Tag: catalina

SoCal’s newest island girl is a very large great white shark; video

The 18-foot top-line predator, not previously known to science, was encountered off L.A. County and named by shark tagger Keith Poe.

Somewhere off Southern California, presumably, is a massive great white shark with ties to L.A. but with an island-themed name.

Meet Catalina. She measures perhaps 18 feet and loves to snack on blubbery seals and sea lions.

The top-line predator, featured in the accompanying footage, was photographed Aug. 11 by Keith Poe, who tags sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute.

Poe “chummed up” the shark midway between Palos Verdes and Santa Catalina Island a day after a 51-foot fin whale washed ashore and died on Torrance Beach.

Poe had intended to follow L.A. County lifeguards deep into and perhaps beyond the San Pedro Channel, where they planned to deposit the whale carcass.

Photo courtesy of Keith Poe

But the carcass began to sink shortly after it was towed off the beach and lifeguards cut it loose about two miles offshore.

“When the whale sank I just went offshore to chum for mako sharks,” Poe said. “And then that girl showed up.”

On Thursday, Poe introduced “that girl” as the newly documented white shark, Catalina.

Photo courtesy of Keith Poe

“I named her Catalina because she’s a beautiful shark and it’s a beautiful name, and because she was on that side of the channel,” Poe told FTW Outdoors.

His footage shows Catalina swimming gracefully and seemingly effortlessly near the surface in the outer channel.

The footage also inspired Poe’s friend, Paul McPhee, to create the accompanying artwork.

“She was unknown [to science] and added to the [MCSI] California database,” Poe stated Thursday on Facebook. “Paul was able to capture her size and beauty in this beautiful piece of art. Refections from the sun produced the copper hues you see.”

As of late Saturday there remained no sign of the fin whale carcass. Some people half-expected it to eventually float to the surface.

Rare whale shark spotted by pilot off Southern California

A Southern California fish spotter on Sunday captured aerial footage showing a whale shark swimming lazily on the surface southeast of Santa Catalina Island.

A Southern California fish spotter on Sunday captured aerial footage showing a 20-foot whale shark swimming lazily on the surface southeast of Santa Catalina Island.

“Notice the remoras fall off and swim back to it,” Carl Sbarounis observed via Instagram. “Plus there’s fish swimming in front of its mouth. Has its own ecosystem.”

The footage, posted below, is extremely rare because whale sharks – the largest shark and fish species on the planet – inhabit tropical waters and do not typically range so far north.

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A post shared by Carl S (@airpilikia)

Only a handful of sightings have been documented in recent decades and Sbarounis’ sighting was his second since Sept. 1, he said, perhaps involving the same whale shark.

Whale shark sightings also were logged last week by whale-watching companies off San Diego.

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Dorado, or mahi-mahi, and yellowfin tuna are other exotic visitors to have followed unusually warm sea-surface temperatures into Southern California waters in recent weeks.

Whale sharks, which can measure 40 feet and weigh 20,000 pounds, are found in tropical waters around the world. They’re most commonly observed in regions such as Mexico, Belize, Western Australia, and Thailand.

The filter feeders are commonly referred to as gentle giants because they’re so docile as they swim in pursuit of plankton, krill, and small fishes. Remoras and pilot fish sometimes accompany whale sharks, feeding on parasites and bacteria that form on their massive bodies.

Sbarounis is a fish spotter for the commercial fishing industry.

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Watch: Ferocious mako shark, fisherman engage in tug of war

A prominent Southern California shark tagger has documented his tug of war with a ferocious mako shark, he said, to showcase the species’ “beauty, power, and strength.”

A prominent Southern California shark tagger has documented his tug of war with a ferocious mako shark, he said, to showcase the species’ “beauty, power, and strength.”

“I’m their ambassador,” Poe told FTW Outdoors.

The accompanying footage shows the 12-foot shark refusing to release a bonito tied to a rope and fighting for possession with head shakes, much in the way a dog might refuse to let go of a stuffed toy.

(There was no hook in the bait; the shark could have let go at any time.)

The footage opens with Poe tapping the shark’s head, as if to signal the start of a competition, as the shark surfaces with the bonito inches from his boat.

RELATED: Record size hammerhead shark released out of respect

The competition ends after about a minute, when the shark releases the bonito and Poe declares, “That’s right, it’s my fish baby! Come back again when you want to play!”

Poe tags white sharks and mako sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute. He typically keeps hookless baits in the water to let him know when sharks arrive in the chum slick.

“When I want to tag a white shark or a mako shark, I use a hook and a hand line,” Poe explained.

The MCSI team, including Poe, are featured in the National Geographic documentary “Counting Jaws,” which examines a newly discovered great white shark aggregation site off California.

Poe also will appear in several episodes of the Discovery series, “Shark Week,” which begins July 24.

Watch: Mako shark goes ballistic after taking hookless bait

A Southern California fisherman who tags sharks for research recorded what he described as a “monster mako splashdown” late Sunday near Santa Catalina Island.

A Southern California angler who tags sharks for research recorded what he described as a “monster mako splashdown” late Sunday near Santa Catalina Island.

Interestingly, the adult female mako shark took a live mackerel tied to a fishing line and jumped seven times against the drag of heavy tackle despite not being hooked.

The accompanying footage, captured by Keith Poe, shows four of the seven jumps.

A second video shows mako sharks taking Poe’s hookless baits and leaping in the dark to rock music.

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Poe, who tags sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute, told FTW Outdoors that he keeps hookless baits in the water to alert him when sharks arrive in the chum slick.

“When I want to tag a white shark or a mako shark, I use a hook and a handline,” Poe said.

Shark bites Boy Scout kayaker at Catalina Island

A teenage boy was bitten by a shark Wednesday while kayaking with his father at Santa Catalina Island.

A 15-year-old boy was bitten by a shark Wednesday while kayaking with his father at Santa Catalina Island.

The boy, who was participating in a Boy Scouts of America youth camping trip, was airlifted to a local hospital in stable condition, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

His father was not injured.

The incident occurred just after 7 a.m. near Parson’s Landing. The boy apparently reached into the water after the kayak was bumped, L.A. County Fire Department Lifeguards explained in a tweet.

It was not clear what type of shark was involved, but juvenile great white sharks are feeding off Southern California and have been known to bump floating objects in an investigatory manner.

Chris Lowe, who runs the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, told For The Win Outdoors that juvenile white sharks tagged off Southern California sometimes end up off Catalina.

L.A. County Fire Department Lifeguards described the incident by stating, “The patient and their father were kayaking near Parson’s Landing when their boat was bumped by what is believed to be a shark of unknown size and type.

“During the encounter, the patient reached their hand into the water and was bit by the animal.”

CBS News reported that the victim was a 15-year-old boy on a youth camping adventure.

Lifeguards closed the area to ocean activity for at least 24 hours.

–Generic great white shark image courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

Whale shark greets anglers in extremely rare SoCal encounter

For a group of Southern California anglers on Sunday, the extremely rare sighting of a 15-foot whale shark more than made up for the lousy fishing.

For a group of Southern California anglers on Sunday, the extremely rare sighting of a 15-foot whale shark more than made up for the lousy fishing.

“Coolest sighting, hands down,” Joey Engel, whose image accompanies this post, told For The Win Outdoors.

Engel, a deckhand for Dana Wharf Sportfishing, ventured offshore with friends in what would be a long and fruitless search for tuna. But the appearance of a whale shark, 35 miles southwest of Dana Point, broke the monotony of trolling.

Whale shark spotted by anglers Sunday at the 181 spot. Photo: Joey Engel

Engel said the gentle giant hung out for about eight minutes and “did one circle before he left.”

Whale sharks, which feed on plankton, are the world’s largest fish and can measure 30-plus feet. They inhabit tropical and warm-temperate waters and are sometimes encountered off southern Mexico and in the Sea of Cortez. But only a handful of sightings have been documented off Southern California – all in late summer during the past six years.

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Engel said the water temperature at the 181 fathom spot, where they were fishing, was 72 degrees.

Whale shark encountered near Catalina in 2015. Photo: Triton Sportfishing

After the sighting of a 25-foot whale shark near Catalina on Sept. 15 2015 – five years to the day before Sunday’s sighting – Southern California-based shark expert Chris Lowe stated:

“I’d say that is very rare for our neck of the woods. I have heard accounts of occasional manta, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and wayward tiger sharks, but whale sharks are pretty rare this far north.”

Boating family in awe as whale ‘pops up’ in Avalon Harbor

A young gray whale generated lots of excitement Saturday afternoon when it surfaced inside the harbor at Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.

A young gray whale generated lots of excitement Saturday afternoon when it surfaced inside the harbor at Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.

“Whale in the harbor… right under the boat!” exclaims Jon Quarnstrom, in the first video clip accompanying this post. “A whale… right here!”

Quarnstrom, 38, a lifelong Catalina resident, told For The Win Outdoors that he and his young sons, Gavin and Kanon, and their dog Bali were crossing the harbor in their skiff when the whale “popped up looking right at my kids.”

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Bali, his tail tucked firmly between his legs, is not sure what to make of the surfacing whale.

“We see them all the time around the island during seasonal passes, but I’ve only seen this once before in the harbor,” said Quarnstrom, who works in a local steakhouse. “I was definitely shocked.”

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In the second video clip, shared Monday to the Catalina Island Facebook page, viewers can hear Quarnstrom’s commentary before his skiff enters the picture.

He’s not a safe distance, having apparently become caught up in the moment, but the mammal eventually departed the harbor to continue its journey.

The whale is one of a handful of juvenile gray whales to have been spotted recently off Southern California. These early sightings are in advance of a southbound migration, from feeding areas off Alaska to breeding areas off Mexico, that peaks locally in January.

Gray whales often migrate past the so-called backside of Catalina, keeping the land to their left on the southbound journey, said whale researcher Alisa-Schulman-Janiger.

Gray whale sightings inside Avalon Harbor, on the front side facing the mainland, are extremely rare.