Warning signs were posted Sunday at beaches along the Santa Barbara Harbor following a morning sighting of great white shark sighting.
Leadbetter Beach was closed for 24 hours following the sighting, but is now open again with the warnings posted.
Officer Jan Martinez with the Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol says more than a half-dozen people reported seeing the shark.
"The lifeguards ran through a checklist of what did it look like—we all have these checklists that we go through with witnesses to make sure that it's a credible sighting," said Martinez. "I believe that this is a very credible sighting from the people that were involved."
Those people included fishermen and regular water enthusiasts, according to Martinez.
The officer says it's not unusual for great whites to be spotted off the Santa Barbara coast, but it is rare for one to come within the area designated for swimming.