Keith Poe – Syndication Server

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.”

“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.

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.

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A post shared by Pacific Marine Mammal Center (@pacificmmc)

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.

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

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.”

“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.

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.