Tag: Great white shark

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.

Watch: Great white shark makes ‘bloody incredible’ appearance in lake

Lake Conjola in Australia is a popular holiday destination known for waterskiing, canoeing and fishing, but not great white sharks.

Lake Conjola in Australia is a popular holiday destination known for waterskiing, kayaking and fishing, but not great white sharks.

The appearance of a juvenile great white shark in the coastal lake in New South Wales came as a huge surprise to those who witnessed the event.

Leon Hallam recorded video of the shark swimming along the shoreline and posted it on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/leon.hallam/posts/pfbid02gSi6jG47ex7zicoJYdSvqu4LFZ648ehNEL7HjqagkoT87GW1uWVHFwDY3UhsvuaDl

Leonardo Guida, a shark scientist with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, told Yahoo Australia: It is a “white shark. No doubt about it. Pretty bloody incredible.”

“Here we see a white shark in the early stages of its life in a coastal area,” Guida told Yahoo Australia. “And to be able to see that by standing on the ground and looking down is an experience very few people will have.

“People pay thousands of dollars to go see these animals from inside cages, and the chances of seeing them isn’t guaranteed. Yet here in coastal NSW looking in the water, and there’s this beautiful juvenile white shark just peacefully cruising by.”

Lake Conjola, classified as a barrier estuary, is 186 miles from Port Stephens, one of two nursery sites for great white sharks on the east coast of Australia, the other being Corner Inlet in eastern Victoria.

Guida told Yahoo Australia he believes that the shark likely followed the salmon run to the south coast and into the lake.

“It’s just the ocean working as it should,” he told Yahoo Australia. “And we’re very fortunate in this instance to be able to see something like that.”

Shark tagger ditches sinking whale but finds ‘giant visitor’ off L.A.

Keith Poe had hoped a dead fin whale being towed offshore would produce sharks, but the whale sank prematurely in nearshore waters.

Last Sunday morning, as L.A. County lifeguards planned to tow a 51-foot fin whale carcass 20-plus miles offshore, Keith Poe was in intercept mode.

Poe, who tags and photographs great white sharks for scientific research, had hoped to be on site when the carcass was cut loose because dead whales usually attract sharks.

But the mission went awry.

The 60,000-pound whale carcass, which was prepared in a manner to facilitate sinking after it was safely offshore, began to sink soon after it was dragged off Torrance Beach, where the subadult whale had stranded and died late Saturday.

Photo: Keith Poe

This created insurmountable drag on the boat, so lifeguards left the carcass only 2.5 miles offshore. It sank at a depth of 535 feet, Poe told FTW Outdoors.

Poe, giving up on the sinking carcass, ventured into the offshore pelagic zone, midway between the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Santa Catalina Island.

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

Photo: Keith Poe

“That girl” is the fully grown great white shark featured in the accompanying images, which Poe captured during the 30 minutes he spent alongside the apex predator.

Poe estimated the shark to measure 16 to 18 feet. He captioned his Facebook post: “Giant visitor from yesterday. SoCal.”

The images were inspected by the Marine Conservation Science Institute and the shark was not in its photo ID database for California white sharks. Poe told FTW Outdoors that the shark is now in the database with the name Catalina.

Photo: Keith Poe

Poe said he did not tag the shark because of a permitting issue.

While it’s not rare for adult great white sharks to cruise the San Pedro Channel, many Southern California residents might not be aware that such large sharks exist in the region.

As for the malnourished fin whale, it washed ashore with no obvious trauma or visible evidence of a ship strike. It died roughly two hours later.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center stated Tuesday via Instagram:

“While large whale strandings are heartbreaking, we are very thankful we had the opportunity to collect samples and photo document this animal to try to help determine cause of death.

“These findings will help us better understand threats to this endangered species and by sharing this information with policymakers we can be champions to their road of recovery.”

Several agencies and groups, including NOAA, collaborated on the beached whale operation.

Watch: ‘Taxman’ comes calling as angler battles striped bass

Footage shows the white shark following a hooked striped bass to the boat and, in a thrilling moment, leaving only its head.

A great white shark thrilled anglers recently in Cape Cod Bay by following a hooked striped bass to their boat and leaving them with only its head.

The accompanying footage, captured outside Rock Harbor and shared Sunday by Cape Cod Incidents, begins with an angler reeling the striper to the boat with the shark apparently holding on but not resisting.

“He’s swimming to us,” one angler observes.

“He didn’t let go,” another cautions.

The excitement ramps up as the group realizes the shark is only feet away: “He’s right there!”

Within seconds, though, the angler who was fighting the striped bass is left with only its head, while the shark sounds with its prize.

Apparently, this phenomenon is not uncommon during the white shark seal-feeding season off Cape Cod.

Researcher John Chisholm shared the footage Monday, stating: “I’ve been documenting incidents like this for years. If you have an encounter please report it. Also, take heed when retrieving and releasing fish. Don’t linger hanging over the side of the boat.”

The scene is reminiscent of a similar incident we posted about recently, involving a great white shark that left only the head of a hooked giant tuna off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

In these types of incidents, the offending shark is typically referred to as the “taxman.”

–Great white shark image courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

‘Taxman’ comes calling after angler in Mexico hooks giant tuna

The yellowfin tuna was hooked at Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, which is seasonal home to great white sharks.

A fishing-themed social media site on Saturday shared a “throwback” image showing an angler posing with the head of a large yellowfin tuna.

BDOutdoors’ Instagram description was somewhat predictable: “Paying his dues to the local taxman,” followed by a shark emoji.

The image was captured at Mexico’s Guadalupe Island before the designated biosphere reserve was ordered closed to sportfishing and commercial shark diving.

The taxman, undoubtedly, was a great white shark.

Guadalupe Island, 160 miles west of Ensenada, is seasonal home to dozens of great white sharks.

When long-range sportfishing vessels from San Diego were allowed to fish at Guadalupe, tuna were routinely snatched from hooks before they could be reeled to the boats.

The term “taxman,” however, is used around the world in reference to fish-stealing sharks.

Swimmer hospitalized after shark attack off San Diego beach

The 46-year-old man suffered serious injuries when the presumed great white shark bit his torso. Area beaches are closed until Tuesday.

A 46-year-old man was hospitalized with serious injuries Sunday after being attacked by a shark while swimming off Del Mar in San Diego County.

ABC News 10 reports that the man was distance training with other swimmers about 100 yards offshore when the shark struck at about 9 a.m.

The unidentified man was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla with injuries to his torso, left arm and hand. He is expected to survive.

The incident occurred beyond the Beach Safety Center at 17th Street, according to NBC News 7.

Lifeguards closed area beaches to swimming and surfing until 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The type of shark was not specified, but coastal waters off Del Mar and nearby Torrey Pines State Beach are utilized as a nursery by juvenile white sharks.

Juvenile white sharks prey largely on rays and other types of fish, while adult white sharks prey mostly on seals and sea lions.

In November 2022, a 50-year-old woman survived an attack by a presumed white shark while swimming 200 yards offshore in Del Mar.

Lyn Jutronich, the victim, was quoted afterward by ABC News:

“I saw it clamp on my leg so I don’t know if I saw it bite my leg or if I saw it after it bit my leg but I definitely saw the mouth. It was on my right leg and it shook once, kind of like a dog, and it let me go.”

–Juvenile great white shark image, captured last year near Del Mar, is courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

Fisherman man pleads ignorance after killing great white shark

The New Zealand man, who removed the protected shark’s head and jaw, claimed to have had an excuse.

A New Zealand fisherman who recently captured and decapitated a protected great white shark has been fined $600 – his excuse being that he did not  know what type of shark he had caught.

The nation’s Department of Conservation announced Friday that its investigation began March 15, after a Māori elder notified authorities after she spotted the headless shark carcass near the Mahia Boat Ramp.

(View a graphic image of the carcass in this link.)

The fisherman was located and confessed to catching the shark and removing its head and jaw. The man told authorities he did not know it was a white shark.

“As well as failing to report his capture of the animal, the man received the infringement for being in possession of the head and jaw of the shark without a relevant authority under the Wildlife Act,” said the DOC’s Matt Tong.

Some on social media did not believe the man’s story. The Blue Planet Society stated via X: “His defense? Claims he didn’t know it was a great white shark. Even though he kept the head.”

The shark’s head and jaw were donated to the Māori community.

Great white sharks are protected under New Zealand’s Wildlife Act 1953. Intentionally hunting and killing them is punishable by fines of up to $250,000 and two years’ imprisonment.

Fishermen are required to report unintentional white shark captures if the sharks cannot be released alive.

“Accidentally catching something is not an infringement,” the DOC explained. “But keeping, killing, or failing to report it is.”

–Top image courtesy of the Department of Conservation

Boy, 16, holds up great white shark he caught, then gets bitten

A father was fishing with his two sons and daughter in Australia on Sunday when the incident occurred off Adelaide’s West Beach.

A 16-year-old boy who caught a 5-foot great white shark was bitten in the leg as he lifted it up by the tail to get a photo and to release it overboard.

The incident occurred in Australia on Sunday afternoon as Michael Ness fished with his two sons and daughter off Adelaide’s West Beach.

Son Nathan caught the shark, and somehow the family managed to get the shark onto the boat to remove the hook.

“I grabbed a pair of pliers, ripped the hook out of it,” Michael Ness told Australian Broadcasting Company. “Then he [Nathan] picked it up to throw it back into the water and take a picture of it, and as he picked it up, it swung around and grabbed hold.

“I reached down then and opened its mouth and the shark let go, and he hauled it up and threw it back in the water.”

The bite left two “big gashes” that required stitches.

“It happened very quickly because from biting his leg to getting it off was only a few seconds,” Michael Ness told 9 News.

As Michael Ness raced the boat back to the West Beach ramp, Nathan called emergency services, which met them at the dock. He was briefly treated at the scene then taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The unfortunate incident hasn’t dampened Nathan’s desire to go fishing again, however.

“He even said as he was getting into the ambulance, ‘Can we go out tomorrow?’” Michael Ness told 9 News.

Man climbs into boat just in time as great white shark approaches

Two men, one fishing and the other taking a dip off the stern, were unaware that a great white shark was heading in their direction.

Two men, one fishing and the other taking a dip in the ocean off the boat’s stern, were unaware that a great white shark was heading in their direction.

The situation became more intense as the shark got closer and closer with filmmaker Carlos Gauna watching from his camera-equipped drone.

“The moment does bring me some worry,” Gauna stated in the video showing the encounter. “I move the drone closer and closer. They must hear it. Once again, I move the drone up and down.”

Finally, the man fishing noticed the shark and alerted his fishing partner to get out of the water. He did so as the shark came within 10 feet of the man.

Both men thanked Gauna with a thumbs-up sign.

The 10-minute video on Gauna’s YouTube channel called TheMalibuArtist does not lack drama. It opens with a spearfisherman, who is also oblivious to the shark that is swimming close by. The encounter with the boat fishermen starts around the 4:40 mark.

After swimming near the spearfisherman, the shark turned its attention to the boat and fisherman in the water, or at least that’s what it appeared.

Gauna, based in Southern California and whose works have been used by National Geographic and Discovery Channel, finally disclosed in the video why the shark was so interested in the boat. The fishermen’s catch was on a stringer in the water near where the man took a dip.

Gauna stated that it’s an example of people on the water needing situational awareness and knowing what attracts sharks.

Shark tagger offers blunt response to catch of giant marlin

An angler in Australia has caught and released a black marlin estimated to weigh 950 pounds, but not everybody is impressed.

Grander Watch on Saturday shared an image of a giant black marlin jumping behind a boat off Cooktown, Australia. The Facebook description boasted that the marlin, which was released, weighed an estimated 950 pounds.

Apparently, Keith Poe, a prominent California-based shark tagger, was not impressed.

Beneath the marlin post, Poe shared an image showing a massive great white shark alongside his boat and commented, simply: “5,000 pounds.”

Poe told FTW Outdoors that he caught and tagged the shark years ago off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

Poe now tags white sharks and mako sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute, run by Michael Domeier.

Keith Poe poses with catch of an estimated 5,000-pound white shark.

As for the catch of a 950-pound black marlin, it’s impressive. The catch of any marlin weighing close to or more than 1,000 pounds (a.k.a. grander) is considered rare.

The all-tackle world record for black marlin stands at 1,560 pounds. The record, set off Cabo Blanco, Peru, has stood since 1953.

–Top image courtesy of Grander Watch