Mako shark caught in UK waters

I was reading the news paper today and came across an article regarding a fisherman (rod and line) who caught a Mako shark off the coast of cornwall in the UK. "Caught off Cornwall, a baby killer shark" was the title. Apparently Mako's havnt been seen in the Atlantic around Britain for over 20 years and people say that it is most likely due to the rising temperatures in the atlantic as a result of global warming. Now i dont know much about shark behaviour but in this news paper it describes how very aggressive Makos often are and that they are..."a very dangerous fish". The newspaper in question is reputable and is not one that prints such things without good reason. But i must say i have to be sceptacle in this case. The article goes onto say how Makos , when caught on rod and line, actually throw themselves into the boat whereafter they attack the angler (s). This particular species was said to be a short fin Mako. Are Makos really this aggressive?

Anyway apparently Makos dont swim close to shore, but the article says that they often attack divers. I am not worried at all personally , although i am interested in what you guys have to say...especially any biologists which may be online. Cheers

Hi Frog,

Both long and short fin makos represent the fastest & most sophisticated genus of carnivorous pelagic shark on the planet. They also get darn large. Pound for pound, the mako is probably the most vigorous and powerful of sharks. They are close relatives of the great white.

While they are aggressive & have been known to attack boats, the shark attack files show that they are only very rarely involved in attacks on scuba divers. Bulls & tigers are much more worrisome. BTW, the story you are referring to seems to be a one shot deal that occured in 1988 off western Australia.

Nonetheless, if I was spearfishing & saw one I'd surely drop any catch & move out smartly.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

Hey Frog,

I saw something on TV here in the US recently saying Makos can attain speeds of up to 50mph underwater -- incredible. They had an underwater camera being towed at fast speeds with some bait fish attached. It was kind of scary to watch the Mako hit the fish -- swooping in like a jet fighter and then verring off after taking a bite. I guess some marine scientists believe that the Mako is the fastest fish in the ocean.

There are a few charter boats here in the Northeast US that run shark dive charters where they put out a chum slick and put divers in the water to watch the show. At a Boston-area dive show back in March I listened to a presentation by the Mass Dept. of Fisheries about sharks in New England waters...they were showing slides and discussing some recent outings on one of these charter boats. They go out about 30-40 miles to the edge of the continental shelf and encounter mainly blue, mako, and basking sharks. They discussed how when Makos are spotted, the tension level rises at least a few notches, given their speed, agressiveness and habit for "sneaking up on you". One other point they made was that the sizes and number of the Makos they have been seeing has been going down in recent years.

One unrelated point -- there have been some pretty big Makos caught off of New England during the last 3-4 years. The attached link shows 2 of these -- both over 10 feet long and in excess of 1,000 pounds. Luckily these guys (or girls, as the case maybe, since it appears that the biggest females are 2x as big as the biggest males) stay mainly in deep water ;-)

Just to warn you -- this web site (newenglandsharks.com), although quite informative, has more of a fishing focus vs. marine life preservation. As a result, you see lots of sharks that have been caught and not released. The guy who runs the site does have a healthy respect for marine life and provides a wealth of detailed information on various shark species, but he is a fisherman at heart.

Enjoy!

http://www.newenglandsharks.com/shortfin.htm

Oops -- need to convert to metric -- that would be speeds of 83 km/hour underwater ;-)

We use Mph in the UK too LD. Since you brought it up, the fastest fish according to "Steve Leonoerds Ultimate Killers" wildlife programe on british television is the black marlin which can swim at speeds in excess of 80 mph (yup miles per hour not kmph). As for the "quickest burst of speed that gos to the barracuda according to this TV programme, 0-60mph in half a second. Erm 6 times faster than a formula 1 car :/

click on the relavent animal
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/ultimate_killers/prog1.shtml

So that's where my pet "Chopper" got to.....
Just you wait till I get you home Chopper...Why I outta......
Get back here right now Finned Ears,
Your dad,
The gasman..
(ya can't take a pet anywhere nowadays!)
:fury:

Haha, Frog- I doubt the makos are actually attacking the fisherman when they jump on the boat. They do, however, violently thrash around and, yes, jump quite high out of the water when hooked. Often, they may land in the boat by accident.
As for large makos, this past summer a 10 ft female was caught less than 50 miles off the coast of southern Nova Scotia, so they aren't that far out! ( this story has been discussed in depth in the preservation section of the forum, so I won't go into it againg here!)
In any case, they have been shown to be highly unpredictable, so whether there are large nmbers of recorded atacks or not, I wouldn't disregard this animal for any reason.

I remember reading about a large barracuda that was landed on a boat. Thing thrashed around so much it managed to bite a fisherman in the neck and he bled out. That sucks.

Check out www.ISAF.com for very detailed, scientifically solid info on the relative dangers of sharks and diving.

It really ain't all Jaws, down there

Sincerely Santa

I saw a video on TV with a woman who was deathly afraid of boats and being on the ocean. Well, her husband and girl friend finally talked her into going. They were out doing some fishing when said woman hooked into a barracuda....a BIG barracuda! When she got it near the boat, it launched itself out of the water, and bit her twice. It severed her femural artery, and she was air lifted to a nearby hospital. Fortunately they were able to control the bleeding! I reckon her fears were founded.

I had a buddy that was a diver in the Navy. He told me that he was diving in Subic Bay and blinked his eyes and there was a three ft. barracuda in front of his face. He blinked again and it disappeared. DAMN! I think I better start taking more artificial tears along....

Jack

archman:

I remember reading about a large barracuda that was landed on a boat. Thing thrashed around so much it managed to bite a fisherman in the neck and he bled out. That sucks.

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