Norfolk Seal Shark Attack?

[wildlifesnapper]

just been a guy on the news from sealife centre who has been looking at the pics and he recons it could "possibly" be a Mako ??

Who knows?

neil

[forevergreen]

the sun makes the shark seem like some kind of enemy of mankind. You can bet some money hungry anglers will be out chumming the waters as we speek planning on selling the shark. And epeops mentioned about the big cat attack thay was nothing. Its stuff like this that most people are to dim to see that the animal isnt an enemy its just defending its self/ eating you its nothing personal against humans. it seems to me thats what happened in america grey wolves and brown bears are being hunted and hunted.

[epops]

Originally Posted by forevergreen

the sun makes the shark seem like some kind of enemy of mankind. You can bet some money hungry anglers will be out chumming the waters as we speek planning on selling the shark. And epeops mentioned about the big cat attack thay was nothing. Its stuff like this that most people are to dim to see that the animal isnt an enemy its just defending its self/ eating you its nothing personal against humans. it seems to me thats what happened in america grey wolves and brown bears are being hunted and hunted.

exactly right i've seen one or two sharks for sale ie a mako a while ago down cornwall personally as an angler i find it disgusting to kill such a superb creature i dont even kill cod or not if i can help it wont be long befor the sun will start putting a bounty on all the so called man eaters around our coasts long live the shark i say and lets hope that what ever it was done the seal will continue to thrive

[snowdrop]

Dearie me, the Sun?. Well if you must buy a comic...LoL

[snowdrop]

Dearie me, the Sun?. Well if you must buy a comic...

[snowdrop]

Oooooops!

[ChrisJB]

I wonder why the 'shark' didn't eat any more of it? That missing chunk almost looks too shark-like. Perhaps some fraudster with some skill with a blade?

Regards, Chris

[JeffH]

Hmmm, the things they'll do to attract visitors to Sheringham in the winter months

Jeff

[Geoff F]

During a lifetime of working at sea off S. Devon I've never yet seen a Great White shark but I have seen a Killer Whale (Orca) on 2 occasions. One put on a show for us, leaping out of the water and rolling over, 'standing' on it's tail, etc. The second one, around 10 years later, stayed in the area for several days and came close to fishing boats, probably attracted by old pot bait.

[wildlifesnapper]

Geoff,

do you think they do visit southern british waters? As you live , work and fish there ,your in a better position to say.I've heard they are in the Med which isn't far away.

neil

[Geoff F]

Great Whites have been recorded in The Med many years ago, pre war I think, but I haven't heard of anything definite lately. In the UK, Thresher sharks and Mako do seem to be more common, but that might be just due to better reporting. With the number of people 'at sea' now I would have thought that any Great White which ventured this way would have been spotted by someone.

Previously, many oddities were never reported and now many in the fishing industry refuse to report anything unusual because they fear the 'greenies'. Some years we do see the occasional Minkie Whale off S. Devon now and I can remember, many years ago when I was a lad, seeing 2 large Tunny chasing pollack and jumping clear of the water around my boat. Old fishermen said that at one time they were often seen in the Start Point area. But I have never seen another one.

[aquarian31]

Can anyone who's posted on this subject say they have ever seen a great White close up live or dead, or for that matter seen the impact bite on a mammal thats met one of natures penultimate feeders ?
All I've read so far is conjecture and hypothesis.
I've taken note of the comments by the Maritime Agency guys and local fishermen who are considerably puzzled as to the apparent dental record of the bite which they compared with what they know well on the subject of vessel damage from a Prop and the boat prop theory didn't get off base.

Commercial fishermen and Long liners of the north coast of scotland in the Cape Wrath area report from time to time getting hit by unseen shark that take big fish like halibut, conger and Ling and when you consider some of the bites taking a half carcass of a 200lb hailbut or congers/ ling leaving just a head from a fish that weighs up to 100lbs ten it seriously challenges your thinking on how far and wide big shark predators exist

Shark attacks by GWS in the Med off Malta and into the Adriatic are well documented over the last 25 years so why do people doubt the possibility of migration which is in a constant state of change as most UK commercial fishermen will tell you as do their catches in inshore waters out to 12 miles.
Mako shark exist in reasonable numbers off Cornwall and in Cardigan Bay as noted by Anglers who fish for them on charters and where mako exist, then theres a very good chance its bigger brethren will no doubt be lurking as well.

Having had the rare pleasure of seeing a GWS at close range along side a on a chartered fishing trip some years ago off Sth Africa, I can say that unless you have seen one of these magnificent animals in action chasing its prey then all comments about its activities in UK waters can be discounted in consideration of the bite size which could in the Norfolk case have been inflicted by a fish of about 500lbs in body mass..
it may have been a mako but we will never know but that species is so closely related so if proof of a large shark is needed, have a look at this link of a fish caught in 1971 off Looe in Cornwall by Joyce Wallop records
I sent a copy of the seal bite pic to a shark fishing pal in Durban and all he would comment was "keep ya eyes peeled at all times from now on, that bite mark looks so familiar "

So how about a lot less sceptiscm and a more open attitude to the possibilty that we have got visitors to our wates that maybe not in sufficient numbers as yet, but be assured the numbers will grow with time as coastal waters warm up with the effect of global warming

Recently, Divers off Aberdeen on the deep offshore rigs were not so long ago faced by a very big shark under a rig and the fish was filmed by the safety crew. it was reported as having a very deep white belly and 11feet long before it dissapeared out of range.... what was that you can ponder I'm sure!
Its scared the hell out of the guys as is reported and divings never been the same up there since !

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

Great Whites have been recorded in The Med many years ago, pre war I think, but I haven't heard of anything definite lately. In the UK, Thresher sharks and Mako do seem to be more common, but that might be just due to better reporting. With the number of people 'at sea' now I would have thought that any Great White which ventured this way would have been spotted by someone.

Previously, many oddities were never reported and now many in the fishing industry refuse to report anything unusual because they fear the 'greenies'. Some years we do see the occasional Minkie Whale off S. Devon now and I can remember, many years ago when I was a lad, seeing 2 large Tunny chasing pollack and jumping clear of the water around my boat. Old fishermen said that at one time they were often seen in the Start Point area. But I have never seen another one.

Great Whites have certainly been seen in the Med' in recent times. I remember watching some footage of some Italian dude with his young son crying, because a Great White was eating a smaller shark which they had caught and was tied to their boat. The poor little mite looked petrified!

Regards, Chris