She knew sharks — and their risks. Now the search for beloved swimmer Erica Fox continues off Pacific Grove

PACIFIC GROVE – Search crews using dive teams, drones and rescue boats returned to the waters off Lovers Point on Monday for a second day looking for a swimmer likely attacked by a shark.

More than a dozen members of the Kelp Krawlers swim club gathered on a nearby bluff, hoping for some sign of Erica Fox, the  triathlete they long considered “one with the sea.”

Sunday’s incident marks the third violent shark encounter at Lovers Point since June 2022. That summer, a fellow swim club member was bitten and seriously injured while swimming. Two months later, a paddleboarder and his dog were tossed from their board when a shark bit it from below; neither was hurt.

What appears to have been a shark attack Sunday — with Fox still missing as of Monday — would be the first fatal shark attack at Lovers Point in more than 70 years.

Steve Bruemmer, who survived the June 2022 attack with severe leg injuries, rushed to the beach Sunday to wait for news and returned Monday to help Fox’s husband and friends cope.

“It is sad and it is still shocking, even though shark attacks have happened here before,” Bruemmer said. He has never returned to ocean swimming since the day a great white shark clamped down on his midsection and pulled him underwater. “It’s obviously a different situation, because pretty quickly it was clear that it would take more than a miracle for her to be alive.”

Sunday’s apparent tragedy has forced the close-knit group of swimmers to once again reassess their relationship with the ocean — and whether their passion for open-water swimming in a place filled with kelp forests and starfish is worth the risk. It also underscores the randomness of shark attacks, which experts say still defy clear patterns or explanations.

“All of our senior krawlers had the same sort of philosophy, which is, we’re swimming in their home,” said Lisa Jensen, a member of the swim club. “You are far more likely to die in a car accident or even a plane accident than in a shark attack. We love the ocean. And so everybody had to make their own decisions about if and when they wanted to get back in.”

Fox was one of 15 Kelp Krawlers who gathered on the beach Sunday morning, as they do every week, with “toes in at 11:30.” She hugged everyone in her usual beach greeting, friends said, and stepped into the chilly water with her husband, who did not want to be named while the search is ongoing. As normal, a couple of paddleboarders and a person on an inflatable kayak followed the group to keep an eye on swimmers.

Fox, as usual, was the fastest. She was far ahead of the others on the return trip to the beach when one club member, who had exited the water early, noticed a shark breach about 100 yards off the point. Great white sharks are ambush predators that often strike from below, targeting prey near the surface.

Certain a swimmer had been attacked, the witness and others along the bluffs quickly called the group out of the water. When the swimmers emerged from the surf one by one, emergency crews were already on the beach and asked for a count.

Fifteen swimmers had entered the water. Only 14 came out.

“It started to click that everybody was back on shore but Erica,” said Sharon Carey, who had stayed closer to shore during her Sunday swim. “I just felt numb. I was hoping that maybe she got out of the water and then decided to walk back.”

Fox was a superior athlete, the swimmers said, and a warm-hearted presence.

“She’s always out leading the pack,” Jensen said. “She’s an incredibly cheerful, bubbly, funny, joyful, kind human being.”

Fox also understood the risks of the open ocean and willingly accepted them. She attended a “Sharktober” seminar at Hopkins Marine Station, just north of Lovers Point, to learn more about sharks. In 2013, she posted a photo on Facebook showing a shark floating next to a scuba diver , writing, “This is the most dangerous animal in the world, and next to it a shark swimming peacefully.”

After the 2022 encounters, Fox said in media interviews that she preferred the terms “incident” or “bite” over “shark attack.”

“As soon as you dive in the water, you’re immediately in a foreign land,” Fox told The Independent in 2022. “We are the ocean ecology’s humbled guests.”

Experts say there is no clear pattern behind the recent shark encounters, but they emphasize that the ocean is a dynamic, wild environment where humans enter the natural habitat of marine predators.

“When we enter the sea here, we are entering a marine wilderness,” said Barbara Block, a professor of marine sciences at Stanford University based at Hopkins Marine Station. “It’s similar to walking into Yellowstone Park — but instead of wolves or grizzlies, we have white sharks.”

Decades of satellite-tag research show adult and subadult great white sharks move closer to shore from September through February, with peak activity from October to December, as they search for food, Block said.

“At this time of year in Monterey Bay, there are always some adult large sharks around,” she said. “Sharks are predators, and their forage or food is elephant seals, sea lions and harbor seals. They will naturally be looking for these prey items in the Monterey Bay.”

Hopkins Marine Station monitors a “shark buoy” anchored near the edge of the Lovers Point marine reserve, which detects signals from electronically tagged great white sharks. But most swimmers don’t regularly check the public website, Jensen said.

“The buoy only checks within 100 meters of the buoy, and that only identifies tagged sharks,” Jensen said. “So for us, we make that assumption that whenever we get in the water, there are sharks, and we just rely on science and common sense that we’re not their prey.”

After Bruemmer’s attack three years ago, Jensen said she and other swimmers purchased ankle bands intended to deter sharks.

“We found out later that this particular species of shark is not one of the ones that gets deterred by the shark bands,” she said, “ but we chose to wear them anyway.”

Bruemmer has largely recovered from his injuries. He no longer uses a walker, though he still struggles on hills and stairs. He said he understands why swimmers returned to the ocean after his attack — but believes this loss should mark a turning point.

“I’m going to say it’s time,” Bruemmer said. “Erica was the founder of the Kelp Krawlers, and this should be the last swim at Lovers Point.”