Summer/Beach

California beach junkies are PISSED volleyball nets still haven't been returned to beaches ... and now, they're begging Gov. Gavin Newsom to put the sport back on the sand ASAP.

An online petition is making its way through CA social media communities this week ... with more than 3,000 people already on board to try to get government officials to put back the nets.

As we previously reported, most Calif. counties -- including Los Angeles -- took down the courts back in March to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

But, just a few days ago, Newsom and California mayors announced some sports activities could resume ... putting golf and tennis back on the acceptable list.

In the petition, Californians argue volleyball should be included as well ... saying, "Similar to tennis, outdoor volleyball is a non-contact sport and can be played with doubles teams."

The petition continued, "This means there are only two people on each side of the net with plenty of space to spread out. The only shared equipment between players is the ball."

It's unclear if and when Newsom will relent to putting the nets back ... but the governor did say on Monday he's targeting a June 1 return for pro sports in the state.

So, if it's safe enough for LeBron at Staples ... is it safe enough for the beach bums in Santa Monica?!?!

Officials are desperately searching for ex-WWE superstar Shad Gaspard -- after he went missing during a swim at Venice Beach on Sunday with his 10-year-old son.

Gaspard and his son were among a group of swimmers caught in a strong rip current around 4 PM -- with lifeguards racing into the water to pull everyone out.

Gaspard's son was rescued -- but the 39-year-old pro wrestler has not been located.

One official working with the L.A. Fire Dept. told media they believe the 39-year-old "did submerge."

Divers were sent to scour the area. Helicopters were searching from above.

One witness at the scene tells us ... when lifeguards raced into the ocean, Gaspard directed rescuers to help his son first, which they did.

During the rescue, we're told another big wave crashed down on Gaspard -- and that's the last time he was seen.

We're told the photo of Shad officials are using in the search (included in this post) was taken earlier Sunday, before the incident.

Shad was at the beach that day with his wife and their 10-year-old son.

Gaspard was a big star with WWE back in the day -- making up one half of the tag team Cryme Time with his partner, JTG.

Outside of pro wrestling, Gaspard made headlines in 2016 when he stopped an armed robbery in Florida.

In fact, Shad came on the "TMZ Sports" TV show to talk about it and couldn't have been a nicer guy.

This is heartbreaking -- Shad Gaspard was hanging at the beach with his son and shared how blessed he felt about life ... just days before the former WWE star went missing during a swim with his kid.

Gaspard posted a few photos of his 10-year-old boy -- along with a clip of them walking together by the ocean -- on May 6, and wrote ... "Love the life I built for my self and my family."

It's pretty clear ... Shad and his son enjoy spending some quality time together at the beach.

Sadly, as TMZ Sports first reported ... Gaspard went missing Sunday afternoon after he and his boy were among a group of swimmers who got caught in a strong rip current at Venice Beach in L.A.

Lifeguards were able to rescue the boy after Shad directed them to his son first, but the 39-year-old ex-pro wrestler reportedly submerged after a wave crashed on him ... and hasn't been seen since.

Officials are still scouring the area looking for Gaspard, and shared a photo of him taken earlier in the day in hopes he will be found.

Johnny Manziel is a LUCKY man -- because he slipped and fell while trying to dive off a cliff ... and fortunately, escaped injury.

The ex-NFL quarterback hit the famous cliffs at Lake Pleasant near Phoenix, Arizona recently and tried to bust out a backflip into the water below.

But, as the 27-year-old tried to launch himself off the rock, he lost his footing ... and barely managed to use his left foot to propel himself far enough away from the cliff, that he avoided disaster.

He's fine ... but man, THAT WAS TOO CLOSE, BRO!!

Manziel joked about the "flawless execution" in a social media post -- but some of his friends had real concern for JM.

"Got spooky for a second," Victor Cruz wrote.

NFL wideout Cayleb Jones wrote, "Johnny chill bro."

Rick Singer is the key witness against Lori Loughlin and other parents of accused of bribing universities -- but instead of shaking in his boots ... he's paddling in his Speedo.

The college admission scandal mastermind -- who copped a sweet deal early on -- was spotted over the weekend in Newport Beach -- where he was, once again, paddling his heart in nothing but a skimpy bathing suit ... something he does pretty often out there.

It's funny, 'cause you'd think the feds might want to keep their cash cow, so to speak, under close observation or away from the public eye ... ya know, in case someone starts to feel squirrely and tries something nuts ahead of what appears to be a forthcoming jury trial.

This ain't ''The Godfather'' though -- RIP Frank Pentangeli, BTW. It's just good old-fashioned white-collar crime (allegedly), and it doesn't seem federal prosecutors, or Rick for that matter, have a care in the world about him making it to the witness stand safe and sound.

Meanwhile, Lori Loughlin just had her bid to have the charges against her and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, dismissed shut down by a judge. She and her team claimed the feds tried coercing Singer into lying and telling them what they wanted to hear about his clients, but the court wasn't buying it and said it was mostly much ado about nothing.

The Mayor of Naples is a helluva lot better at closing beaches when she sees a problem than the mayor in "Jaws" was -- people were flocking to the sand again ... and she shut it all down in less than 24 hours.

The Florida city put an emergency order into effect very early Sunday morning -- right at 12:01 AM -- decreeing all beaches and beach amenities be off-limits immediately after photos surfaced the day before showing that their citizenry wasn't obeying new guidelines.

A little context ... Naples' beaches shut down en masse back on March 23, and on April 30 ... the city reopened them with limitations in place that people were supposed to follow to stay safe -- such as proper social distancing, no crowds larger than 10 people, etc.

Obviously, those rules went right out the window in the week and change that they welcomed back beachgoers. Now, the City Council's gonna meet this week to discuss further steps -- but at the moment, it's no waves and sand for anybody. Periodt!!!

Ironically enough ... while social distancing continues to be an issue on the ground by choice, it's also a huge problem in the air too -- only with a twist, by force this time.

Check out this photo of a United Airlines flight that a UCSF scientist captured and posted online, showing just about every row packed to capacity -- including middle seats -- which flies in the face of United's own updated policy on booking guests in light of coronavirus.

A California beach has been abruptly closed, but not because of coronavirus ... it's because a surfer was killed by a shark.

A 26-year-old man was surfing in the Santa Cruz area Saturday, around Monterey Bay, when the attack occurred. As for what type of shark ... so far, authorities don't know, saying it was an "unknown shark species."

The surfer was pronounced dead on the scene.

Authorities immediately closed a 1-mile stretch of beach for at least 5 days. They will presumably monitor shark activity in the area before reopening. Interestingly, officials are not banning water sports -- like jet skiing or kayaking -- but they are "highly discouraged."

A photog for KRON-TV in the Bay Area says he's been seeing lots of great whites swimming near shore. On the day of the attack, he says he spotted 15 great whites while boating.

The glowing dolphin phenomenon is closer to shore than ever before in Southern California's own backyard -- now, we got some coastal dolphins lighting up the night sea!

Check out this video from photographer Patrick Coyne, who -- like last time -- tracked down more flipper swimmers out near Newport Beach, who were lighting up with blue fluorescence underwater in the pitch-black dead of night ... and pretty close to land too.

In the vid, he makes a distinction between these dolphins -- which are bottlenose (AKA coastal) dolphins -- and the ones he caught on camera about a week or so ago, which are just common dolphins, and go further out in the water than these little guys do.

As we've explained ... the way the dolphins can glow the way they do here is attributed to bioluminescence. Basically, phytoplankton in the water have been doused in this, and they make the surrounding water shine bright in the dark. That includes anything swimming in the ocean as well, obviously.

Robin Wright made the best of the coronavirus pandemic Saturday by taking a trip to the beaches of Malibu with her brood and a few friends.

Robin and daughter, Dylan, hit the sand with some friends, as her husband, Clement Giraudet, hit the water with his board and took advantage of some pretty decent waves.  FYI, L.A. was ridiculously beautiful Saturday.

Robin and Dylan snacked as they watched Clement, a Saint Laurent exec and an accomplished surfer, shred the gnar.

Face masks were not in the picture, and it seems unlikely all of them were quarantining together, although it's possible.