Smooth waves reveal wondrous presence of leopard sharks in La Jolla Shores

Photographer Jedd Wasson swims and photographs a group of leopard sharks off the coast of La Jolla Shores

San Diego Union-Tribune

Jan. 11, 2022 7:14 PM PT

For the third straight day, mild Santa Ana winds blew across San Diego County on Tuesday, lifting temperatures countywide, smoothing the face of a building swell, and exposing the dreamy presence of leopard sharks at La Jolla Shores.

The National Weather Service says the winds will last into Wednesday, mostly fading by the afternoon. But the winds will help push temperatures above average in many places. The daytime high will hit 76 in San Diego, which is 10 degrees above normal.

A swell out of the west began rolling ashore at local beaches on Tuesday and is expected to build on Wednesday, producing surf in the 5- to 8-foot range in some areas, forecasters say. Sea-surface temperatures are still in the 56- to 59-degree range.

The region’s weather will gradually begin to cool on Thursday, and there’s a chance of sporadic showers later in the week. However, there are no significant storms in the county’s 10-day forecast.

Just Cool

Gary Robbins

Gary Robbins has been a journalist for nearly 50 years and currently covers science and higher education for The San Diego Union-Tribune. He joined the paper in April 2010 after working for 25 years at the Orange County Register, where he was science editor. Robbins was born and raised in Maine and attended Northeastern University in Boston, graduating in 1978. He served as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT during the 2000-01 academic year and a science writer fellow at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts in June 2001. He can be reached at 714-642-5218.