very latest Footage - Gt White off Cornwall

[snakey1]

I have just watched the second video more or less in frame sequence several times, the thing that struck me was this.

 

I have been privilege to see several basking sharks at close quarters and without wishing to appear rude they are very laid back some what lazy creatures which swim about just under the surface mouth open filtering their food supply.

 

I never saw one breach or do anything at all remotely active, even their tail movements are quite slow.

 

Now the fish in this film was very active, twisting and turning in a very small space IE. adapt at chasing its prey. I also note large areas of white body colour when it rolled, now this could be the sun reflecting of a wet surface not absolutely sure about that.

 

I am NOT claiming great white but it definitely is a predatory species rather than a filter feeder.

 

As for air brushing the video even with the technology available today it would take some time and effort to produce a convincing effect and from film date to publishing the time factor would some what rule that out bearing in mind we are probably talking 30 frames per second and at the very least 15. Below fifteen it would be total rubbish.

 

So I ask "Does anyone have a personal knowledge of basking sharks breaching?"

 

One must also take into account the well recorded shark attacks on surfers in that area, again not stating great white, but definitely not porbeagle but possibly mako.

 

If so there is without doubt a threat to swimmers.

Apparently apart from great whites both porbeagle and makos have been known to breach and surprisingly basking sharks also occasionally breach(according to sharktrust).

[Davy Holt]

I have had a second "expert" look at my photo and he also suspects it may be a white sharks dorsal fin, although he's never had any papers published either, he has, as a former chip shop owner, sold a lot of his products wrapped in them and he certainly knows his fish (at least when it battered and deep fried).

 

Sorry snakey but your ID is incorrect as is that of your "experts", this picture clearly showed the dorsal fin of a Megalodon (Carcharodon megalodon), from the dorsal fin you can tell it's a 5 year old adult female due to give brth in 3 weeks to 1 male baby shark and that it also had two Minki Whales for breakfast

 

Davy (Skateman) Holt

[Davy Holt]

Apparently apart from great whites both porbeagle and makos have been known to breach and surprisingly basking sharks also occasionally breach(according to sharktrust).

 

Yup and it tends to be only males that do it for some reason

there is a pic of a male basking jumping in one of the "This is cornwall" news articals

[gozzer]

I remember reading an article by Hugh Stoker years ago. In it he said he was fishing from a small boat, when a basking shark came clean out of the water about 300yds away, it did it again about 200yds away, and then about 100yds away. He realised it was travelling in line with him, so started the out board and got out of the way. He then said it came out and crashed down, just about where he had been fishing!

I've never seen one come out of the water like that, but have seen them turn pretty sharpish in the water for some reason, when feeding.

 

John.

[snakey1]

Ah well my last "expert" said he was only almost sure, he did add that he would have been 100% positive if it had had a light coating of batter.

looks like its going to be "big meg fever hits welsh coast" in the sun soon then.

 

Snakey(sharkey)1

[spasor]

Watched the ONE show earlier. That Aidrian Chiles had the nerve to suggest that this whole white shark palaver was a put-up job by the local tourist industry!!!!

As if they would?

[teebee]

You cynics would love to be right, wouldn't ya.

 

"Get your name in the National Geographic......"

[corydoras]

You cynics would love to be right, wouldn't ya.

 

"Get your name in the National Geographic......"

I'm not cynical, just very sceptical. If someone can show me some good evidence, for example an unambiguous photograph or video footage, or a great white's tooth freshly excavated from the hull of a kayak then I will believe. Edited August 2, 2007 by corydoras

[Fin-S]

Without hard facts I guess it is difficult to prove either way. Personally I suspect that GW's will visit your waters, but unintentionally. Where the environment suits them, then you will certainly find more than one. As they prefer meat rather than fish, then a suitable supply of seals etc would be necessary, as would their preferred temperature range. The other thing that has not been mentioned is their desire to procreate. Whilst this has never been filmed or observed in the wild (to the best of my knowledge) it is suspected that they only mate when there is an overabundance of food and when they have gorged themselves. This was noticed last year off Seal island in Cape Town where the body of a washed up whale was towed away from the beach to let nature take its course. Up to 20 GW tore into the carcass for almost three days, literally stuffing themselves. When they were so satiated that they could hardly move (in fact several turned belly up and drifted until their metabolism kicked in again) they dissappeared for 4/5 days. Bearing in mind that we have apporoximately 70 sharks around the island in winter and that we see them every day, something important must have happened to cause them to move from their normal hunting zone. I suspect therefore that there is not enough food of a high fat content to ensure their reproductive success in the UK waters, and hence they will only be a very rare accidental visitor.

Could be totally wrong though.....

[Toerag]

As we're on the subject of sharks, we saw 6 basking sharks last week, a single, a pair, and a threesome (oo-er missus). I managed a short video clip of one of them which you can see here:-

Shark clip

The were all feeding lazily on the surface but certainly dived quickly when they wanted to!

We also saw a pilot whale on one day, it surfaced 20 yards off the back of the boat, breathed about 3 times, disappeared for 10 minutes, then reappeared a couple of times before disappearing for good. I'll post a pic once I get it off my father-in-law's camera.