Shark species

Scotty #

I've brightened the image in Photoshop. You can clearly see now something in the image which does indeed look like an escaping seal. Not sure what the other black shadow is.......?

Scotty #

Photo now also shows quiet a pointed dorsal fin. This would not indicate Porbeagle Shark.

paulusdu

This is almost turning into CSI.

amazing stuff here guys, im loving the discussions, and have been reading up on sharks to try to catch up.

How long would a trasher or even a white shark hang around an area for? would they stay as long as food is available or are they just passers through ?

Kess73

Scotty # wrote: »

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.

The second pic you quoted was not being discussed as the mystery shark. That was already taken as a basking shark. It is the last pic in the original post that is the mystery shark



While the traits you mentioned are those of a Great White, they are also are those of a Thresher.


I would love for a GW to be verified in Irish waters, but I think the smaller species are a more likely explanation.

Kess73

paulusdu wrote: »

This is almost turning into CSI.

amazing stuff here guys, im loving the discussions, and have been reading up on sharks to try to catch up.

How long would a trasher or even a white shark hang around an area for? would they stay as long as food is available or are they just passers through ?

There are Thresher sharks in Irish waters all year round, and the likes of Blue sharks, and Porbeagle sharks are here all year as well.


Personally I think that it is very plausible for Great Whites to pass through Irish waters from time to time. The water temps and food sources are right

The finding of Seven gill sharks in Irish waters is a real strong hint that GWs may come here as well. As both sharks often share the same waters and the seven gill is eaten by GWs.

Scotty #

Kess73 wrote: »

The second pic you quoted was not being discussed as the mystery shark.

Ahh just copped they are (probably) different sharks...

Ok so the Thresher is back in (and far more likely?) then.

Quints25ftr

This is turning into a great discussion...reading up as much as i can on sharks. That link that Scotty posted is pretty informative and you seem to know how to work photoshop. I've just installed PSCS3 but was using PSLightroom. If any one wants the original .arw and jpeg file i can email them on. I only noticed that the original image was only shot using 150mm eventhough i had the 80-300mm lens on the DSLR, so dissapointed i didn't get a better shot.

Just wondering if a Thresher was swimming along the surface with the dorsel fin out would the tail fin be out of the water at a much higher level than the dorsel. This is really the only part that i don't see resembling a Thresher in image. Perhaps as previously mentioned it could be an optical illusion or maybe the tail is in a horizontal position due to jump.

Kess73

Not a great example as it is a hooked fish, but it gives an idea of how high a Thresher can jump.


As for the tail when a thresher is near the surface, the long tip tends to fold or flop over so that it does not stick out above the water to it's full length.



An unhooked Thresher jumps something similar to a great white. Could not find a vid online but here is a great white jumping after seals. Something a big thresher would do with a small seal if it thought it could get a quick meal, even though seals are not normally a regular prey item for them.

littlebug

Local news article about breaching basking sharks at Achill

whyulittle

Anyone see Wild Week Live on BBC last week? It was basically BBC NI's Springwatch.

Anyway they had a bit on Basking Sharks, and caught one breaching. Apparently the first time for it to be recorded on film.

snowstreams

I had a video camera in my hand that day I saw it jump. But I didnt think it would jump again. And then when it did, I took too long zooming into the right spot and missed it.
Interesting to see that they seem to jump quite a bit.

snowstreams

I know this is an old thread but I saw this today in the news and it reminded me of when I saw a basking shark jump in Achill in 2011 as in this thread.
The one I saw jumped 3 times which is similar to what they are doing in the video below in Donegal.

http://www.independent.ie/life/travel/ireland/watch-incredible-video-captures-basking-sharks-breaching-off-donegal-31552064.html