White Shark Caught in UK?

[notbrazil]

Just got back from diving in Canary Islands. Whilst chatting with my dive leader on Sunday he was keen to discuss with me the White Shark that was caught in England last week that he had seen in the Spanish papers and on the news and whether this would stop me UK diving.

Surprised, I told him I knew nothing about it but looked forward to returning home to read about it. Alas, I can find nothing apart from this LiveLeak.com - Great white shark caught in fishing net on west coast of England

Can anyone shed any light on this? It was apparently reported on Spanish news and in El Pais. The one on the vid looks a little like a Mako but I'm not 100%. Certainly, the guy beside it looks about as English as you could look!

Given that there has been so much scaremongering it would not surprise me if there has been a press embargo on this. It's not what the UK tourist industry needs after this years losses.

[Lance Morgan]

dum dum, dum dum, dumdumdundumdundun Jaws

probably a porbeagle or mako. Someone caught a record thresher shark last week but no great whites that i know of

[StuartDH]

I think is that one that was on the BBC and the fisherman who caught it sold it for something like £250

[StuartDH]

Lurking off Land's End, the giant that's a world beater - Independent Online Edition > This Britain

[Lance Morgan]

Yes that's it a Thresher. Shame he killed it

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Lance Morgan

Yes that's it a Thresher. Shame he killed it

Yes I quite agree.

[Venger]

Looks like a porbeagle to me, it has a white mark at the bottom of the dorsal fin.

[naturelover]

wild-woman i was thinking the same why did he kill it in stead of letting it go free, shame on him.

[Dogghound]

Yes a thresher. Dont think he had much choice, he was fishing with nets so the shark was probrably dead when he landed it.

[demicav]

Shame any Sharks have to die in fishing nets. They're wonderful creatures that are in need of increasing protection due to overfishing and exploitation around the globe. Much rather see one alive than dead but sadly it's still seen as quite a macho image to kill a Shark and even one killed accidentally will draw a crowd because of this reason, very sad.

[notbrazil]

Aye, agree with all comments but alas, sharks getting caught in nets is inevitable. It's food in a big mesh bag. Most sharks would die if caught in these nets so I wouldn't point too many fingers at the fishermen. There a few enough of them left and we should be supporting them rather than getting on their backs.

My friend in Dusseldorf said there was something on their news about this as well. My point being, has a white shark been caught and is there a press embargo on this to protect us from a media frenzy? No one seems any the wiser here in the UK yet in 2 countries in the wider EU this has been a report last week? perhaps it's misinformation at their end.

[ChrisJB]

Definitely looks like a Porbeagle, it's gnashers look a bit too narrow for a Great White.

Regards, Chris

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Yes a thresher.

Ahh sorry i read the wrong link. Definately not a thresher although one has been caught recently that's where i got mixed up.

The shark in the video link is a Porbeagle Lamna nasus

Reason's : -
Dorsal fin & Pectoral fin shape and size
Eye size in comparison with head
Teeth shape

Also the report mention's mako
This shark is definately not a short finned mako Isurus oxyrinchus

[Marineboy]

I was excited by this thread but have to agree with the Porbeagle/Mako identifications. As pointed out, its gnashers are too narrow to be the white shark of Jaws films. There is however absolutely no reason why we do not have them in our waters. They are resident and breeding in the Mediteranean and thats not far away. They can survive quite happily in waters colder than our own. It is only a matter of time until a fisherman is pictured with a slaughtered white shark caught off our coast.
Whatever your opinion on these creatures, they are natures answer to the perfect aquatic predator. Electro sensors to pick up electrical activity of muscles. Pressure sensors to pick up pressure waves from struggling prey. Truely amazing sence of smell. Large light capturing eyes that roll over for protection during the bite and kill. Razor sharp, multiple sets of quickly replaced teeth. Streamlining and aquatic power that man can only try to emulate.
The mightmare of the Jaws story? When we invade their habitat, to them we are just food. We just find it hard to accept that we just slipped a notch back down the food chain! Wonderful creatures worthy of more respect than most of us give them.

[notbrazil]

I was digusted to see that Harrod's recently displayed a full size adult Portbeagle on their fish counter. Now I love my sea food and am in no position to make judgements based on how much of it I eat but, I chose to try to eat responsibly.
We all know that sharks are on the decline and that shark meat consumption in the UK has soared through the roof. Displaying a Portbeagle in all it's frozen glory will have undoubtedly bumped up sales and that's concerning.
At least we can't have a go at Rastas. They can't eat any scaleless fish.

[Gill Catton]

It is really worrying and I was recently reading about scarey secondary effects of the shark fishing industry (particularly the obscene shark fin industry) where the lower level predators such as eagle rays that would ordinarily be eaten by the larger sharks are having a population explosion due to lack of sharks and in turn are having a massive impact on shellfish which are obviously important in their own right and for their postion in the food chain/web but are also an important as trade items for communities that have little else to trade - not to mention food for so many communities of people!

[tufftie]

Originally Posted by notbrazil

They can't eat any scaleless fish.

Why not? (I'm vegan, well veggie...sort of thing!)

[notbrazil]

'Cos shellfish tastes fantastic! Let's eat all the Eagle Rays!

[forevergreen]

Originally Posted by naturelover

wild-woman i was thinking the same why did he kill it in stead of letting it go free, shame on him.

Money of course. you see a shark in british waters. it bites your rod. you haul it in with faint ringing of till bells in your ears if your that type of person.


its the same reason birds of prey are being killed by "bounty hunters" because pigeon keepers pay big money for them to do it.