L.A. – 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.

View this post on Instagram

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.

4 factors that could make or break the Chargers in 2020

What needs to happen in order for the Los Angeles Chargers to have a successful season?

After a 12-4 season and a trip to the playoffs in 2018, the Chargers followed that up with a dud of a year in 2019, finishing 5-11 and last place in the AFC West.

There were a few reasons for their decline, and they’re hoping that 2020 will result in a different outcome. The first steps of that included bolstering the roster with a few veterans and rookies who should contribute.

With that being said, here are four factors that could make or break Los Angeles this upcoming season:

Quarterback play

The Philip Rivers era is officially over. Taking over is Tyrod Taylor and Justin Herbert. The Chargers benefited from Rivers’ experience and familiarity with the offense, along with a keen sense for the game and a unique skillset as a passer. Taylor and Herbert don’t possess many of those traits. While there are a slew of play-makers to spread the wealth to, there’s no guarantee that they will flourish. While Taylor and Herbert have the athleticism to beat defenses with their legs, there are still questions surrounding their abilities as passers. Even though he doesn’t throw a lot of interceptions, Taylor struggles with accuracy and seeing the middle of the field well, which is where tight end Hunter Henry and wide receiver Keenan Allen shine. For Herbert, he still needs time to develop his eye discipline, progressions and overall feel for the NFL before being taking the reins.

Offensive line

This has been an area where the Chargers have struggled for years, finishing near the bottom in pass protection efficiency. However, the team is hopeful that the group could become a strength with the acquisitions of tackle Bryan Bulaga, guard Trai Turner, the return of center Mike Pouncey and hiring of offensive line coach James Campen. While the necessary moves were made, the left side of the lines remains a slight concern on paper as the left tackle spot was not upgraded. Instead, Sam Tevi, Trey Pipkins, Storm Norton and Forrest Lamp will be in competition for the job. This isn’t to say it’s a bad thing because Campen has a knack for developing offensive linemen and the deficiencies could be masked with a more mobile quarterback, but it’s a boom or bust situation. In a league where pass-rushers are becoming more and more elite, efficient offensive line play is a necessity.

Lack of pressure

The Chargers ranked No. 6 in total defense, but they finished second-worst in takeaways with a -17 turnover differential. A big reason why Los Angeles was unable to produce more turnovers was because of the lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. L.A. finished 26th in quarterback pressures with 125. The number doesn’t come as a surprise as the unit blitzed only 75 times, which ranked last in the league. It’s a bit of surprise when you have a handful of players that should be used more in that role, but Bradley’s scheme from previous seasons, a Cover 3 system that involves a lot of zone coverage, forced them to play conservative and not allowing many opportunities to attack downhill. To ensure they’re getting more quarterback pressures moving forward, Bradley is going to start incorporating more man coverage. The reason why this is so critical is because the Bolts had a lot of close games where they were unable to stop their opponents on final drives due to conservative play, and lack of heat on the quarterback.

Injuries

Many analysts had the Chargers pegged as Super Bowl contenders prior to the 2019 seasons as they were coming off the outstanding 2018 year. Equipped with one of the best rosters from top to bottom heading into training camp, it started to take a downward spiral after they lost Russell Okung and Derwin James, both before Week 1. The injury bug stayed around throughout the season as notables like Hunter Henry, Adrian Phillips, Mike Pouncey, Nasir Adderley, Dontrelle Inman, Forrest Lamp, among others were forced to miss significant playing time. In total, 14 players were placed on the injured reserve. It became clear that they couldn’t overcome their losses. When they started to get key players back, it was way too late. Going into 2020, the Bolts are in a similar position. They have a talented roster, one that includes new faces like Chris Harris Jr., Bryan Bulaga, Linval Joseph, Trai Turner and draftees Justin Herbert, Kenneth Murray, Joshua Kelley, Joe Reed and K.J. Hill. But it comes down to player availability that could determine the outcome of their season.