shore.
The viral footage, first detailed by KTLA, shows an unexpected guest stealing the scene during a casual morning session. Stevenson was capturing his brother on a bodyboard when the shark exploded out of the water in the distance.
According to reporting carried by Yahoo News, the young predator sprang up outside the lineup while the rider headed toward the inside—then spun through a full-body breach before slamming back into the Pacific. For more ocean and science coverage, browse Future Tech & AI Wonders on BlasterPost.
What exactly happened at Newport Beach?
On Saturday morning, Stevenson told KTLA he was filming near Lifeguard Tower 40 when the shark launched skyward. The session coincided with a pulse of summertime hurricane swell in the popular Orange County surf town.
Yahoo Science described the animal as a juvenile great white shark measuring about six feet long. In the clip, the bodyboarder keeps riding, seemingly oblivious to the airborne apex predator behind him.
No bite or chase is described in the coverage. The drama is the sudden breach itself—close enough on camera to jolt viewers, yet not framed as an attack on the rider.
Why did the great white shark leap out of the water?
Professor Christopher Lowe, a marine biologist and director of the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab, told KTLA the animal looks like a juvenile great white. He offered two leading explanations for the acrobatics.
“Based on how they often jump and land on their sides or backs, I suspect they are jumping to dislodge parasites crawling on their sides and backs, relieving a case of the itchies,” Lowe said. “The only other reason I can think of is that they are jumping for fun.”
Marine scientists cited in the Yahoo report note that juvenile breaching is surprisingly common in coastal shallows—even when the sight of a great white shark catching air near a swimmer feels terrifying.
Is Southern California seeing more great white shark activity?
Yahoo’s coverage places the Newport Beach leap in a particularly “sharky summer” across Southern California. Elevated ocean temperatures and shifting El Niño conditions have drawn high concentrations of juvenile white sharks into coastal beach zones.
Separately, SURFER Magazine and related reports have highlighted other recent close calls, including drone video of an approximately 10-foot great white shark approaching unsuspecting young swimmers off the Southern California coast before turning back to deeper water. Experts stress that such proximity can rise with warm water even when bites remain uncommon.
For beachgoers, the Newport Beach video is a vivid reminder: juvenile great whites share the shallows, and dramatic breaches can happen yards from everyday riders who never notice.