An epic battle with a giant yellowfin tuna off Cabo San Lucas ended up as a feast for sharks.
Tyson Seeliger of Houston, Texas, was fishing aboard the Great Escape Jr. out of Pisces Sportfishing, and had successfully released a striped marlin before hooking the tuna 11 miles offshore in the Sea of Cortez, between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.
The tuna acted peculiarly in that it remained near the surface during a run so fast and long that it nearly spooled Seeliger's reel. After about 90 minutes they could see that it was a tuna, which the crew estimated to weigh between 250-300 pounds.
"This tuna never dove but stayed up on the surface the whole time," Tracy Ehrenberg, the Pisces general manager, said in a report posted on the company blog. "After another two hours they had the fish 20 feet from the boat, when it was attacked by four pilot [or silky] sharks. They ripped into it, devouring it in large bites, as Tyson frantically reeled as fast as he could to try to save his sushi."
Thankfully, the sharks were fairly small and half of the great tuna was salvaged before the crew took brief revenge on two of the sharks by hooking and reeling them to the boat. But Capt. Ricardo Agundez and crew showed the same compassion they showed the striped marlin, and released both sharks.
"Back at the dock the tuna caused quite a stir when it was unloaded," Pisces reported.
-- Photo shows Tyson Seeliger inspecting what's left of his prized tuna. Courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing
It's amazing how little the average person knows about sharks. You probably drive your car everyday which is far more dangerous than being in the water where sharks live. Check out the international shark attack files and see how little deaths there are. Them check the murder s that have happened in your country that year. Pretty humbling.
Posted by: Gman | Sep 10, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Those two sharks just screw up their food, definitely those sharks wasn't that selfish they left you half. Half for them half for you two. Does that sounds fair enough? :D
Posted by: Adventure Racing | Aug 18, 2011 at 07:23 PM
Um, Basking sharks eat plankton. So unless you are plankton, you don't have to worry about a Basking shark.
Is it me or does this post remind anyone else of "The Old Man and the Sea"????
Posted by: Kerri | Jun 29, 2011 at 10:08 AM
OK and after seeing that nobody is concerned about the 25 footer that washed up in the Hamptons? Basking Shark maybe? Sorry I just read Megladon Lives by Flash Rex and I'm freaked!
Posted by: Kath | Jun 02, 2011 at 08:17 PM