A drone operator managed to alert a surfer about the presence of a shark circling him in the waters off Seascape Beach in Aptos, California, during a tense moment that was captured on video and widely shared on social media.
The incident occurred on June 10, around 8:45 in the morning, when Nick Bertocchini, a photographer operating under the name Corfino Photography on Instagram, was flying over the area with his drone and spotted the silhouette of the animal approaching the surfer, identified only as "Rex."
The images captured from the air show the surfer sitting on his board, completely unaware of the predator swimming underneath him, while the shark started to circle around him.
Bertocchini resorted to a technique that had worked for him before: he accelerated the drone's engines and maneuvered the device to the side of the shark to grab the surfer's attention.
"I tried to warn the surfer, Rex, whom I spoke to later, by revving the drone's motors and maneuvering it toward the side of the shark. It's something that has worked before to alert surfers about sharks," Bertocchini explained in his Instagram post.
The maneuver worked: Rex noticed the presence of the animal and began to paddle swiftly toward the shore. The moment of greatest tension came when the shark positioned itself directly behind the surfer before turning away without making contact.
Bertocchini noted that the animal's behavior unsettled him more than usual. "Normally, sharks are somewhat curious and leave quickly, but this one seemed more investigative than usual," he wrote.
After coming out of the water, Rex told the drone operator that he grew up surfing in that area and that over the years, he has noticed an increase in shark sightings near Seascape Beach.
The video was published on Instagram on June 16 and went viral after being shared by the local network KSBW 8 and its national affiliates.
The Santa Cruz area is known for the frequent presence of young great white sharks, especially in summer and autumn when the waters of Soquel Cove warm up. The area has informally been nicknamed "Shark Park" due to the number of sightings recorded.
State authorities have put up warning signs at nearby beaches such as Seacliff, New Brighton, and Río del Mar due to multiple reported sightings in the area.
The incident occurs six months after the death of the triathlete Erica Fox, 55, who disappeared on December 21, 2025, while swimming in Monterey Bay. Her body was found on December 27 near Davenport Beach, in the same county of Santa Cruz, with injuries attributed to a great white shark.
Despite the alarm these encounters generate, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife documents that shark incidents are statistically very rare: fewer than 250 recorded cases since 1950, with an average of less than three per year and fewer than one death annually across the state.
"I'm glad that the shark and the surfer parted without any further contact," Bertocchini concluded.
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