Two shark sightings — one on Thursday night and another on Friday morning — prompted the closure of San Clemente Beach until about noon today.
The latest sighting came from a surfer who reported spotting a shark at about 11:30 on Friday morning near Tower 5 at T Street, according to Marine Safety Officer Ian Burton.
The first shark was sighted at about 7 p.m. on Thursday. Burton noted that “pretty much no one was in the water” then, so lifeguards kept an eye out but did not close the beach.
The sighting on Friday prompted lifeguards to start closing the one-mile part of the beach under the city’s jurisdiction, according to Burton
A supervising lifeguard on a jet ski advised everyone to get out of the water, Burton said. When everyone was safely ashore, the lifeguard went looking for the six- to seven-foot shark, found it and trailed it for about 90 minutes, according to Burton. State lifeguards decided to shut down the whole beach, according to Burton.
