Great White Shark caught off Tulum

[parrotheaddiver]

Found this on the Cozumel insider


Tulum fishermen captured a nearly three meter long Great White weighing more than 200 kilos less than a kilometer from the beach. It was caught in 180 meters of water. There could be more, although their presence is unusual for these waters. Australia is noted for these terrible predators. The shark taken was young. Adults reach nearly nine meters and half a metric ton. It showed marks of having been attacked, and the residents of the coast have seen the shadows of two or three sharks together which could confirm the presence of others. They come up to shallower waters to feed at night, and this species will attack anything that moves. They are attracted by the smell of blood.

 

[Canucklehead]

If this is true, don't let my wife know. There's no way she'd want my son or me diving in Cozumel....

In any case, guess I better not assume that all the sharks I see there are nurse sharks.

 

[5615mike]

There Goes The Neighborhood!

 

[ggunn]

Found this on the Cozumel insider


Tulum fishermen captured a nearly three meter long Great White weighing more than 200 kilos less than a kilometer from the beach. It was caught in 180 meters of water. There could be more, although their presence is unusual for these waters. Australia is noted for these terrible predators. The shark taken was young. Adults reach nearly nine meters and half a metric ton. It showed marks of having been attacked, and the residents of the coast have seen the shadows of two or three sharks together which could confirm the presence of others. They come up to shallower waters to feed at night, and this species will attack anything that moves. They are attracted by the smell of blood.

Anyone who fishes the waters off the Yucatan probably knows that there are big pelagic sharks around there. A few years ago, my sister's husband was fighting a good sized white marlin when suddenly the line went slack. He thought he'd lost the fish, but reeling the line in there was a lot more resistance than there would have been from a broken line or a bare hook. When he got the line reeled in he had a piece of a white marlin; just the head. It was bitten clean off about 6 inches behind the gill plates. Big shark.

I myself was on a boat in a school of smallish blackfin tuna right off the quarry, and I had one on, when suddenly it felt like I hooked a freight train. Whatever it was tore a couple hundred yards of line off the reel straight down in about 30 seconds and then broke the line. Big shark.

 

[5615mike]

Big Shark....................bad!

 

[Sooner1]

So....any news on the 2 or 3 others people have seen? I thought sharks were pretty rare around Cozumel. My wife will be there in a couple of weeks I just hope she doesn't see this story.

 

[Natasha]

Found this on the Cozumel insider


Tulum fishermen captured a nearly three meter long Great White weighing more than 200 kilos less than a kilometer from the beach. It was caught in 180 meters of water. There could be more, although their presence is unusual for these waters. Australia is noted for these terrible predators. The shark taken was young. Adults reach nearly nine meters and half a metric ton. It showed marks of having been attacked, and the residents of the coast have seen the shadows of two or three sharks together which could confirm the presence of others. They come up to shallower waters to feed at night, and this species will attack anything that moves. They are attracted by the smell of blood.

Wow! Thanks for posting. I'd love to see one! I'll be there in 11 days. I might even finally pee in my wet suit if I saw one! Oh God did I say that?
:winky:

 

[5615mike]

Sharks are not all that uncommon around Coz but GW's certainly are not something exciting to wake up to for the start of your day! Sharks are not bad as a rule, Bulls, White Tips and GW's...............I can do without.

 

[Titletowndiver]

For what its worth....

I emailed some friends who work at a dive op in Tulum, They said they (as well as many of the other locals) haven't heard anything about this "alleged" great white. She also stated that rumors such as these are very common.

Who knows...... If its on the 'net it must be true, right?? **COUGH COUGH**

 

[docmartin]

Found this on the Cozumel insider


...this species will attack anything that moves. They are attracted by the smell of blood.

i don't want to make them sound too cute but it is simply not true that they attack anything that moves. plenty of divers have had encounters with great whites and can still tell the tale. just last season in new jersey a couple of divers had a great white encounter. in other parts of the world it is obviously more common. in south africa a few people actually snorkel with them regularly. furthermore, a small great white as the one described, is still very much a fish eater (as opposed to seals etc.). danger to humans, therefore, is minimal. i am not saying they are harmless pups but they are also not mass murderers. doing some research on the subject actually reveals that there are extremely few great white attacks on divers. just don't wear your surf gear