Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab Featured in Tonight’s “Sharks and the City: L.A.” on Discovery Channel

LONG BEACH, Calif. (July 25, 2017) – If you have seen a white shark while at a Southern California beach over the past few summers, then you are not alone. Sightings of the formidable creatures along the coast have increased and Chris Lowe, marine biology professor at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and director of its Shark Lab, is determined to find out why.

Lowe partnered with the producers of Discovery Channel’s “Sharks and the City: L.A.” to travel from Long Beach to the Channel Islands and then south to Guadalupe Island off Mexico to understand where the white sharks are originating and why they are gathering off Southern California beaches.

“Our goal at the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab is to study shark behavior so we can share the information with the public. That way, we can enjoy the ocean safely, and the sharks continue to thrive as well,” said Lowe. “Discovery funded our expedition to find and tag adult white sharks around the Channel Islands and provided us the opportunity to collaborate with topnotch scientists to learn more.”

Lowe partnered with famed wildlife photographer and CSULB alumnus Andrew Casagrande (psychology, ’00) and Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, director general of Pelagios Kakunjá, a marine conservation organization in Baja California, to piece together the story of the white sharks’ migration. Connor White, Jill Sawyna and Ryan Logan, all recent CSULB Marine Biology master’s graduates and veteran Shark Lab students, accompanied the team as support.

“It was a dream come true to go to Guadalupe and study juvenile and adult white sharks alongside top experts in the field,” said Logan. “I returned with a better understanding of how the adults behave compared to the juveniles we see here in southern California.”

Last Friday, CSULB hosted “Shark Week @ The Beach.” The event was free and open to the public, which toured the Shark and Marine labs, watched an exclusive premiere of “Sharks and the City: L.A.” and enjoyed a Q&A moderated by ABC 7 “Eyewitness News” correspondent Leanne Suter. Claude F. Panis, marine safety lieutenant with the Huntington Beach Fire Department, joined Lowe and Logan on the panel to answer questions about staying safe among white sharks.

While Lowe has appeared in several Shark Week programs before, this is the first time an episode has focused exclusively on his hypothesis and research. “Sharks and the City: L.A.” airs on Discovery Channel tonight at 9 p.m. (EDT)/(PDT).

About California State University, Long Beach

California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally-minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. CSULB values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society.

About Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 224 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com.