Norfolk Seal Shark Attack?

[epops]

Just seen on me local news that a seal has been found along the norfolk coast with a chunk out of its back there already saying is a great white responsible????????? so what if it is good luck to it i say,being a sea angler though it makes me usual dogfish look a bit meger lol

[Fourwings]

Highly unlikely that its a Great White, the North sea would be far too cold for this species.
It would certainly put a bend in your rod if it were true although I wouldn't fancy trying to unhook it!!

[Kayleigh]

There was all that talk of a great white off the coast at St Ives Cornwall last summer. It turned out to be a basking shark. But you never know what is lurking in the murky depths

[Thy]

Originally Posted by Fourwings

Highly unlikely that its a Great White, the North sea would be far too cold for this species.
It would certainly put a bend in your rod if it were true although I wouldn't fancy trying to unhook it!!

The temperature wouldn't be a problem whatsoever. They have been recorded from Alaskan waters, and also from the Sub-Antarctic Islands of Gough and Campbell. With that being said I highly doubt this is the work of a White shark, but hope springs eternal.

[Paul mabbott]

My advice is not to go paddling at the moment ....

[epops]

Originally Posted by Fourwings

Highly unlikely that its a Great White, the North sea would be far too cold for this species.
It would certainly put a bend in your rod if it were true although I wouldn't fancy trying to unhook it!!

i did once catch a small tope about 17lb unhooking that was a bit hairy but it was good to see it swim away

[Dogghound]

Plenty of species that could cause that sort of damage to a seal.

[Ukwildlifeo]

the story is here BBC NEWS | England | Norfolk | Seal was bitten by 'great white'

and a nice big pic here Giant shark ate seal at the coast off Sheringham, Norfolk | Mutilated seal found | The Sun |HomePage|News although, with wishing to be prudish, wouldnt recommend reading any of the nonsense written below lol

[Dogghound]

The way some cretin has wrote that report for the sun makes me sick.

[helen253]

good grief, you can always rely on the sun to make two and two equal "SIX THOUSAND!!!!!!!"

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

There was all that talk of a great white off the coast at St Ives Cornwall last summer. It turned out to be a basking shark. But you never know what is lurking in the murky depths

That was actually a fake. The person involved superimposed shots he took in South Africa into shots he took in Cornwall.

Cheers,

Adam

PS - didn't a GWS corpse get washed up on a beach in Scotland some time back?

[Lance Morgan]

Originally Posted by helen253

good grief, you can always rely on the sun to make two and two equal "SIX THOUSAND!!!!!!!"

The photo looks genuine enough and I would say that the wound certainly looks like a shark bite rather than propellor damage. The lack of blood would suggest that the seal died from massive blood loss.

[helen253]

granted, and i am no expert at all in shark bites...i merely refer to the two different styles of reporting in the links above...the bbc show an image of the seals head and then a photo of a sedate coasting great white then speculate that it's possible it could be the work of a great white saying an expert cannot rule it out. the sun show the macerated seal in all it's gory glory, then an image of a great white leaping from the frothy ocean with mouth agape looking like all our worst nightmares then quote the same two experts, again both just saying it could be a great white but then the sun front page headline at the bottom states hysterically "GREAT WHITE SHARK OFF UK" with no basis in fact.

[epops]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

The way some cretin has wrote that report for the sun makes me sick.

typical sun report do ya remember some kid supposedley attacked by a big cat the headlines were somewhere along the lines of "child mauled by big cat" the picture looked more like he'd been playing in a bramble bush lol

[zan]

pretty cool if there's a migrant GW shark about HOpe people dont' get too crazy about it though. Guess we'll need to see what the bite marks turn out to be from- that's an interestign bit of work for someone's new year!

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by epops

typical sun report do ya remember some kid supposedley attacked by a big cat the headlines were somewhere along the lines of "child mauled by big cat" the picture looked more like he'd been playing in a bramble bush lol

Crazy isnt it. Its the sort of over reaction that leads to an already vulnerable species, being under threat of more needless persecution. Thats how they sell papers though.

[naturelover]

so what if it is a great white shark,my answer to that is stay out of the water,i think this fear all stems from the jaws films,you never had this befor that,people are like a lot of sheep.

[Thy]

Apparently there were some further photos taken of the bite which I'm currently trying to track down.

[Kayleigh]

When I saw it was the SUN. I didn't bother to read any further.

[Thy]

Extra angles and photos now online at

Jaws ate seal off Norfolk - Shark Attacks - Sharks and Marine Life - Sharks - Message Board - Yuku

[epops]

i had'nt read the suns report but if that was a frenzied attack it was'nt a very big GW or do they get full up after one little mouth full dont ya just love that paper?

[naturelover]

hi thy welcome to the site,just looked at the photoes of the shark bite,if thats not a great white i will eat my hat.

[Kayleigh]

The carcase could also have been washed up, having been half eaten elsewhere. There is no evidence there is a GWS in these waters. And if there is good luck to it.

[Dogghound]

Also there is no evidence that bite killed the seal. It could already have been dead, there are records and the potential of a Six gilled shark in the North sea which actively eats carrion (although it would have been in shallow water). Rough sea's kill seal's, an the cold, saline north sea would delay the seal's decomposition. I dont think the bite was from below either its clearly on the seal's left hand side. Doesnt rule out great white but does question who did the analysis. Mako's, porbeagles, and orca all unlikely but all potential suspects. Although orca bite's are less neat. Great white sharks do often take a bite back off wait for abit and come back, another question what stopped it comming back? The conditions in the North sea are perfect for great whites. Just strange the lack of records with all of the fishing over the years.

The bite itself looks about 10inch if its a 4ft seal (not as big as they say). Which would mean a small great white or other species. However interestingly the tooth marks scream out great white.

Very interesting.

[Marineboy]

When I followed those links to have a look at those photos I expected to see something resembling a propellor injury . . . and I don't even want to pretend to be an expert on shark bites, but that does look like a very clean bite to me. And if this is as mature a seal as it looks . . . thats a big bite! It doesn't look right for propellor injury. And its too tidy for a small injury to have simply been enlarged by other scavengers. This is a single bite.
As a scuba diver, unconfirmed sightings of white shark in our waters, this story and those photos now seem to have put me one notch further down the food chain.
Great White or not, I still think that is a large and formidable predator. And there is every possibility that we do now have a population of such predators in our own coastal waters. Will it dampen my scuba enthusiasm? No, I can't wait to get back in the water. Being realistic, we stand more chance of injury crossing the road than we do from shark attack.