A SoCal Fisherman Freed a Great White Shark at Hermosa Beach. In His Underwear.

Last week at the Hermosa Beach Pier, a local fisherman found himself with a juvenile great white shark on his line and made a series of reasonable decisions. He took off his outer clothes. He got scissors. He freed the shark.

A crowd watched from above. The shark swam off.

California great white sharks are protected under the state Endangered Species Act, which means intentional targeting, harassment, and harm are prohibited. Accidental hookups at piers — which happen with some regularity along the SoCal coast — fall into a gray area, but the expected and legally appropriate response is release. This fisherman released the shark in the most theatrical manner available to him, which is not illegal, and may have improved everyone’s day

Juvenile great whites in the 4-to-6-foot range are a genuine and persistent presence in Southern California’s nearshore waters. They aggregate seasonally in the warmer water near beaches from San Diego to Santa Barbara, feeding on fish and marine mammals, and generally declining to interact with humans. The encounters that make the news are almost always incidental — a shark caught on a pier line, a fin spotted from a paddleboard, a swimmer who comes within a few feet of one without knowing it. The latter happens far more often than the former.

If you swim or surf the SoCal coast, great whites have been coexisting with you your entire life without your awareness of it. The Hermosa Beach incident is not a reason to change your relationship with the ocean. It is, however, a reminder that if you’re going to free a shark from a fishing line in front of an audience, commitment to the bit matters.