More juvenile sharks in Santa Cruz County: here's why

MONTEREY, Calif. - There has been an increase in young great white sharks being spotted in Monterey Bay, in an area that some locals have nicknamed "Shark Park." 

For the past decade, the juvenile sharks have gathered during the summer and fall at Soquel Cove in the northern corner of the bay.

This year, experts say the sharks are back in greater numbers than in previous years.  

Dave Ebert, the director of the Pacific Shark Research Center, said he believes the sharks are happy in this area.

"I think that the population is expanding because there's more food and that has a lot to do with the Marine Mammal Protection Act," he said.

Weather experts also said the water is cold right now, which may explain the migration shift.

Last summer, researchers at California State University, Long Beach-based Shark Lab used drones to study juvenile white sharks along the Southern California coastline and how close they swim to humans in the water.

While the researchers found out that the sharks swam pretty close to humans, there were still no reported shark bites in any of the 26 beaches surveyed between January 2019 and March 2021. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.