Tag: Great white shark

Dentally challenged great white shark greets divers

Great white sharks often shed teeth while attacking prey or biting other objects, but replacement teeth quickly fill voids.

Great white sharks often shed teeth while attacking prey or biting other objects, but replacement teeth quickly fill voids. The apex predators, in fact, might grow as many as 20,000 teeth in a lifetime.

So after a cage-diving company photographed a white shark missing many of its front teeth during an expedition to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island earlier this week, owner Martin Graf featured the image on Instagram, writing:

“Anyone know a good dentist? It’s a good thing that white sharks can replace their teeth.”

Graf, who runs the San Diego-based Shark Diver ecotour company, told FTW Outdoors that the juvenile white shark was going after a hang bait placed behind the boat on Sunday.

Hang baits attract sharks so divers in cages can observe and photograph the predators at close proximity.

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“It’s pretty unusual for a shark to have that many missing teeth,” Graf acknowledged, adding that he did not know at what point or how this shark lost so many of its teeth.

Graf added: “Sometimes they lose their teeth when they bite into a big prey, especially if they hit a bone in their prey animal.”

Guadalupe Island,  165 miles west of the Baja California port of Ensenada, is one of the world’s premier destinations for cage diving with great white sharks.

The season typically runs from late July into early November. Many sharks possess unique markings and are documented in a photo-ID catalog.

Graf, however, said there was too much activity to single out this shark for a possible identification. “We don’t know from this picture what shark it was” he said. “We saw 30 different sharks on this trip and they were all super active.”

–Image courtesy of Shark Diver

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

Northern California swimmer attacked by great white shark

A 35-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition Saturday after being bitten by a great white shark during a morning swim south of San Francisco.

A 35-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition Saturday after being bitten by a great white shark during a morning swim south of San Francisco.

The San Mateo Sheriff’s Office announced via Twitter that the man was swimming at Gray Whale Cove State Beach when a shark measuring 6 to 8 feet bit him on the right leg.

The incident occurred at 9:15 a.m. and first responders were on the scene shortly thereafter, according to Cal Fire.

ABC News reported that the victim was able to swim to shore, where he was treated by paramedics before being transported to Stanford Hospital.

Gray Whale Cove State Beach, between Pacifica and Montara and about 20 miles south of San Francisco, was ordered closed to ocean activity for 48 hours. Montara State Beach also was closed.

A 6- to 8-foot great white shark would be a juvenile.

–Gray Whale Cove State Beach image is generic

Watch: Great white shark devours anglers’ tuna, returns for more

Anglers targeting mako sharks during a tournament Sunday off Maryland were visited instead by a great white shark that attacked a tuna carcass hanging overboard as chum.

Anglers targeting mako sharks during a tournament Sunday off Maryland were visited instead by a great white shark that devoured a tuna carcass hanging overboard as chum.

The accompanying footage shows the 12-foot shark ripping the tuna from its tether and moments later returning for a closer inspection of the boat’s stern.

“Hey, don’t eat my motor, bro!” an angler barks as the shark nearly brushes the vessel’s outboard engine.

The close encounter involved the boat Miller Time and occurred on the third and final day of the Mako Mania Shark Tournament out of Bahia Marina in Ocean City. Capt. Brandon Miller estimated the shark to measure 12 feet.

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Stated Fish In OC: “The shark entered their chum slick and can be seen biting and hanging on to a tuna carcass presented by Ryan Oberholtzer as it swims just inches from the boat.  The action took place at the 20 fathom fingers off of Ocean City, Maryland on June 6, 2021.  The big shark swam away unharmed.”

Miller Time failed to make the Mako Mania leaderboard, but this spectacle undoubtedly proved to be a nice consolation.

White sharks, a protected species, are spotted sporadically off Ocean City.

–Images courtesy of Fish In OC

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Anglers find great white shark bonanza at whale carcass

When an entangled North Atlantic right whale was found dead off South Carolina on Feb. 27, several great white sharks were spotted by the same air crew. 

When an entangled North Atlantic right whale was found dead off South Carolina on Feb. 27, several great white sharks were spotted by the airplane crew.

Capt. Chip Michalove,  owner of Outcast Sport Fishing, developed a plan. He’d wait for a storm system to pass and try to find the carcass, and hope there were still a few sharks to possibly catch and tag for scientific research.

He set out Friday morning and not only managed to locate the carcass, he discovered that it had been transformed into a multi-ton buffet for at least seven and possibly many more great white sharks.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMBYMWWBj9s/

“I’ve never seen anything like it, sharks were circling our boat for the entire eight hours,” Michalove, who has a permit to tag and release white sharks, told For The Win Outdoors. “They were biting the boat, pushing the boat, and biting the motors so much we had to pull the motors out of the water.”

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Michalove added: “I never felt nervous. There were just so many in the area that it was more interesting to observe than to catch.”

Photo: Taylor Horton

When he returned to port he shared a video clip via Instagram showing a large shark biting flesh from the carcass. His description reads, in part:

“Maybe one of the best days I’ve been alive today. So much work went into finding this whale, and the pay off was one I’ll never forget. From 9 a.m. till we left it was one great white shark after another. Part of the time we hooked and tagged, other times we just watched.”

Photo: Taylor Horton

Michalove and his crew tagged two white sharks, a 12-footer and 16-footer, and spent the rest of the time “absorbing the chaos.”

The right whale, nicknamed Cottontail, died after a long and agonizing period of being entangled in commercial fishing gear, despite NOAA Fisheries’ attempts to plot a challenging disentanglement mission.

Photo: Taylor Horton

North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered and Cottontail’s death changed NOAA Fisheries’ Unusual Mortality Event count to 34 dead and 14 seriously injured.

The UME began in 2017 when 17 right whale deaths were recorded in Canada and the U.S. The leading cause of death is “human interaction,” notably fishing gear entanglement and vessel strikes.

Photo: Taylor Horton

Great white sharks typically begin to show off South Carolina in early winter, after the apex predators’ summer and early fall feeding season at seal rookeries off Cape Cod, Mass.

Great white shark ‘fly-by’ results in rare double hookup

A prominent South Carolina sportfishing captain tagged his first great white shark of 2021 Thursday after he and a client hooked the same shark almost simultaneously.

A prominent South Carolina sportfishing captain tagged his first great white shark of 2021 Thursday after he and a client hooked the same shark almost simultaneously.

“While we weren’t watching we had this girl come up and crush both baits on a fly-by and we landed her on two rods,” Chip Michalove, of Outcast Sportfishing, wrote on Instagram. “Exhausting day, as it was just myself and Pavel Vykopel, and he’s got a blown-out rotator cuff.”

Michalove, with Vykopel’s help, placed two scientific tags on the 12-foot shark before setting the apex predator free.

The white sharks that Michalove targets each winter migrate into South Carolina waters after the summer and fall feeding season off Cape Cod, Mass. However, they’ve been difficult to locate this year.

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“We’re already halfway through the season and it’s different,” Michalove told For The Win Outdoors. “The water in Cape Cod was unusually warm in the fall so it delayed the migration. Then, finally when they arrived it was 20- to 30-mph winds every day.”

Michalove and Vykopel made several moves before finding suitable conditions for setting up a chum slick. They were fishing with false albacore when the 12-foot white shark gobbled both baits to propel them into battle mode.

They had the shark alongside the boat in only 20 minutes.

Michalove, who runs out of Hilton Head, said this was the first white shark he has caught at this specific location.

“Now we’ve landed white sharks in 5 different spots off South Carolina, we’re getting better at figuring them out every winter.” he said.

–Images courtesy of Chip Michalove/Outcast Sportfishing

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Harrowing moments for father and son as shark attacks kayak

A Maui father-and-son survived a harrowing encounter with a large shark Tuesday as they kayaked together off the island’s west side.

A Maui father-and-son survived a harrowing encounter with a large shark Tuesday as they kayaked together off the island’s west side.

Daniel and Tristan Sullivan were searching for whales when the shark – possibly a great white shark – bit and thrashed their kayak, spilling them into the water.

“When its mouth rose up and bit into the kayak, it was like a scene out of a movie,” Daniel Sullivan, the father, told Hawaii News Now. “The water streaming off of it, these giant teeth coming right at us, and then the way it just pushed the entire boat up halfway and pulled us back down into the water.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK0pdPJD3f3/

Both kayakers swam toward shore for about 35 minutes as the shark continued to bite their kayak. The paddlers were not injured.

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Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources issued a statement regarding the incident:

“Just before 2 p.m., a father and son reported to the Maui Dispatch Center that they were kayaking in the 1000 Peaks area (Ukumehame), when a shark attacked their boat. They fell overboard when the kayak sank, and they were able to safely swim to shore.

“They reported the shark as a ten-foot tiger shark. Personnel from DAR and DOCARE officers are now attempting to get more information from the pair.”

Tiger sharks are most often implicated in attacks on humans and/or their kayaks and surfboards in Hawaiian waters. However, the Sullivans said this shark’s snout was pointier than the more rounded snouts of tiger sharks.

Great white sharks are rare in Hawaii, but adult white sharks from the U.S. and Mexico migrate as far west as Hawaii during the fall and winter. Bite marks visible on the bottom of the kayak appear to be from a large shark.

Tristan Sullivan, 15, described the encounter via Instagram:

“Today my dad and I were out kayaking when a massive shark bit our kayak and flipped us into the water we tried to get back into it but it was taking on water fast and we kept falling back into the water. At the time we were about a mile out and eventually we had to leave our kayak and start swimming in knowing the whole time the shark could be right behind us thankfully we made it back safe.”

The DNLR closed beaches in the area and they were set to reopen Wednesday at noon.

–Image showing bite marks on the kayak is courtesy of Tristan Sullivan

Great white shark encounter literally a touching experience

Fishing took a backseat for some Florida anglers last Thursday when a large great white shark began to circle their 34-foot boat, at times within touching distance.

Fishing took a backseat for some Florida anglers last Thursday when a large great white shark began to circle their 34-foot boat, at times within touching distance.

Erika Almond, owner of the Offshore Therapy vessel, captured the accompanying footage, which also shows the shark biting her outboard motors as the anglers watched in awe.

Capt. Tyler Levesque, who was hired by Almond to take her and a few friends snapper fishing, is the man seen touching the shark in the image atop this post.

https://www.facebook.com/FOX13TampaBay/videos/253536779732490/

“The whole experience was amazing,” he told For The Win Outdoors.

The encounter occurred 65 miles out of Venice in the Gulf of Mexico.

Almond explained that the shark, measuring perhaps 16 feet, appeared in a chum slick as the group was catching yellowtail snapper and mangrove snapper.

Great white shark near chum bag

In a video recording, Almond stated: “The thing that made this even more interesting was this shark was not going to leave. He was there for about two to three hours, circled our boat continuously, bit the back of the boat several times, bit the motor several times, and even rolled on its back to show us its belly, as if it wanted us to pet it.”

Levesque said that at one point he fed the shark a longfin yellowtail that one of the anglers had caught.

Great white sharks are sometimes attracted to electrical impulses emitted by boat motors, and will bite them as a behavioral response.

Almond said Levesque touched the shark’s snout mainly to shove it from the motors.

The bites were not ferocious. However, Almond said that toward the end of the encounter the shark “came charging underneath the motors to attack them again, and hit them so hard that it caused boat to rock, and that’s when it took off.”

–Images courtesy of Erika Almond

Is Deep Blue the largest great white shark? ‘Not so fast’

A great white shark nicknamed Deep Blue is considered by many to be the largest of its species ever recorded. But a prominent researcher has cast doubt on that notion.

A great white shark nicknamed Deep Blue is considered by many to be the largest of its species ever recorded. But a prominent researcher has cast doubt on that notion.

Michael Domeier, in a Tuesday Instagram post, featured a beautiful image of Deep Blue, captured by Kimberly Jeffries last January in Hawaiian waters off Oahu, along with two decades-old photographs showing equally massive white shark carcasses on beaches in Cuba and Taiwan. (See embedded post.)

The old photos were samples of other “ginormous” white sharks known to have existed. But Domeier, president and executive director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, also used reason to support his “not so fast” assessment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJXM7ythZ3R/

“First, Deep Blue has never been scientifically measured or weighed,” Domeier wrote. “That would require being physically laid out next to a tape measure or photographed while being painted with a precisely calibrated paired laser system. That’s never happened.”

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The scientist, who has studied great white sharks extensively at Mexico’s Guadalupe Island and off California, added: “I have personally seen two massive sharks that could definitely exceed Deep Blue in size, one at the Farallones [west of San Francisco] and one near Pt. Conception, [Ca.].”

Domeier’s team first documented Deep Blue in 1999 “and she was already big back then,” he continued. “So she’s an old, beautiful shark, but no one can unequivocally claim she is biggest Great White in the sea.”

Deep Blue, estimated to measure about 21 feet, became famous after being featured by Discovery in 2014 (with footage captured in 2013). The photo atop this post is a screen shot from footage captured at Guadalupe Island, shared to Facebook by Mexican researcher Mauricio Hoyos Padilla in 2015.

Domeier on Wednesday told For The Win Outdoors: “As a mature female, Deep Blue likely returns to Guadalupe Island every two years during the mating season, but she is rarely sighted.”

The massive shark generated headlines in January 2019 when she was spotted off Oahu, feeding on a sperm whale carcass.

Great white shark circles whale-watching boat for 45 minutes

A great white shark grabbed the spotlight Sunday during a whale-watching charter out of San Diego when it circled the boat for 45 minutes.

A great white shark grabbed the spotlight Sunday during an all-day whale-watching charter out of San Diego when it repeatedly circled the 27-foot boat.

Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, described the rare encounter on Facebook:

“A Great White Shark was patrolling a kelp patty, and decided it wanted to come take a closer look at our boat! For nearly 45 minutes this beautiful shark circled our boat at close range, making for a truly special encounter.”

Biagini told For The Win Outdoors that the 8-foot juvenile shark was sighted 15 miles offshore after his six passengers had viewed a pod of dolphins, and before they would encounter humpback whales.

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The footage shows two passengers at the bow watching in silent disbelief. But Biagini said the other passengers were alarmed and one asked, “Is it going to jump in the boat?”

Biagini captured the topside footage with a cellphone and first mate Kyle Henderson captured the underwater footage.

White sharks this size typically prey on small fish and rays, and are more commonly encountered in coastal waters.

Gone Whale Watching San Diego ran 8-hour trips Friday through Sunday and posted its sightings tally on Facebook:

–26 humpback whales
–2 fin whales
–2 minke whales
–1000s of common dolphins
–100 bottlenose dolphins
–1 great white shark

–Images courtesy of Gone Whale Watching San Diego