GREAT WHITE ARE ON THERE WAY?

[Guest challenge]

I dont know about a bigger boat john correct me if i am wrong wasnt the biggest fish to ever to caught by rod and line from whitby was caught from a rowing boat a tuna weighing over 800lb its not the boat its the man on it.

Well that’s you out the equation then.

What did they do with the fish in the rowing boat when they got it along side?

What would you do with a great white if one of your anglers had one on and managed to get it to the side ready to be lifted on board and tagged and then released?

If you think that what makes a boat is all to-do with the man in it, then you have obviously never been anywhere in a boat to suggest otherwise.

And complements of the season to you too Paul.

[Fife Cat]

I recall that Paula said the harbourmaster thought he had spotted one in Scrabster harbour a couple of years ago!!! A great white that is

 

We saw a Porbeagle in Scrabster Harbour back in September and when we asked about it, one of the harbour boys told us it was the first he'd seen in years and that he hoped "no-one would claim it was a Great White like the last time".

[ray carper]

'Great White Shark' spotted

 

 

Great White: Nearest confirmed sighting was in Bay of Biscay

Experts say they are taking seriously a reported sighting of a Great White Shark off the Devon coast.

A teenage holidaymaker from Birmingham, who is keen on marine biology, is adamant she saw the creature.

 

The fearsome predators are most often found in warm temperate seas.

 

But the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth says she could be right.

 

Chaynee Hodgetts, 15, said she spotted the shark through her binoculars off Baggy Point, near Croyde.

 

'Spitting fish'

 

She said: "It was white on its belly and on its back it was grey.

 

"The fin was black with a ragged back edge.

 

"It was spitting the fish out after biting them and then going back for them, which is indicative of a Great White."

 

 

Chaynee Hodgetts: Claims she spotted shark through binoculars

Great Whites are often mistaken for Porbeagle sharks which are native to UK shores.

 

The Porbeagles are currently hunting close into shore for mackerel.

 

But if her information is correct, experts say she did indeed see a Great White.

 

Rolf Williams of the National Marine Aquarium, said: "Her account is particularly interesting.

 

"The level of detail she given us helps us to try and pick out whether it was a Porbeagle or that elusive Great White."

 

The nearest confirmed sighting of a Great White to the South West coast has been 200 miles away in the Bay of Biscay.

 

A Great White was also reported off the coast near Padstow in Cornwall by a group of experienced fishermen in August 1999.

 

And there have been a number of other unconfirmed sightings around the South West coast since.

 

MAYBE NOT SUCH A BAD BET

[Davy Holt]

'Great White Shark' spotted

 

Oh no it wasn't

 

That was a report from a couple of years ago, like the rest of them it turned out to be not credible.. If I remember rightly she also seen a couple of Mako's feeding on the same day.

[Snatcher]

Um…. I suspect, as someone else has already suggested, yet another clever way for ‘bookies’ to generate income from the gullible.

 

But there is an underlying question in the thread. Do they visit our waters?

 

Although possibly not the best of presented documentaries there was that program on BBC that examined some of the potential sightings and, of course, mis-sightings. Some, certainly to my mind, appeared credible.

 

And I also recall recounting, to one of the program’s researchers, a conversation I’d had with one of the legendary Cornish shark skippers, Robin Vinnicombe of the Falmouth-based Huntress, about an ‘incident’ back in the 60s. It was in response to a question ‘And what’s the biggest shark you’ve seen?’

 

Robin described what, initially, was an uneventful day off the Manacles with a group of holiday-makers. They’d hooked up a fish that came relatively easily to the side of the boat and, in Robin’s words, ‘it was longer than my dingy (14’) and had an eye like a compass binnacle’. He took the trace and the fish just tracked along the side ‘just like a big dog on a lead’. But it hadn’t fought. Robin picked up the flying gaff and decided, rather than gaffing it, to poke it with the back bend of the gaff head in the eye.

 

The fish powered away and, 3 ½ hours later, bit through the heavy cable trace. ‘What was it?’ Perhaps too canny a Cornishman and perhaps also frightened of ridicule Robin just shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t know. (BTW Robin had caught both Makos and Porbeagles in UK waters.)

 

Whether the researcher managed to contact Robin, or whether he is in fact still alive, I’ve no idea.

 

Food for thought? Well obviously it’s not going to convince the sceptics. But is it just another piece in a complex jigsaw? I don’t know, but am firmly of the opinion ‘never say never’.

 

How can we prove it though? Well I’ve reproduced below is something I penned for our Club magazine that describes recent research using intelligent satellite tags. Would they offer proof - either tagging fish from the Mediterranean or those off the East coast of the ‘States?

Dave

 

 

Nice one Jack Seem to recall Paula (Tugmistress) about two years ago saying that the Scrabster harbourmaster seen a great white there

 

Can you reply to this one Paula??

[captain cojones]

ill tell you now exactly when the next great white will be "spotted"....

next summer, when your soaraway SUN, doesnt have a story for its front page.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

There is no good reason why they are not off our coast line, water temps ok and plenty of seals for food source.

 

The biggest problem is confirming a sighting, a decent photo or a set of teeth marks on a surfer

[Davy Holt]

Hiya,

plenty of seals for food source.

 

Not quite so, in the areas where the Whites are attracted by seals, the seals are in localised hotspots and number in their thousands, if not tens of thousands. We dont have the huge colonies like that as ours are far more widespread, therfore thinner on the ground and harder to find & catch.

 

The biggest problem is confirming a sighting, a decent photo or a set of teeth marks on a surfer

 

very ture and you also have the problem of confirming that the photo was actualy taken around the UK, as we found out earlier this year some pople will do anythinig to get a mention in the "press"

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Hiya,

 

 

Not quite so, in the areas where the Whites are attracted by seals, the seals are in localised hotspots and number in their thousands, if not tens of thousands. We dont have the huge colonies like that as ours are far more widespread, therfore thinner on the ground and harder to find & catch.

 

 

 

very ture and you also have the problem of confirming that the photo was actualy taken around the UK, as we found out earlier this year some pople will do anythinig to get a mention in the "press"

 

I guess it will have to be the teeth marks on a surfer then

[ray carper]

I guess it will have to be the teeth marks on a surfer then

 

 

i know a couple of people i'd like to volunteer for bite duty.