Pete Thomas Outdoors

Shark helps create ghostly image in school of salmon

By Pete Thomas

Ghost or Grinch? These are just two observations regarding an image captured via drone Friday off Australia’s Bondi Beach, just in time for Halloween.

The image, captured by Drone Shark App and shared via social media, shows two swimmers and what’s described as a grey nurse shark swimming through an immense school of salmon just yards from shore.

The swimmers parted the salmon in the form of two circular clearings, which appear as eyes in a ghost-like face, while the shark cleared an area that might be perceived as a mouth.

The salmon school was so dense that the swimmers and shark seemed oblivious to each other’s presence. The spooky image, therefore, was purely coincidental.

 “Do you see what I see?” Drone Shark App wrote on Facebook. “Tell me what you see?” “Ooooh, it looks like a ghost. Just in time for Halloween,” one commenter wrote. “Grinch,” stated another.

Nurse shark swims through salmon with swimmers nearby. Credit: Drone Shark App

But some comments pertained purely to the subjects. “I see two people who want to be eaten,” a follower chimed in.

Reads another comment: “More reasons to fearfully admire the beautiful ocean and only go in a few feet from shore.”

Schooling salmon are common off Sydney at this time of year, and the fish attract both swimmers and apex predators. In another Facebook post,

Drone Shark App shared the video footage from which the accompanying screen shot was pulled. It shows several swimmers near or within the salmon school, oblivious to two nurse sharks also swimming through the school.

The drone operator, when contacted by Pete Thomas Outdoors, asked only to be identified as Drone Shark App. The group’s social media pages are filled with photos of video clips showing sea life off Australia’s beaches.

Tiger shark closes in on kayak, angler reacts accordingly

By Pete Thomas

Devin Kanda was fortunate to have been facing the right direction when a large tiger shark surfaced as his feet dangled from his kayak recently off Oahu.

As Hawaii News Now states in the video report posted below, Kanda had just caught an 18-pound ono off Diamond Head when he spotted the approaching shark, enabling a quick response.

“I caught it in my peripheral [vision] … and I looked up,” he said. “And just in time I pulled my leg before it could take a bite of my foot.”

Kanda’s video camera was operating during the July 4 encounter. His footage was picked up by Hawaii-based media outlets over the weekend.

The shark was likely attracted by the scent of fish. Kanda said he was more in awe of the large shark than afraid, but thankful that he wasn’t attacked.

–Image courtesy of Devin Kanda

Juvenile great white shark sprints toward shore at high speed

By Pete Thomas

Great white sharks are not known for their speed, so for Matt Larmand it was surprising to watch a young white shark dash across the surface at perhaps 20 mph.

“He was going at least 20 mph,” Larmand said. “I was going full throttle on the drone trying to catch up to him.”

Larmand, an licensed drone pilot for Dana Wharf Whale Watching, captured the accompanying footage Thursday from his home on Capistrano Beach in Dana Point, Ca.

 

Capo Beach, as the community is referred to by locals, sometimes attracts juvenile white sharks in spring and summer.

The sharks prey on stingrays and other bottom fishes until they become large enough – 12-plus feet – to move offshore to feed on seals and sea lions.

Larmand launched his drone after receiving reports of recent sightings. It was his first sighting of the season and he estimated the shark to measure 8 to 10 feet. “I’m not sure what triggered him to burst into speed like that; I’ve never seen one do that,” he said, adding that the sprint covered about 50 yards.

 

Chris Lowe, Director of the Shark Lab at California State University – Long Beach, said the shark appears to have been spooked by the drone’s shadow.

“Those neonates are pretty skittish,” Lowe said. “Seeing the drone shadow gave it a pretty good scare.”

Lowe added: “I think it brings about the point of one of our hypotheses as to why young white sharks use beach habitats.  We aren’t sure where white sharks give birth, we know they do not exhibit parental care, so babies are completely on their own. 

They probably hang out in shallow water near beaches because that is a safer place with very few large predators, lots of easy to capture prey (stingrays), and the water’s warmer. This response to the shadow of the drone supports one reason why they hang out in shallow waters. They don’t know what is a threat and the safest behavior is to flee when they experience something unknown."

Larmand spotted the same shark later Thursday, cruising at normal speed (see second video).

Mako sharks are the fastest sharks, capable of bursts in excess of 40 mph as they chase prey such as tuna, mackerel, and swordfish.

Great white sharks, which can measure to about 20 feet, become much bulkier as adults and rely on ambush to catch their prey.

 

Outfitter recounts Kobe Bryant's shark-diving experience

By Pete Thomas

There’s not much to write about Kobe Bryant that isn’t already known, but how many fans know that the NBA superstar was fascinated by sharks?

He was so curious that in the summer of 2013, while recovering from a torn achilles tendon, Bryant traveled to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island to dive with great white sharks.

Martin Graf of Shark Diver said that the Los Angeles Lakers’ star enjoyed close views of two white sharks while inside the cage, and afterward soaked up the magical atmosphere surrounding the vast and remote volcanic island, 150 miles west of Ensenada.

 

“It was nice having a conversation with him that had nothing to do with basketball or him being famous,” Graf recalled. “Just a couple of guys talking about sharks.”

Graf shared an amusing side note: Bryant’s feet were too big for the wetsuit booties Shark Diver clients use, so he plunged into the cage wearing his Nike shoes (see photo).

This week, the Marine Conservation Science Institute, which maintains a photo-database of 300-plus great white sharks known to frequent Guadalupe waters, announced that it was naming a newly identified shark Kobe Bryant.

Additionally, MCSI has “reallocated” the shark into the No. 24 spot in the catalog, to coincide with the number Bryant wore for much of his 20-year Lakers’ career.

“We did prepare a press release, but then I pulled the plug on that because I did not want any perception that we’re using Kobe’s tragic death as a way to gain publicity,” said Michael Domeier, MCSI’s president and executive director. “I don’t want it to be about that. We’re just showing our respect and honoring him in a small way.”

As most of the world knows, Bryant, 41, died along with eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter, in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in Calabasas, California.

The 18-time All-Star played his entire NBA career with the Lakers, winning five championships, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

–Images are courtesy of Shark Diver

Angler pets mako shark as casually as one might pet a dog (video)

By Pete Thomas

Keith Poe spends much of his time offshore, trying to lure large sharks close enough to bait and tag for science.

What does the Southern California fisherman do with smaller sharks attracted by his chumming technique?

The accompanying footage shows Poe gently pulling a free-swimming mako shark by its dorsal fin and stroking its back as casually as one might stroke the back of a family pet.

“Come on, girl. Come here,” Poe says, reaching toward the 6-foot shark. “We’re gonna get you some pets. Come on, come on. Yeah, get you some pets.”

It’s a definite don’t-try-this-at-home moment, not advisable for anyone without vast experience in working with sharks.

Poe, who tags sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute, has caught an estimated 5,000 sharks and understands their behavior as well as anyone.

He said he was chumming in the San Pedro Channel off Los Angeles when the small mako shark appeared.

“She was just hanging out,” he said. “I was hand-feeding her and petting her for several hours while waiting for an adult shark to show up. I never [bait] them unless they’re mature females 9 feet and up.”

He said the shark was never aggressive, and that he shared the video because mako sharks “are always thought of as such vicious animals, and it’s just not true.

“They come up to the boat all excited ready to kill something because that's necessary to eat usually.
But after a while they calm down and you get to know their real personality.”

One of the largest mako sharks Poe has tagged is named Cinderella. Her movements can now be tracked via the MCSI’s Expedition White Shark app.

“When I tagged Cinderella, an 11-foot, 4-inch mako, I spent a long time with her, feeding her before I caught her,” Poe said. “It’s part of an effort to reduce capture shock.

“As a result, after I caught her, and tagged and released her, she stayed at the boat for an hour-and-a-half eating out of my hand.”

Poe, who recently had an 18- to 20-foot great white shark “hang out with me for five hours,” said he typically sends most of the sharks he tags to freedom with a stroke or pat to the head or back.

Call it a perk.

Great white shark tries to swim into divers' cage

*Click on this link to view an updated post with a second video and input from Mexico

By Pete Thomas

Disturbing video has surfaced showing a great white shark becoming stuck in a cage with divers inside at Mexico’s Guadalupe Island. 

Mexican activist Arturo Islas Allende shared the video to his social media platforms under a title that translates to “Negligence kills white shark.” He implicated a Nautilus Dive Adventures vessel and complained that cage openings were not adjusted in a manner to keep sharks and divers safe.

 

The divers, who were clearly frightened as the massive predator writhed its head gets stuck in a cage opening, were not injured. It remains unclear whether the shark, in fact, perished after its ordeal.

Nautilus Liveaboards had not responded to inquiries about the incident, which occurred in October, at the time of this post.

Guadalupe Island is seasonal home to dozens of adult great white sharks, and regarded as one of the world’s premier shark-diving destinations. In typical situations, crews on the vessels will pull baits toward cages so divers in the cages can photograph the sharks in close quarters.

Crews are not allowed to feed the sharks, and cages must meet specifications set by Mexico.

Michael Domeier, president and executive director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, has conducted extensive shark research at Guadalupe Island. Many sharks are identifiable based on distinctive markings and are part of an expansive database.

Domeier said the shark in the video is named Stouffer.

Domeier declined to guess why the shark tried to get inside the cage, but added: “It doesn't look to me like the bait was too close. For some reason that shark wanted what was in the cage. It hit the cage, backed up, then charged again. It could have turned and swam away.”

 

Great white shark examines Cape Cod researchers' video camera

By Pete Thomas

Researchers are busy studying great white sharks off Cape Cod, but sometimes the sharks conduct their own research.

The accompanying footage shows a fairly large white shark swimming close to a research boat off Chatham to inspect a GoPro camera used to capture footage of the apex predator.

The shark swims to within inches of the pole-camera early in the footage, captured last week along the coast, and bumps the device toward the end.

Scientists with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy have been tagging white sharks at a time when the sharks are preying on gray seals.

The seal population off Cape Cod has been growing, and white shark sightings have subsequently increased during summer months.

Several great white sharks have been sighted in recent days and Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has placed tags in three sharks so far this season.

–Image showing Greg Skomal tagging a great white shark off Nauset North Beach is courtesy of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy

Tagged great white shark returns from Hawaii, now off Santa Barbara

By Pete Thomas

Beachgoers north of Los Angeles might be interested in tracking the whereabouts of a tagged great white shark that has spent the past couple of weeks cruising parts of the coast.

The 15-foot female shark, nicknamed Murphy Jean, has returned to California after spending 100 days in Hawaiian waters.

She was detected off Santa Rosa Island on June 13. She was later tracked swimming along the Morro Bay breakwater, not far from a popular surf spot. She then cruised up and down the coast, likely feeding on seals and sea lions. Her position on Sunday night was just west of Santa Barbara.

Murphy Jean’s return to California culminates a round-trip odyssey that spanned more than 5,000 miles.

Michael Domeier, president and executive director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, told For The Win Outdoors that Murphy Jean visited the islands of Hawaii, Maui, and Lanai while on her tropical journey.

(Murphy Jean is one of more than 100 white sharks tagged by MCSI off Mexico and California, trackable via the group’s Expedition White Shark app.)

Adult white sharks from California and Mexico’s Guadalupe Island migrate to a vast offshore region between Baja California and Hawaii each winter.

A Stanford University/Monterey Bay Aquarium tagging program that focuses on white sharks from the Farallon Islands, west of San Francisco, has tracked sharks into Hawaiian waters. MCSI, likewise, has tracked tagged Guadalupe Island sharks to Hawaii.

Murphy Jean, who was tagged near Morro Bay last Nov. 13, is MCSI’s first California-tagged shark to have visited Hawaii.

Domeier said that while it’s not precisely clear why great white sharks migrate so far offshore, it’s likely for feeding purposes.

“From our 20 years of researching adult white sharks off Mexico and California, I am confident that the time they spend in the offshore region, including Hawaii, is strictly for feeding,” Domeier said. “Mating occurs when they are near the mainland. When they are offshore the sharks are widely dispersed and the males and females are not often in the same area.”

Murphy Jean was named by MCSI tagger Keith Poe after his grandniece, Murphy Jean Poe, who underwent heart surgery as an infant last December. Doctors repaired four holes in her heart and Poe said the girl is “doing great” and will be 17 months old on Tuesday.

–Images courtesy of Keith Poe (top photo) and the Marine Conservation Science Institute

 

Angler who killed great white shark on Oceanside Pier sentenced

By Pete Thomas

An angler who caught and killed a great white shark Jan. 5 on Oceanside Pier was sentenced Friday to three years probation and fined $250.

Bodi Dee Roberts, 21, also was banned from the popular fishing pier in north San Diego County.

Roberts caught the juvenile shark from the pier and was confronted by angry bystanders as he left with the carcass, according to 10 News San Diego.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers eventually confronted Roberts and seized the shark.

Great white sharks are protected by state and federal regulations off California. According to the CDFW, “It is illegal to catch, pursue, hunt, capture or kill a white shark, which includes intentionally attracting white sharks with bait or other methods.”

According to the Tracking Sharks blog, a witness said the 6-foot shark was initially identified by Roberts as a mako shark, and that it was gaffed and pulled onto the pier by several people. Catching mako sharks is legal.

Roberts was charged with one misdemeanor count of the unlawful catch of a protected species. He could have been fined up to $1,000.

According to 10 News San Diego, Roberts had also faced misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of game, deterioration and waste of a fish, and destroying or concealing documentary evidence.

Roberts is allowed to continue fishing elsewhere, as long as he stays within the law.

–Juvenile white shark image credit: ©Pete Thomas 

Shark tears mask from scuba diver's face; video

By Pete Thomas

Footage has surfaced showing a large shark ripping a mask from the face of a scuba diver at Rangiroa in French Polynesia.

The 2007 footage, recently released in high definition, shows the unidentified diver having briefly settled at the bottom when a large shark veers in and bites his mask.

The mask comes off and the diver rolls backward. He suffered only a scratch on his forehead, according to reports.

Peter Schneider, who was part of the group of divers, was interviewed by the Daily Mail last week. “I couldn’t help but scream when I saw it happen,” Schneider recalled. “Once the sharks had cleared, I swam over to check on him.”

Schneider said that several silvertip sharks were circling at the time and that the diver had been teasing the sharks with bait used to attract the predators.

“I didn’t have any pity for the diver as he’d provoked the reaction and he knew it,” Schneider said.

Silvertip sharks inhabit tropical portions of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. They measure to about 10 feet and are powerful and aggressive feeders.

The Florida Museum, which maintains the International Shark Attack File, states that silvertips should be treated with caution “due to [their] size and abundance around offshore reefs.”

The species, however, is implicated in only one unprovoked attack on a human.

–Image is a video screen grab