Shark prompts closure at Seacliffe State Beach
By Pk Hattis | Santa Cruz Sentinel APTOS — The shoreline around Seacliff State Beach will close for the next couple of days after a local youth emerged from the water unscathed despite an apparent encounter with a shark. Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, first responders with State Parks and neighboring fire and law enforcement agencies were dispatched to what is known colloquially as the Rio Del Mar Platforms Beach after receiving reports of a shark attack, State Parks Public Safety Superintendent for the Santa Cruz Region Gabe McKenna told the Sentinel. However, the response was canceled shortly thereafter when additional information revealed no attack had occurred despite a swimmer appearing to have had a brush with the fearsome sea predator. Further inquiry revealed that a youth aide with the Rio Del Mar Junior Lifeguard program had set out that morning to drop a swim buoy out in the water. But when he was about 100 yards offshore, according to McKenna, the youth said he witnessed what a...