Pete Thomas Outdoors

Stranded 'white shark' in Venice actually a salmon shark

A YoVenice blogger on Saturday posted two photographs showing what he identified as a baby great white shark, which he helped rescue after the shark had stranded itself on the shore in Venice Beach, Calif.

However, shark expert Chris Lowe says the fearsome-looking junior predator, which sort of resembles a white shark, is a salmon shark.

Asked how he could tell the difference, Lowe replied via email: "Really dark back, sometimes splotchy.  White above the pectoral fins (key ID characteristic).  Short, pointy nose. Large eyes.  Double caudal fin keel."

The blogger, Robert DM, stated that he encountered the shark near the breakwater during an early-morning walk, and that he managed to "throw" the shark back into the water.

A surfer then "took it on his board past the rocks and let it swim away."

Salmon sharks prey largely on salmon, but also eat squid and other fishes.  They typically range in Alaskan waters from spring through fall, but there have been sporadic sightings recently off Southern California.

They can measure to about 10 feet and weigh nearly 1,000 pounds, and though they boast a fearsome appearance salmon sharks have never been positively identified in attacks on humans.

Lowe, who runs the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, said salmon sharks that strand themselves on beaches typically suffer from brain ailments caused by bacteria.

The biologist added that the shark rescued in Venice "probably won't survive."

--Pete Thomas

Body of surfer recovered with possible shark bites at Pacific Beach; case is somewhat mysterious

The body of a 42-year-old surfer recovered by lifeguards early Thursday at Pacific Beach had wounds consistent with a shark attack.

However, if there were shark bites on the body, they could have been inflicted after the man had drowned.

The case is somewhat mysterious.

The surfer, a local, was reported missing by his fiancee late Wednesday. 

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a lifeguard saw the surfer at about 7:30 p.m. from his tower about a half-mile away. He did not seem to be in distress.

At about the same time a 911 call was placed by a person on the beach concerned about the surfer, who was several hundred yards offshore.

A multi-agency search was unsuccessful but a person walking along the beach at 3:30 a.m. Thursday found the unclothed body. The body was later recovered but the identity of the surfer has not been revealed pending notification of the next of kin.

Before the body was recovered, lifeguard Lt. John Everhart said, a surfboard was found with a wetsuit attached to it, also several hundred yards offshore.

Everhart told the Los Angeles Times that initial evidence suggests that the man had drowned before a shark attack occurred.

"There are a lot of unknowns," he said.

Florida anglers reel in 1,000-pound great white shark

A great white shark estimated to measure 13-plus feet and weigh between 800-1,000 pounds was caught and released Tuesday off Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Four anglers aboard the vessel Hooked Up fought the massive shark for two hours. The crew expected to see a bull shark at the end of the line because white shark catches are rare off Florida.

"No one knew what it was until we got it to the boat," Taco Perez, who owns the charter boat, told the Sun-Sentinel. "I've been fishing here since 1969 and Greg and I saw one three years ago. It's so darn uncommon. We're pretty excited about it."

Capt. Greg McCauley was at the helm of Hooked Up, which was at a depth of 180 feet when the shark took a butterflied bonito that was being trolled beneath a kite.

More details are forthcoming, according to a report on the Taco Hooked Up blog.

--Images are via Tacohookedup.com

Marina del Rey surfer recovering from shark attack off Maui

A 58-year-old surfer from Marina del Rey, Calif., is recovering from thigh wounds after being bitten by a shark Tuesday off Kaanapali on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

The surfer, who remains hospitalized at Maui Memorial Medical Center, declined to be interviewed, according to the Maui News.

The man was bitten on his right thigh at 8:20 a.m., as he sat on his board about 100 yards beyond the Maui Kai condominium complex. He paddled to shore while bleeding extensively from two deep lacerations.

The surfer was assisted by beachgoers until an ambulance arrived. He was in stable condition Tuesday afternoon and expected to remain hospitalized at least through Wednesday.

The attack might have been captured on video as police removed a mounted camera from the surfboard. It's not clear, however, whether the camera was videotaping at the time of the attack.

The beach was closed for a mile in either direction Tuesday and lifeguards were patrolling the area on Wednesday.

Surfers reported seeing a four-foot shark nearby at the time of the attack. Lifeguards presume the surfer was bitten by a reef shark.

Increase in shark sightings reported at La Jolla Cove

A veteran scuba diver who frequents La Jolla Cove told a local news station that he has seen more sharks this season than during "any year in my 45 years of diving here."

Rod Watkins of Scuba San Diego was interviewed by CBS8.com, which on Sunday aired footage (posted below) showing a large sevengill shark. Watkins had been guiding a family of four and said the shark sighting was the highlight of the family's trip.

The veteran diver added that groups of 10 or more sharks have been spotted recently in Cove waters, in areas also utilized by kayakers and swimmers. Most of the sharks have been sevengills or soupfins. No explanation was given as to why shark sightings are on the rise, but sevengills are opportunistic and this is the pupping season for harbor seals.

Sea lions also are abundant in this area.

Soupfin sharks are considered harmless to humans because of their small size. Sevengills, according to the International Shark Attack File, have been implicated in only five unprovoked attacks on humans since the 16th century.

Spotters alerted as tagged great white shark is tracked swimming close to shore off South Africa

Shark spotters were put on alert Saturday in the Fish Hoek/Kalk Bay area in South Africa after a tagged great white shark was tracked swimming along the coast (see graphic).

The female shark, one of several great whites tagged by the nonprofit group OCEARCH, is named Lesley. She measured 13 feet, 8 inches and weighed 1,742 pounds when she was tagged off False Bay on April 15, 2012.

Fish Hoek is on the western shore of False Bay. Lesley, who is classified as an immature shark, had previously zigzagged about while swimming as far to the southeast as Cape Agulhas, which is about 80 miles from the shark's present location.

She has not rounded the Cape of Good Hope (toward Cape Town) and has stayed reasonably close to land.

Among white sharks being tracked by OCEARCH are four that were tagged off the East Coast of the United States. One of them, at the time of its last "ping" on March 22, had rounded Florida's tip and entered the Gulf of Mexico.

--Pete Thomas

No buyer for whale shark 'accidentally' killed off India

If there's good news to be gleaned from a report in India, about fishermen who claimed to have accidentally netted and killed a protected whale shark, it's that they could not find a buyer in either their local market, in Dighi, or at a larger market in Mumbai.

Maybe this will help cut down on so-called accidental catches of docile creatures that are vulnerable to fishing pressure throughout their tropical habitat.

The bad news, of course, is that one of these mysterious gentle giants was killed and ultimately dumped at sea.

DNA India reports that the whale shark caught last week weighed 780 kilograms, or more than 1,700 pounds.

The story quotes a forest department official as saying, "It is obvious that it was an accident; the fishermen did not intend to catch this particular fish."

Plankton-eating whale sharks, which are still hunted in parts of Asia, are the largest fish on the planet and can reach lengths of 40 feet or more.

Little is known about their migration patterns or their overall population, but their numbers are believed to have declined sharply over the years.

They're prized as tourist attractions at scuba-diving destinations within their range, and in these areas, obviously, they're worth far more alive than they are dead.

Great white shark ignores bait, shoves head inside dive cage

 

Shark divers off Gansbaai, South Africa, received a bigger thrill than they were expecting this week when a large great white ignored the dangling bait outside the cage and instead tried jamming its head through the steel bars. (Note: footage contains profanity.)

Bryan Plummer was on the boat and captured the footage, along with the reactions from others watching from the deck.

States Plummer in the video description: "Apologies for any profanity in the video. It was an out-of-control situation."

It's not clear how many divers were in the cage but a newlywed named Roger can be seen closest to the shark's head. Fortunately, he swam downward and avoided injury.

The shark eventually swam off.

Guadalupe Island great white shark heads north; last position near San Miguel Island

The first tagged great white shark from Guadalupe Island to have been tracked into California waters was near San Miguel Island on Friday morning. San Miguel, west of Santa Barbara, is the northernmost of the Channel Islands off Southern California. A day earlier the adult female shark, named Arden Grace, had been approaching San Clemente Island, the southernmost island, and appeared to have been headed for San Diego. Below is that story, posted Thursday:

A great white shark tagged in 2012 at Guadalupe Island, west of Baja California, is closing in on Southern California and is the first known adult white shark from the Mexican island to have entered California waters.

The adult female white shark, which was tagged by Michael Domeier and the Marine Conservation Science Institute, on Thursday had passed Cortes Bank and was closing in on San Clemente Island (see graphic posted below). Cortes Bank is about 100 miles west of Orange County. Guadalupe Island is 165 miles west of Ensenada.

The adult female shark (pictured) is named Arden Grace.

"Have you got a SCUBA trip lined up at San Clemente this weekend? If you do you might want to watch your back," MSCI posted on its Facebook page.

Another post reads: "This is a strange time of year for her to be in the coastal region. We've never had a female in our cold winter waters at this time of year, and we've never had one of our Guadalupe white sharks swim to California...

"She's headed towards San Diego now! Will she make it or turn around?"

(Those who wish to follow the movements of sharks tagged at Guadalupe can do so via the MCSI's Expedition White Shark app, available through iTunes.)

Great White sharks in the northeastern Pacific are known to have site fidelity during the fall and early winter to either Guadalupe Island or Central California elephant seal rookeries, such as the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco.

During this time of year, however, the vast majority of adult white sharks from both aggregation regions are hundreds of miles offshore, in areas stretching as far as Hawaii.

Interestingly, sharks tagged at Guadalupe Island have never visited Central California white shark aggregation sites. In 2008, an adult female white shark tagged near the Farallon Islands was tracked to Guadalupe.

--Note: Given Arden Grace's new position, the CMSI on Friday posted this on it Facebook page: "Maybe she'll be the first mature female to ever connect Guadalupe Island population to the Central California population??"

Guadalupe Island great white shark enters Southern California waters; journey is unprecedented

**Update: On Friday morning the shark's position was to the north past San Miguel Island

A great white shark tagged in 2012 at Guadalupe Island, west of Baja California, is closing in on Southern California and is the first known adult white shark from the Mexican island to have entered California waters.

The adult female white shark, which was tagged by Michael Domeier and the Marine Conservation Science Institute, on Thursday had passed Cortes Bank and was closing in on San Clemente Island (see graphic posted below). Cortes Bank is about 100 miles west of Orange County. Guadalupe Island is 165 miles west of Ensenada.

The adult female shark (pictured above) is named Arden Grace.

"Have you got a SCUBA trip lined up at San Clemente this weekend? If you do you might want to watch your back," MSCI posted on its Facebook page.

Another post reads: "This is a strange time of year for her to be in the coastal region. We've never had a female in our cold winter waters at this time of year, and we've never had one of our Guadalupe white sharks swim to California...

"She's headed towards San Diego now! Will she make it or turn around?"

(Those who wish to follow the movements of sharks tagged at Guadalupe can do so via the MCSI's Expedition White Shark app, available through iTunes.)

Great White sharks in the northeastern Pacific are known to have site fidelity during the fall and early winter to either Guadalupe Island or Northern California elephant seal rookeries, such as the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco.

During this time of year, however, the vast majority of adult white sharks from both aggregation regions are hundreds of miles offshore, in areas stretching as far as Hawaii.

Interestingly, sharks tagged at Guadalupe Island have never visited Northern California white shark aggregation sites. In 2008, an adult female white shark tagged near the Farallon Islands was tracked to Guadalupe.

--Pete Thomas