BajaNomad - At last the Threshershark in flight,once in a life time shot!

At last the Threshershark in flight,once in a life time shot!

baitcast - 4-23-2012 at 05:09 PM

Taken by a fellow fisherman from his kayak

keep in mine he's being towed the rod in one hand the camera in the other and somehow gets this picture!!!! took place just off the beach in Newport Bch Calif.

The fisherman's handle is Vincentek9 SC Surffishing

[Edited on 4-24-2012 by baitcast]

woody with a view - 4-23-2012 at 05:25 PM

whoa, Nellie! that is pretty cool.

willardguy - 4-23-2012 at 05:25 PM

how was he holding his beer?

acadist - 4-23-2012 at 07:51 PM

Great pic!!!

Sandlefoot - 4-23-2012 at 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by willardguy
how was he holding his beer?

Thats what "Knees" & "Feet" are for, unless that is where the pole is and he has his beer in hand!!!! :lol:

DENNIS - 4-23-2012 at 08:01 PM

I always considered "flight" more of an effort born of freedom rather than desperation.

bigmike58 - 4-23-2012 at 08:16 PM

Nice !!!! That's an amazing pic!!

WTH ?

djh - 4-23-2012 at 09:20 PM

What the heck is a guy sitting in a little ol kayak going to do with a huge thresher shark that is towing him around....? Just seems kinda crazy to me!?!?!?

Hendo - 4-23-2012 at 09:41 PM

He knows how to live!

baitcast - 4-24-2012 at 05:39 AM

Hour and a half later homeward bound :lol:

he was rock codding at the time,hooking a T-Shark never crossed his mine.

woody with a view - 4-24-2012 at 06:53 AM

that's some good eats!

woody with a view - 4-24-2012 at 06:56 AM

Dennis

one guy won't knock off the fish population. check this out and this is where we should focus our efforts to save our seas!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_ship

Bob H - 4-24-2012 at 08:36 AM

Like all large sharks, threshers have a low fecundity, so are highly vulnerable to overfishing. Other than for its meat, the sharks are hunted for their liver oil, skin (for leather), and their fins, for use in shark-fin soup.

They do not appear to be a threat to humans, although some divers have been hit with the upper tail lobe. A dubious account of a fisherman being decapitated by a tail swipe as the shark breached has been reported.

Thresher sharks are classified as prized gamefish in the United States and South Africa. Common thresher sharks are the target of a popular recreational fishery off Baja, Mexico. Thresher sharks are managed in some areas for their value as both a recreational sport fish and commercial species.

Conservation
All three thresher shark species have been recently listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

dtbushpilot - 4-24-2012 at 09:15 AM

Quote:

Conservation
All three thresher shark species have been recently listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

We're all vulnerable to extinction.....aren't we?

[Edited on 4-24-2012 by dtbushpilot]

Skipjack Joe - 4-24-2012 at 10:25 AM

Holy cow, how did he subdue that thing.

All in all a pity. He could have cut the line at the end.

A 2nd rate fisherman. One who places his own pleasure over the health of a species. He must have known the plight of the sharks. Make that a 3rd rate fisherman.

Thumbs up for the experience. Thumbs down for the fisherman.

P.S. Yes, it's an incredible shot. One I have witnessed at 16 and still remember. Huntington flats, half day boat, 1964.

[Edited on 4-24-2012 by Skipjack Joe]

willardguy - 4-24-2012 at 10:30 AM

do people still say "bite me"? :wow:

DENNIS - 4-24-2012 at 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by willardguy
do people still say "bite me"? :wow:

Not when the subject is sharks. :lol:

willardguy - 4-24-2012 at 10:39 AM

well said! :spingrin:

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 10:41 AM

Well said Igor!! When all the flames start coming in remember I'm on your side!!!

Bajajorge - 4-24-2012 at 10:42 AM

Now I know why I don't swim in the ocean. To much stuff in there that can kill ya.

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 10:45 AM

PS I've seen them jump freely several times at San Francisquito when dolphins and yellowfin tuna were around and I agree, the sight is unforgettable. And much better when there is no hook in their mouth. Excuse me now while I run for cover

bacquito - 4-24-2012 at 10:50 AM

Great photo, did the fisherman enjoy the meal?

Skipjack Joe - 4-24-2012 at 10:53 AM

Speaking of threshers, Ken,

Have you read anything why a shark would evolve to have such a huge tailfin. Is there some benefit,

I could research this on the net but if you know off the top of your head that would be best.

Of course we could speculate and that would be most enjoyable. It has to do with the hydrodynamics of pushing water, I bet.

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 11:12 AM

Igor all the shark experts I know say it must be related to water speed. The jumping ability comes from the water speed but is secondary. They are notoriously fast in the water and can chase down tuna, as this yellowfin discovered at San Francisquito:

Skipjack Joe - 4-24-2012 at 11:46 AM

I believe that mako's have a really prolonged tail and are considered to be one of the fastest fish in the ocean.

Remember "The Old Man and the Sea":

The first shark to show up is the mako. He kills it but there is a sense of respect. A brave fish. As he drifts closer to land the other sharks start on the marlin. For these he has nothing but contempt. Thieves and cowards. He fights back to complete exhaustion.

Barry A. - 4-24-2012 at 11:46 AM

-------is that the 'other half' hanging on the post, Ken??

(That had to be a big shark to make such a clean decap of that Tuna)

Barry

baitcast - 4-24-2012 at 12:32 PM

Igor the tail of a Mako looks just like GWS,caught a number of Makos,its said that the fastest is the Sailfish but the Mako is right there.

I,ve caught several Mako,a great jumper also and a speed burner but nasty, this picture is the first Mako if you look closely the side of his head is missing we had him alongside when this big brute came up and tried to eat my fish

.

Caught any number of grinner's on my old 16' Ryan,fished for sharks for many years and found it to be a enjoyable pastime. We always bought home the Mako and T-Sharks.

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Barry A.
-------is that the 'other half' hanging on the post, Ken??

(That had to be a big shark to make such a clean decap of that Tuna)

Barry

No Barry, we never saw the other half, we are pretty sure it went into the shark

We were working a big school of yellowfin below dolphins, and there were a lot of big threshers jumping. My son (in the picture) had a good hookup, when the line suddenly went slack and he reeled in the severed front half of the fish. We always assumed it was a thresher that took the yellowfin, they were there in good numbers and I don't know of any other animal big enough and fast enough to do that.

Cypress - 4-24-2012 at 12:59 PM

Only sharks , other than little dinks, I've ever caught/hooked were bull sharks and hammer heads. Those big hammer heads are tough critters. :yes:

Skipjack Joe - 4-24-2012 at 01:17 PM

Apparently the tail is also used to imobilize prey:

Thresher sharks use their huge tails to pursue and immobilise their prey during feeding, confirms a recent study based on video evidence.

The results of this study by Scott Aalbers, Diego Bernal and Chugey Sepulveda are published in a recent issue of the Journal of Fish Biology.

It has long been suspected that the very long caudal fins of thresher sharks (Alopias spp.) are not only used for generating thrust during swimming, but also have a role to play in feeding, as evidenced by the frequent hooking of thresher sharks in the tail using long-line gear.

The authors towed an underwater video camera behind a boat in the nearshore waters of southern California. Two lines baited with live chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) were towed behind the rearwards-facing camera and situated almost directly in front of the camera lens.

Over 27 days, the authors collected 650 minutes of digital video that included footage from 33 individual common thresher sharks (Alopias vulpinus).

The authors observed 14 of these 33 sharks attempting to strike the bait with their tails, successfully hitting them 65% of the time.

The sharks used two methods to achieve the strike: in the first method, they rapidly surged forward, undulating their bodies. This created a backwards-moving wave down their bodies that ended with a flick of the tail (this was the predominant method observed 17 times with a success rate of 47%).

The second method had the shark swimming next to the bait and striking it with a lateral flick of the tail (this was observed 12 times with a success rate of 92%).

For more information, see the paper: Aalbers, SA, D Bernal and CA Sepulveda (2010) The functional role of the caudal fin in the feeding ecology of the common thresher shark Alopias vulpinus. Journal of Fish Biology 76, pp. 1863–1868

castaway$ - 4-24-2012 at 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

All in all a pity. He could have cut the line at the end.

A 2nd rate fisherman. One who places his own pleasure over the health of a species. He must have known the plight of the sharks. Make that a 3rd rate fisherman.

Thumbs up for the experience. Thumbs down for the fisherman.

[Edited on 4-24-2012 by Skipjack Joe]

I have to disagree with you, theres nothing wrong with catching and keeping a little food for the table. People seem to tweek about sharks and marlin etc.... but you can't just take the other species and no predator fish if you we did the imbalance would not be healthy either. It's not like he killed more than he could consume, important point "more than needed for consumption". So I say bravo, first class fisherman and fish.
Commercials that just kill because they are bycatch thats the ones that need to reprimanded and kicked of the water for their reprehensible waste of the environment.

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 01:40 PM

Igor, baitcast is right, the mako tail is symmetrical and looks a lot like the white. Here's the only mako I have ever seen underwater. Sorry for the poor image but it happened very fast:

Cypress - 4-24-2012 at 01:52 PM

Ever see a school of Spinner Sharks moving through an area? Real spooky. :yes:

baitcast - 4-24-2012 at 03:57 PM

Speaking of sharks does anyone know that Hammerheads visit Southern Calif. from time to time they do unlike the Cortez where they are very common as well as Six and sevengill and Soupfin visit the beachs as well.

The picture is a Hammer I won a Seal Bch shark and ray derby from the Seal Bch jetty of all places,late afternoon,the first long run was straight out thru a bunch of sufers you should have seen them scatter,a long time ago!
Rob

bill erhardt - 4-24-2012 at 05:06 PM

Here's a pic of a mako that hit a wahoo lure on the tuna banks outside Mag Bay a couple of years ago:

mako.jpg - 40kB

bill erhardt - 4-24-2012 at 05:10 PM

And a hammerhead that took a mackerel intended for a yellowtail a couple of weeks ago:

The mako came aboard for removal of the hook on a $40 lure.
The hammerhead was hooked on a circle hook on mono. After the photo op, I took a couple of wraps on the leader and broke it at the knot, leaving the circle hook as a souvenir in the corner of the hammerhead's mouth.
Both were sent on their way.

[Edited on 4-25-2012 by bill erhardt]

[Edited on 4-25-2012 by bill erhardt]

thresher.jpg - 34kB

woody with a view - 4-24-2012 at 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajajorge
Now I know why I don't swim in the ocean. To much stuff in there that can kill ya.

have you ever walked thru the inner city neighborhoods?

baitcast - 4-24-2012 at 05:33 PM

Bill how did you deal with that nasty,here is my picture of the hammerhead at Seal Bch.

Imagine that dorsal going right thru those surfers.

[Edited on 4-25-2012 by baitcast]

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 05:44 PM

My preferred view of a hammerhead

willardguy - 4-24-2012 at 05:44 PM

well thats real nice bill. I can only assume you must be some kind of mindless senseless murderer. did you stop for a minute and think about putting this innocent mackeral (chloroscombrus chrysurus ) in harms way? I bet not! you know, the world conservation union(ICUN) list this magnificent creature on the almost vulnerable to maybe vulnerable to could be vulnerable list. obviously sir you have never been witness to the marvel of this majestic fish leaping out of the water chasing down the wily and elusive anchovie( engraulidae). bill I wish you could swim with these beautiful, intelligent, and all around nice guy of the fish world. how do you sleep at night?

bill erhardt - 4-24-2012 at 05:48 PM

Baitcast.....With great care.
Ken.....That is a beautiful shot of a hammerhead.

And, here is the baleful eye of a thresher that made its way to the dinner table:

thresher2.jpg - 36kB

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 05:56 PM

Thank you Bill, that was from Galapagos. Wow the thresher eye is HUGE!

baitcast - 4-24-2012 at 06:09 PM

Ken that picture was nearly 50 years old,times and attitudes have changed alot,but they still taste good :lol:

Rob

elizabeth - 4-24-2012 at 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Well said Igor!! When all the flames start coming in remember I'm on your side!!!

Me, too!

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by baitcast
Ken that picture was nearly 50 years old,times and attitudes have changed alot,but they still taste good :lol:

Rob

I completely understand Rob. While I don't like seeing any shark killed, I have no real gripe with hook and line fishermen. They do not make much of an impact on the population. It's the finning operations and the longliners that are doing the damage.

[Edited on 4-25-2012 by Ken Bondy]

baitcast - 4-24-2012 at 06:36 PM

That big eye reminded me of grunion runs in Calif.everyone would be running around chasing the grunion but I and my buds would have your rods at the ready,always looking for other things that would be chasing the little fish as well such as halibut,yellowfin croakers and small T-Shark pups an a few times I swear I saw those eyes with a flashlight as they came flying thru the little fish.
Rob

Skipjack Joe - 4-24-2012 at 07:13 PM

Ken,

Again, in keeping with my interests. Any idea why a head like that would evolve. What do your friends say. What possible advantage. Can you imagine a progressive change from the basic form to that. I can't. Must be from an older origin.

I seem to remember aliens in star wars that used the hammerhead as a model.

Ken Bondy - 4-24-2012 at 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Ken,

Again, in keeping with my interests. Any idea why a head like that would evolve. What do your friends say. What possible advantage. Can you imagine a progressive change from the basic form to that. I can't. Must be from an older origin.

I seem to remember aliens in star wars that used the hammerhead as a model.

Igor my shark friends say there are two evolutionary reasons for the shape of the hammerhead head, first an airfoil that creates additional lift. In aviation terms it's called a "cunard" (sp??) Second, it improves vision by getting the eyes farther apart.

Pompano - 4-30-2012 at 01:46 PM

This shark video was just sent to me...and I would like to share it with all. Watch it all, the first part is like a screen-saver, but the second half is quite remarkable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=WK2LpUoqX6A&vq=medi...

Ateo - 4-30-2012 at 02:09 PM

Pompano, that video was very interesting.............

Maybe we're seeing the first step in the evolution of man shark relationships. :yes:

Maybe in 400 years they won't kill us and we won't kill them!!

There were moments that appeared to be foreplay in my book.

Again, thanks for sharing. :bounce:

Skipjack Joe - 4-30-2012 at 04:01 PM

I was a bit turned off by this interpretation of events: a toreador of sharks. With all the bravado and conquest implied.

I saw the original research on a television program and liked it more.

baitcast - 5-1-2012 at 09:50 AM

Whoa! Like to see him try it with a few Mako,they don' take small bites :lol: