Sharks in the Sound

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CD_in_Chitown

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
1,147
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Location
Chicagoland (SW Burbs)
# of dives
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Dove out at West Seattle last night with some friends of friends as all my regular dive buddies are in Florida for DEMA or packing for a Thursday flight to Hawaii the lucky buggers, we dropped down to some structure at about 85 fsw where there is known to be a good concentration of fishlife and invertebrates, nice nudis and hermit crabs usually seen here. Joking about it on the way out we mentioned that many sightings of Six-gill sharks have been in this location this summer (joking because the six-gill doesn’t spend much time in shallow water, and it’s getting a little late in the season). Once we arrived at the destination I looked to the north and saw a 6-7 footer broadside to us turning to swim away, I flashed my lights at the three divers with me and considered giving chase. Didn’t for two reasons, odds of catching up with the shark being slim and the uncertain looks from one of our companions, and just contented myself with the sighting. (I know several divers who have dove the sound for years and not seen one, others have caught a 5-30 second glimpse of one.)

I looked back in the direction the shark had taken and saw her turning back, and swim right for us. This shark swam right into the middle of our group. Cutting between me and the others, as I had sort of pulled a few feet in that direction, and then circling us three or four times. Swimming below us, then darting up over our heads and arching back over itself leveling out about head height and circling again. So close I could have touched it on several occasions. Swimming up face to face with one of the group, so close at one point I wondered whether shark skin was more abrasive than trilam is resilient. The shark finally settled to the bottom with it’s head under one of the steel I-beams that make up the structure in the area and we all just kind of gawked in awe at the sight. This is very uncharacteristic of these sharks, they are reclusive and avoid contact by most accounts. We just marveled at the docile nature of the shark as she circled near all of us and settled in to what appeared to be a nap. We spent a good three minutes swimming around this monster until air supply forced us to begin our ascent toward shallower water, you'd be surprised how fast some folks breathe through it in the presence of such a beautiful creature. She was still lying still on the bottom as we swam away.

Oh and we saw four red octopus out in the open, sailfin sculpin, warbonnets, stuff that usually does it for me but paled in comparison last night.

Dive safe,
Chris
 
How awesome! Is "six-gill" the actual name of the shark? I haven't heard of that one.

Hey, how is the diving in Seattle in general? Thanks.

Jeremy
 
What a treat, I've made numerous dives in Puget Sound and have yet to see a six gill. What dive site were you diving? We were diving at Sechrist last fall, during our surface interval several people contacted us about a great white that was caught in the area. Apparently it made the local papers , I later heard it was doubtfull that it was a GW.
 
We were at Seacrest Park in Cove 2, it's a nice little park for being within minutes of downtown. The diving in the Puget Sound is really incredible, there's tons of shore dives on walls, artificial reefs (none like the reefs of BC), and sand slopes, along with tons of good boat dive spots. We need more boat charters out here IMHO.

The six-gill is commonly called Bluntnose six-gill shark, scientific name Hexanchus griseus. They are apparently quite curious (I've learned more since the original post) but do seem to be a rare sighting, and no one I know has ever seen one lie still like that.
 
during our surface interval several people contacted us about a great white that was caught in the area.

CH2Od-
They believe that the supposed great white was a salmon shark. It was spotted on a couple of other occasions around the Tacoma Narrows just after the initial sighting. Evidently the two sharks are similar in appearance, I'm not real familiar with the salmon shark.

Congrats CD, I've only had one experience with a 6 gill and it was one of my greatest dives ever!

wn
 
wingnut once bubbled...


CH2Od-
They believe that the supposed great white was a salmon shark. It was spotted on a couple of other occasions around the Tacoma Narrows just after the initial sighting. Evidently the two sharks are similar in appearance, I'm not real familiar with the salmon shark.

wn

I've never heard of a salmon shark, will have to look into that. Thanks
 
Scientific Name - "Lamna ditropis"

The Salmon Shark is also known as the Pacific Porbeagle. It gets to about 10 feet max and is usually found offshore. It could be mistaken for a great white maybe....it has similar countershading. It is dark above and whitish below, sometimes with dark blotches on the underside. Big differences definitely are that the Great White can get to 21+ feet and the P. Porbeagle is maxed at 10 ft. The two sharks' heads are shaped differently as well. The Porbeagle's head is more angled down where the Great White's head is more pointed forward. Hope this helps! :)
 
NatureDiver once bubbled...
Scientific Name - "Lamna ditropis"

The Salmon Shark is also known as the Pacific Porbeagle. It gets to about 10 feet max and is usually found offshore. It could be mistaken for a great white maybe....it has similar countershading. It is dark above and whitish below, sometimes with dark blotches on the underside. Big differences definitely are that the Great White can get to 21+ feet and the P. Porbeagle is maxed at 10 ft. The two sharks' heads are shaped differently as well. The Porbeagle's head is more angled down where the Great White's head is more pointed forward. Hope this helps! :)

I did a search and found a picture of a salmon shark. I'd hate to have one be po'd at me. :)
 
There is some excellent footage of salmon Sharks on the Blue Planet series of DVD's. I believe it is on the Temperate seas DVD. They look alot like Great Whites to me but are much smaller. They have similar teeth anyway you look at it.

Searun
 

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