Drone video shows 10-foot great white near young swimmers
Carlos Gauna, known online as The Malibu Artist, said he was more than a mile away when his drone spotted the shark off Southern California.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
A 10-foot great white shark glided close to young swimmers off the Southern California coast in drone footage posted Monday by Carlos Gauna, the filmmaker known online as The Malibu Artist.
Gauna shared the clip on Instagram, where the overhead view shows the shark moving through the water as the children swim nearby. According to Gauna, the swimmers did not appear to know the animal was below the surface.
In his caption, Gauna wrote, "I don't often get nervous but this was one of those rare instances where I did. The young swimmers had no idea."
The footage shows the children noticing the drone and waving toward it, according to the video. The shark, meanwhile, continued through the water and did not appear to go after them.
Why he did not warn the swimmers
After the video went up, some viewers questioned why Gauna did not alert the children, according to the discussion around the post. Gauna explained that he was standing more than a mile away when the drone recorded the shark.
The situation also raised an obvious risk: a warning could have caused panic and splashing in the water. The account noted that such movement could draw more attention from a shark, though Gauna’s stated reason was that he was too far away to intervene directly.
Gauna has built a large Instagram following through aerial footage of marine life along the California coast. His verified account, @themalibuartist, had 249,000 followers shown on the post embed.
A wounded shark under observation
Gauna said the great white appeared to have suffered an injury from a boat propeller. He pointed to a visible gash running across the shark’s back and dorsal fin.
He wrote that he had seen the shark breach twice in a single day and added, "I assume that wound is itchy." Gauna also said he did not know whether the injury meant the shark was looking for easier prey or had become more alert.
Gauna indicated he had been watching this shark’s behavior before the close pass near the swimmers. He said it had been getting near people "at a higher frequency."
The clip ends without an attack or any sign that the shark made contact with the swimmers. The children, according to the footage and Gauna’s description, remained unaware of how close the great white had come.
The video adds another tense entry to the growing library of drone-captured shark encounters off California, where aerial footage can reveal what beachgoers often cannot see from the waterline.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.