Lifeguards picked up the sharks and returned them to the water in both visitations last week. The area of the beach at which the incidents occurred was closed for about an hour each time, Picavet said. Because these sharks were juvenile, they were not seen as a threat.

After a dead salmon shark washed ashore at the beach in 2011, shark expert John McCosker of the California Academy of Sciences told the Marin Independent Journal that people often misidentify them for great whites. Picavet said that great white or other large sharks will occasionally pass through Stinson Beach waters, and when that occurs the GGNRA will close the entire beach for five days.

From the Marin IJ after the 2011 sighting ...

Salmon sharks feed on salmon, squid, sablefish and herring and do not generally pose a threat to humans. They can grow up to 9 feet long and weigh in excess of 450 pounds. The species is prevalent throughout the northern Pacific Ocean and off the coast of Marin.

More on the salmon shark from the Shark Info website.

Oh, and by the way, if you find yourself face-to-teeth with these things, on the beach or in the water, tell a lifeguard, Picavet said. Don't try to handle the animal yourself because; 1) You might injure yourself; 2) You might injure the shark; 3) What are you, nuts?

That last one is courtesy of us, not the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

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Salmon Sharks Wash Up on Stinson Beach; Video, Photo