Great White Shark Sequel Appears at Pier

Shades of 1987. The two fishermen who landed two great white sharks near the Manhattan Beach Pier five years ago caught another great white--or two--this week near the same spot.

The fishermen, Mike Walker and David Bird, were not certain whether they caught the same shark on different days.

Despite a chorus of opposition from beach-goers who saw the first catch Monday, Walker threw it back in. Its size was estimated at from 7 to 9 feet.

On Thursday, Walker hooked a shark on the pier, then jumped off and moved hundreds of feet along the sand until he could get it ashore. He said he enlisted the aid of lifeguards with a truck to toss it back from the end of the pier.

However, Walker and others believe it died.

When Walker and Bird threw the baby great white back in Monday, a crowd on the beach protested, saying the shark would only grow up to come back and attack swimmers.

After the great whites were caught in 1987, an expert said humans had nothing to fear from that species of shark until they reach 12 feet in length. They can grow to 18 feet and weigh 4,000 pounds.

In 1987, after Walker and Bird caught their young sharks, which they sold to fish wholesalers in San Pedro, a rash of sightings by people who insisted that they had seen the sharks were reported from Malibu to Redondo Beach.

Lifeguards evacuated surfers from Malibu Beach after one report of an 18-footer. Marine experts said the sightings were probably of harmless basking sharks that resemble the great whites while floating.