'This can't be right': Big sharks found in waters far from the open ocean
The broadnose sevengill and the soupfin sharks are common along the Pacific coast. Now they're showing up in Washington’s Puget Sound.
Nature is fascinating!
We got these Sharks comin' in!
- Thread starter Billy
- Start date
Nature is fascinating!
Denwor54
Life of the Party
I grew up on the sound and was a deck hand and worked on some commercial boats in the sound mainly working the straits. We had a seven gill shark sink our gill net targeting sockeye and it filled the back of a full size truck. Not familiar with the soup fin sharks but seven gill are not unusual for the Sound. Thanks for posting this Billy.
It doesn't seem that surprising that broadnose seven gill sharks might invade Puget Sound. According to WDFW, individuals of this species are found seasonally in both Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor for pupping and for mating. Bluntnose six gills sharks have been reported to use Puget Sound for pupping and as a nursery area (though their numbers may be declining - see here). So, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the broadnose seven gill sharks find the habitat of Puget Sound suitable for the same purpose. And if they get peckish, they are likely to find many menu choices; seven gills are very catholic in their potential diet, with a sweet-tooth for marine mammals (30% of their diet off Patagonia, but likely scavenged, not directly predated), including pinnipeds and cetaceans.
Steve
Steve
They can…the book Peter Benchley wrote that ended up in the movie Jaws was based on a bull shark that swam into the Manasquan River in NJ
Now to find out if they’ll eat a fly.
FinLuver
Native Oregonian…1846
They could add orca to their culinary palates
Actually, who is lunch and who is the eater is likely to be the other way around. Two killer whales (Port and Starboard) off South Africa have become specialists on the fat-rich livers of great white sharks and broadnose seven gill sharks (see some details here). Their predation has largely driven great white sharks out of the coastal waters of South Africa, where these sharks had been quite abundant (and well-studied). There are two "morphotypes" of killer whales off South Africa, type A and type B. Type A individuals tend to be marine mammal specialists (dolphins, small whales, seals) but have been observed to kill a great white shark. They have small pods of 6 or fewer individuals. The type B individuals have highly worn-down teeth, presumably for feeding on sharks with their highly abrasive skin. The two types are not easy to distinguish in the field and I don't know to which group Port and Starboard belong. [Edit: actually Port and Starboard are type B individuals, both older adult males (see here).]
If a local killer whale were to develop a hankering for shark liver, it is likely to be one of the "offshore" killer whales. There are three types of killer whales in Washington waters: Southern Residents, Bigg's killer whales, and offshores. The endangered Southern Resident Killer whales are fish, especially salmon, specialists. They form large feedings groups = J, K, and L pods that feed in the Salish Sea in summer and fall but migrate along the coast as far south as Monterey in winter and spring. Bigg's killer whales (aka transients) specialize on marine mammals, including pinnipeds and dolphins. They typically travel in small family groups of 3-5 individuals and are present year round in the Salish Sea. There is a third ecotype of killer whales off Washington, the offshores. These killer whales specialize on oceanic sharks and are found several miles from the coast. They form large pods too but not much is known about their biology.
Steve
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Nobody tell Clarkman.
Males only get to about 5’ and females to about 7’. Randy’s flies are too big.
i can remember encoutering then in the mid 60s as a deckhand at westport. You could sometimes watch one clean all the baits from the side of the boat from the flying bridge when there would be as many as 10 rods in the holders. their teeth would cut through those 25lb mooching leaders like a hot knife through butter.
Wild seeing them caught right next to my house down here in Shelton. In 2017 I think we ran into some of them fishing off Point No Point beach for late August coho. The bait fish that year were heavily concentrated in shallow waters and had everybody coming to the beach to feed. It was crazy fishing with everyone hooking up coho and porpoises coming near shore. One dude down the line started screaming like a little girl and a few more guys jumped back away from the water. A freaking huge shark came right up to shin deep water with mouth open chasing bait fish. Must have been 8 foot long and just about brushed my bare legs.
Wonder if it wasn't a 7 gill. Such a trip to see as it was also the first year of heavy wildfire smoke making the sky red. That was the hottest coho fishing I have ever seen from a beach. A couple guys showed up and limited in first 2 casts of getting there.
Another video taken near my house in Shelton hooking into large shark.
Strange that it is allowed or just not forbidden to keep Soupfin sharks in MA13, even though they are endangered. Regulations were probably never made with any thought of such sharks ever being caught in MA13. Just mentioning since some guys are down there targeting Soupfins and getting into 7 gills.
Wonder if it wasn't a 7 gill. Such a trip to see as it was also the first year of heavy wildfire smoke making the sky red. That was the hottest coho fishing I have ever seen from a beach. A couple guys showed up and limited in first 2 casts of getting there.
Another video taken near my house in Shelton hooking into large shark.
Strange that it is allowed or just not forbidden to keep Soupfin sharks in MA13, even though they are endangered. Regulations were probably never made with any thought of such sharks ever being caught in MA13. Just mentioning since some guys are down there targeting Soupfins and getting into 7 gills.
Some safety tips from The Olympian on swim suit color choice to avoid being attacked by a Puget Sound shark!
