Incredible drone video shows great white sharks just feet from California surfers

SAN DIEGO (KSWB) – A California drone photographer has captured incredible photos and video of the great white sharks he’s spotted along the coast of Del Mar over the past few weeks.

Scott Fairchild regularly posts incredible images of wildlife on his Instagram account, but it’s a few of his recent posts that are getting a lot of attention online. One video from this weekend shows a surfer and a young boy who play it cool when they notice a great white about three feet from their boards.

“I was following it and I hadn’t seen the kid yet. I saw the dad see it,” Fairchild said. “Very calmly, he calls his kid over and says, ‘Hey look at this.’ His dad starts to paddle closer and he points it out to him, and the kid has zero reaction. Like, ‘Oh cool.'”

Fairchild said it’s been crazy to see his footage posted by media outlets in places as far away as Brazil, Canada and England. He typically sees between two and five juvenile great whites each time he flies his drone, and they range in length from five to nine feet.

One of the most impressive sights he’s seen along the coast roughly 13 white sharks at once.

“I’ve dived with sharks with my whole life. Scary right? Apex predator. You need to be respectful of any animal, but they’re not a problem. We’re not on their menu,” Fairchild said.

He hopes the footage and attention help educate the public about the importance of sharks, and how humans can live in harmony with the creatures.

“The videos can be scary if you see one, but [this is] where they live,” Fairchild said. “They’re not looking for us. They swim right by you. Mistakes happen, but they’re generally not a problem.”

Fairchild said he doesn’t know the surfers in the impressive video from this weekend, but remarked that it looked like a “great father-and-son moment for them.”