shark sightings

Last weekend I saw my first sharks near an entrance to the intercoastal in ft. lauderdale. have others had similiar experiences? it’s wasn’t nearly as disconcerting as i thought it would be but it was disconcerting nonetheless.



paul

Last Year
I saw several last year but none so far this year up here. Everytime I see a dolphin I think shark before I realize I am in friendly company. Guess that the critters are just part of it, but yep, sharks will open your eyes.



JackL has a really cool pic of a killer whale, and up close.



Happy Paddling,



Mark

A VERY strong argument for
learning how to roll.

and strong argument for not
rolling!

The “Tao” At Work… :slight_smile:

Sharks and Rolling…
I recently saw a baby leopard shark right outside of SF Bay. It was near the surface of the water and right next to my boat…right where I had just rolled a few moments earlier. Wonder if his mother was down below…



This has made me wonder a bit about whether it is a good idea to roll out in the open water!



Leopard sharks supposedly don’t get too big and are not supposed to be agressive, but I still don’t want to be rolling while they are swimming under me.





Matt

I think I’m going to give up paddling
and take up chess

Shark Bay
A week ago we did a six day trip in the “Shark Bay World Heritage Area” in Western Australia. It’s well named as we saw a lot of sharks including two Whale Sharks at Steep Point, one of which went underneath Rod’s kayak. A lot of the small sharks came very close to shore in water less than a foot deep and you could see them cruising back and forward next to our campsites. In the kayaks the small sharks were scared of us and would move away as soon as we got close. We didn’t see any of the big Tiger Sharks but we know they were out there.



Kelvin

sharks are cool
i’ve seen perhaps 20 sharks from my canoe. never felt frightened in the least. enjoyed every encounter, knock on wood. just last weekend i saw a four-foot blacktip in pine island sound. cool as hell. hammerheads, nurse, lemons, bull sharks, they’re everywhere here. beautiful apex predators, imho. and remember, we tred on their grounds. when’s the last time you saw a shark at wal-mart?

big un at Boca Raton this week
Sportfishing world record hammerhead at Boca Raton.



14’



That’s a big shark.

Spinner Shark…
… earning it’s name with a spectacular spinning leap - along the beach N Lauderdale.



No other sharks. I suspect there are a lot more I didn’t see - particularly around those inlets. Being dusk-night-morning feeders mostly I think they may all be taking siestas by the time I hit the water.



Have seen many large rays, include a very close Manta. Some turtles, etc. Really up close to Manatee a few times.

national geographic article
They say man kills a million sharks a year, sometimes for the fins and they are tossed back. Suppose sharks kill 12 people a year when they could kill millions, who is the cold blooded killer? I have a theory that people who are fat and out of shape like to kill fellow animal beings because they are such superb athletes!

Just saw the movie "Open Water"
and it kind of freaked me out. It’s very realistic.

Here’s a picture of the hammerhead
caught off Boca, the shark gave a 12 mile ride to the fishermen.



http://www.wftv.com/slideshow/news/9272686/detail.html?qs=;s=6;p=news;dm=ss;w=480

Puget Sound sharks
we have some big boys here–saw a fisherman pull out a 12 footer on a local fishing pier. Didn’t believe the stories until I saw that shark. There “6-gill” sharks (or 9-gill or whatever. Forget the exact number). Not noted for aggression.



Any one else with shark tales from PS?

Some of the largest sharks caught in
North America have come off Montauk in NY. Some big bad whities out there.

A friend

– Last Updated: May-26-06 6:40 PM EST –

had an open 25' kevlar fishing boat. "Mark the Shark" we called him as every Monday he'd bring in a shark jaw for whoever had requested one. Fished off Montauk, about 20 miles off. One day he caught 2 sharks, around 250 and 375 pounds, had them hanging off the side of his boat. Saw a wake in the water, his brother went to look, 25' great white(Mark had no need to exaggerate,took some wild videos) was inhaling one shark whole, 2 more, Marks estimate 23' and over(long as his boat) coming under the boat I guess for the other. Brother pooped in his pants, Mark flooded one motor, got the other to fire, ran back to Noank, sold boat, took up freshwater fishing.

The Master does nothing…
yet leaves nothing undone.

Shark
Last year while kayak fishing. I had caught two nice size redfish and had them on a stringer hung over the side of my boat. When a 5 or 6 foot bull shark came up and took them both. It tore off the metal clips off the stringer and almost capsized me. I was lucky I had attached the stringer to my bungee’s instead of the cleat I usually do or I would have ended up on top of him. Needless to say I don’t hang my fish in the water anymore.

OK - - that’s enough !!!
Even though I have aquired my first Sea Kayak, I’m not likely to go out from New York now



Just imagine - - one bite in the middle, and your history.



Yeouch!!!