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Shark species
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03-05-2011 10:57am#1Hi I was in Achill island on the 17th of April & I saw these guys swimming around in Keem bay.
There were lots of birds around feeding in the area of the bay too. So i thought that these sharks were feeding off the same food source.
Most of the shots looked like basking sharks because of their rounded dorsal fin and their huge size.
But after an hour or so, one of the sharks jumped out of the water and made a huge splash. It ended up jumping 3 times. My friend managed to get a few shots of it, but mostly only got the splashes. It seemed about 9-10 feet long as a guess. The jumping sharks fin seemed different to the basking sharks fin too.
Everyone swimming in the bay cleared the water when they saw this guy jumping so close to shore!
Basking shark most likely
Basking shark most likely
Basking shark most likely
Not sure for this one
After the first jump
Got a picture on the 3rd jump
Here it is zoomed in. I was thinking blue shark because of its size and there seems to be an obvious extra fin on its back which blue sharks have but so do mackerel sharks like porbeagle sharks and mako sharks?
There was a seal hiding in the shallow water too afterwards. It seemed to want to avoid the shark too.
I was wondering could it have just been a basking shark jumping? or was it more likely to have been something like a blue shark or mako shark? or even a great white? :eek:Tagged:3
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snowstreams wrote: »Hi I was in Achill island on the 17th of April & I saw these guys swimming around in Keem bay.
There were lots of birds around feeding in the area of the bay too. So i thought that these sharks were feeding off the same food source.
Most of the shots looked like basking sharks because of their rounded dorsal fin and their huge size.
But after an hour or so, one of the sharks jumped out of the water and made a huge splash. It ended up jumping 3 times. My friend managed to get a few shots of it, but mostly only got the splashes. It seemed about 9-10 feet long as a guess. The jumping sharks fin seemed different to the basking sharks fin too.
Everyone swimming in the bay cleared the water when they saw this guy jumping so close to shore!
Basking shark most likely
Basking shark most likely
Basking shark most likely
Not sure for this one
After the first jump
Got a picture on the 3rd jump
Here it is zoomed in. I was thinking blue shark because of its size and there seems to be an obvious extra fin on its back which blue sharks have but so do mackerel sharks like porbeagle sharks and mako sharks?
There was a seal hiding in the shallow water too afterwards. It seemed to want to avoid the shark too.
I was wondering could it have just been a basking shark jumping? or was it more likely to have been something like a blue shark or mako shark? or even a great white? :eek:
Looks like a decent sized Thresher Shark, based on colour and the size/shape of the primary and secondary dorsal fins and the fact it appears to have a short snout. The fact it was jumping a lot leans my opinion closer to it being a Thresher. Did you notice a large upper caudal fin breaking the surface behind the second dorsal fin at any point?
The Second dorsal fin is too big in relation to the first dorsal fin for a Mako. Not to mention the fact that Mako rarely stay in waters that are 16 degrees or less.
It being a Blue cannot be ruled out either, as the first dorsal fin looks right and the second dorsal fin looks bigger than that of a Thresher but the angle could be deceptive there. Blues sometimes jump as well.
I think the large upper caudal fin if spotted when the fish was airborne or cruising would be the clincher.
If it had that then defo a Thresher, if not then most likely a blue.0 -
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snowstreams wrote: »Thanks for your knowlege kess.
The swimmers there said the water was colder than normal for the time of year. It was about 11-12c i think. So too cold for a mako, would threshers and blue sharks stay in cold water too?
It jumped very regularly, the 3 jumps took place in about 2 minutes.
I did think that it could have been a thresher because it did look a bit more bulky than what blue sharks look like. I did see a long tail out of the water but i cant say for sure if was it as long as a threshers.
would a porbeagle shark jump like that?
i remember seeing white on the underneath of the shark, and the pictures of threshers from google look most like what i saw.
I take it thresher sharks probably eat fish, and not seals? Everyone at the beach thought the seal was seeking shelter from the shark!
The seal may have followed fish that were avoiding the shark into the shallows. A big thresher could kill a small seal but generally a Thresher eats fish, crabs, squid and, if they can catch one on the surface, birds.
Very few sharks jump out of the water, as in full breaching, and the Thresher is one of the few that will do it a number of times in quick succession.
The Mako does jump out of the water but believe me if it was a Mako in that cold water and it was jumping you would have been watching a spectacular show as they can end up 10 to 20 feet in the air. But with Mako it is generally accepted that they jump to rid themselves of parasites. And I think we can discount it being a mako anyway due to the water temp.
Porbeagles can jump, but I think that they don't breach fully when they do jump and it is more a style of play or at least perceived play when they do so.
Blues can jump somewhat as well, but don't breach the way a Thresher would, and don't get air time in the manner a thresher would.
The great white also can jump out of the water and if the Mako is a spectacular jumper then a breaching Great White would be the main event.
So basically there are three types of shark who breach fully on a regular basis. I am pretty sure you did not see a Mako or a Great White (although a confirmed sighting of the latter would be awesome), so based on what you have said I am still sticking with it being a Thresher. 0 -
I was there and saw them too - gorgeous day! We were talking to a fella on the beach, and he said there was a big gang of them he was following, going up and down the West coast, 30 or so. I dunno if these guys were part of the gang, but they could have been. We're keeping everyone well out of the water anyway 0
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Im fairly sure it was a thresher shark the more i look at the photos. My friend says he has one photo that shows a very long tail on the shark. And each time the shark was clean out of the water, maybe about 3 feet out, so im going thresher as the ID.
Pity it wasnt a great white, but that was asking too much!
There was about 3 boats like this one below out at the mouth of the bay. They must have been catching what ever the sharks were after.
So could there have been 3 or more species of sharks in the bay that day.
Maybe basking sharks, blue sharks and also thresher sharks?
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So basically there are three types of shark who breach fully on a regular basis. I am pretty sure you did not see a Mako or a Great White (although a confirmed sighting of the latter would be awesome), so based on what you have said I am still sticking with it being a Thresher.
Not quite true. Many species have been observed to breach, Basking Sharks included, but documentation is scarce. Take a look at this;
Its interesting OP that you say its breaching was successive, I wouldnt attribute this to Basking behaviour.. unless perhaps there were multiple fish involved.
I'd also hesitate in ID'ing it as a Thresher; these are notoriously solitary fish, and I would be fairly confident in saying that your second photo is of a Basking. The second dorsal fin looks to me to be too pronounced for a Thresher, but the photos arent clear enough to judge.
Keep us updated
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nervous_twitch wrote: »Not quite true. Many species have been observed to breach, Basking Sharks included, but documentation is scarce. Take a look at this;
Its interesting OP that you say its breaching was successive, I wouldnt attribute this to Basking behaviour.. unless perhaps there were multiple fish involved.
I'd also hesitate in ID'ing it as a Thresher; these are notoriously solitary fish, and I would be fairly confident in saying that your second photo is of a Basking. The second dorsal fin looks to me to be too pronounced for a Thresher, but the photos arent clear enough to judge.
Keep us updated
But I did not say that no other species breaches. I said that only three species are known to breach on a regular basis as part of their feeding or cleaning routines.
I did mention in my earlier post other species that jump, and I could name other species that have been seen jumping, but none of them are species that are noted as being regular jumpers. Porbeagles jump, but not on a regular basis. Basking sharks can breach, but it has never been seen on a regular basis. Blue jump, but again not on a regular basis.
As for successive breaches, that is a common trait of the Thresher when hunting, and the fish in the last and second last pics of the original post look very like a thresher to me. I was not calling the basking sharks in the other pics threshers. A thresher that jumps three, four or five times in close succession is a pretty common thing and has been observed hundreds of times by researchers.
Threshers are normally a solitary fish, but that is in terms of being seen with other threshers. Seeing one near basking sharks or in the same area as blue sharks is not an unusual thing in Irish waters.
Apols if you thought I was calling all the sharks in the OP's pics Threshers. I defo was not doing so, and should have been clearer on what pics I was talking about.0 -
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But I did not say that no other species breaches. I said that only three species are known to breach on a regular basis as part of their feeding or cleaning routines.
Apologies, poor wording on my behalf. You did indeed point out that other species breach. I just wanted to note that the Basking Shark, which I could see in some of the OP's photos, is becoming increasingly renowned for its ability to breach (who'd have thunk it? so big and slow) and that it shouldnt discounted in identification..!As for successive breaches, that is a common trait of the Thresher when hunting, and the fish in the last and second last pics of the original post look very like a thresher to me. I was not calling the basking sharks in the other pics threshers. A thresher that jumps three, four or five times in close succession is a pretty common thing and has been observed hundreds of times by researchers.
Thats what I found strange, the successive breaching. But according to the above report by the IWDG and this site, numerous jumps are actually common.Threshers are normally a solitary fish, but that is in terms of being seen with other threshers. Seeing one near basking sharks or in the same area as blue sharks is not an unusual thing in Irish waters.
Really? I always thought Threshers to be solitary, even alongside other species, and especially when hunting (which would be the case if the OP saw a breach). Coastal threshers, in particular, are usually seen alone, but I guess this mightnt always be the case!
I would love to see a more varied visiting shark population, the coast always has its fair share of Baskings but nothing much more exciting
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nervous_twitch wrote: »Apologies, poor wording on my behalf. You did indeed point out that other species breach. I just wanted to note that the Basking Shark, which I could see in some of the OP's photos, is becoming increasingly renowned for its ability to breach (who'd have thunk it? so big and slow) and that it shouldnt discounted in identification..!
Thats what I found strange, the successive breaching. But according to the above report by the IWDG and this site, numerous jumps are actually common.
Really? I always thought Threshers to be solitary, even alongside other species, and especially when hunting (which would be the case if the OP saw a breach). Coastal threshers, in particular, are usually seen alone, but I guess this mightnt always be the case!
I would love to see a more varied visiting shark population, the coast always has its fair share of Baskings but nothing much more exciting
There is actually a pretty decent shark population in Irish waters. Far more sharks there than many would suspect. The capture of a seven gill shark off of the Kerry coast four or five years back showed that species not expected to be found can be.
There are plenty of blue shark in irish waters, we have thresher, porbeagle, six gill shark (a 1056lb specimen was caught off the Clare coast by rod and reel two years back), shortfin mako (not common but when the water temp is right they do come into Irish waters and there are records of that) and many others on our doorstep.0 -
snowstreams wrote: »I reported the sightings to www.iwdg.ie which reports whales, dolphins etc and basking sharks around the country. iwdg seems to be the best place to report any whale & shark sightings in ireland.
They informed me that the shark jumping was most likely a basking shark and that there was no reason to think that it was any other species of shark.
He said that basking sharks jump alot more regularly than people think, read this word document attached.
They have even been seen to jump up to 6 times in a row. So my guy jumping 3 times is nothing extraordinary.
So it seems mystery solved, a jumping basking shark!
I'll see if my friend has any other better images that might say something else but most likely basking shark.
I am very surprised that they think the shark in your last two pics ( the long range and the zoomed in version) are of a basking shark. In your pic there appears to be a strong white colouration from just below the eye/lip of upper jaw and under the head.
Basking sharks tend to have the same colour all over the head as seen in these pics.
Whereas this pics of Threshers all have white in the same place as your pic, and even the dark colouration in the second pic is close to your pic.
I just feel that if there was an adult basking shark or even a sub adult breaching over and over that it would have seemed like the massive animal it is to you, and not come across as a blue shark sized shark as your first guess was.
I would be very curious as to what others may think, or if you get any replies back from any other sites where you may have sent the pics.
Of course I could be totally wrong, and I often am, but your zoomed in pic just looks wrong to be a basking shark for me. 0 -
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Very hard to tell what it is but I wouldn't have thought Basking from this photo...
Snowstream did IWDG see this photo?
Yeah the guy from the IWDG saw all the photos on this forum. He said there was no reason to think the shark in this photo was not a basking shark. The position of the second dorsal fin is kind of strange though. I wonder is that just an optical illusion.
I really wish i had my camera on automatic that day. Could have picked up some proper shots then.
The video of the breaching basking shark seems quite like what i saw, the head shape seems right.0 -
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nervous_twitch wrote: »Kess, are you sure you're not mistaking the chop of the water for a white underside?
I don't think so. To the right of the eye is the water spalsh and I am not call ing that the white on the shark. Where I am looking is blow the tip of the snout. When I blow the picture up a little more, that section does not seem the same as the white from the water further back.
But me being totally wrong on something would be nothing new.
I think what we need to do is get a boat, some rods, and put Snowstreams (covered in chum) on the end of a line in the same location. If nothing bites, then we can say Basking shark. 0 -
My friend who took these photos says that he could see a seal in these images. I dont remember the seal being so close to the shark though.
He said he is going to put a few photos up here over the weekend that may be be enhanced better, that way he could show the seal, and find out if the white underneath is water or part of the shark.
I was away on honeymoon for the last few weeks so my mind isnt as fresh about the sighting so i cant say where the seal was when the shark jumped but he is full sure that there is a seal in the above image.
And he checked these images the next day to make sure that there was a seal in them.
I'll wait and see what he can come up with!0 -
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The picture of the Shark breaching clearly shows that it was attacking a common seal which (who had a lucky escape that time) was about, i'm guessing a female roughly 1m in length, which makes the shark 9-10ft . Shortly afterwards the seal came into about 15-20ft of the shore and was looking out to see if the threat had gone.
The image of the shark was from the third consecutive jump within a 40-60secs duration. The first jump was well clear of the water app. 3ft while the one in the image shows very little airtime if any. From what I remember that day there were a number of Basking sharks further out the bay but it was obvious from many of the shots of dorsel fins that a variety of species were there.
At first I believed it to be a blue shark as I believe they jump aswell but according to Kess they don't clear the water then that leaves a thresher which does seem to fit the image however the tail fin does'nt quite add up.
Also I tried editing the images as best i could to get better clarity/sharpness and from what i can tell it looks like the underside of the shark was white, this is not simply the water splashes....
Portbeagles look similar however there's no white on the rear of the main dorsel so thery're out aswell.
i'm guessing there's only a limited number of sharks that eat seals, leap out of water and have white underbellies....would it have been a great white roaming our waters, maybe wishful thinking but it can't be discarded either... 0 -
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Quints25ftr wrote: »The picture of the Shark breaching clearly shows that it was attacking a common seal which (who had a lucky escape that time) was about, i'm guessing a female roughly 1m in length, which makes the shark 9-10ft . Shortly afterwards the seal came into about 15-20ft of the shore and was looking out to see if the threat had gone.
The image of the shark was from the third consecutive jump within a 40-60secs duration. The first jump was well clear of the water app. 3ft while the one in the image shows very little airtime if any. From what I remember that day there were a number of Basking sharks further out the bay but it was obvious from many of the shots of dorsel fins that a variety of species were there.
At first I believed it to be a blue shark as I believe they jump aswell but according to Kess they don't clear the water then that leaves a thresher which does seem to fit the image however the tail fin does'nt quite add up.
Also I tried editing the images as best i could to get better clarity/sharpness and from what i can tell it looks like the underside of the shark was white, this is not simply the water splashes....
Portbeagles look similar however there's no white on the rear of the main dorsel so thery're out aswell.
i'm guessing there's only a limited number of sharks that eat seals, leap out of water and have white underbellies....would it have been a great white roaming our waters, maybe wishful thinking but it can't be discarded either...
If it was attacking or trying to attack the seal, then a basking shark can be ruled out.
I really don't think that it was a small great white, although we did have a thread on here some time back discussing great whites and Killer whale where I explained my reasoning for it to be possible for Great whites to be in Irish waters from time to time.
I am still thinking Thresher though. As they are known to breach a number of times in a row, a large one could attack a seal (not their regular food but attacks have been documented in waters with similar temps to Irish waters), plus a Thresher that looked 10 foot in length based on it's body, would probably have been a 14 to 16 foot fish including tail.
Your take that it may have been a Blue shark is not out of the question and I mentioned that in my first post in the thread. They can jump but it would generally be the one jump as they are a lethargic enough shark and certainly they cannot jump as high as Threshers and some other shark. They have the white underside, and are darker on top, and they do grow to 10 foot and a little above that size. But they are quite a slim fish, almost weak or light bodied in look, and as a result of this are easy enough to recognise if a person sees the whole fish.
A porbeagle would be a much stronger fish in build and would have a similar colouration make up to that of a Thresher, and like the Thresher (and unlike the blue) is quite an active and energetic fish. But they tend to be quite a bit smaller than a Thresher in length and weight with it generally topping out at 7 or 8 feet.
Thanks for joining the site to share what you saw though, and I love the username. Guess you are going to need a bigger boat. 0 -
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The fact the the eye is well above the white area would not indicate Blue Shark.
The position of the tail tip in this photo would not indicate Thresher. It would be much further back.
Good reference for sharks found in Europe here... http://www.sharktrust.org/content.asp?did=35248
I hate to say it but...- Pointed nose
- Clear white belly below eye line
- Chasing seal
- Clearing the water
...these all point to White Shark.
I know very little about sharks though and less about sharks found in Irish waters. I'm purely going on photo evidence.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyEFmjnajwY
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