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Truly Giant Sharks

Mikefule said:
. The point is that fish etc. do not scare easily, and I doubt that the electrical pulses, light and sound associated with searching for megalodon (or other species) are a major problem.[/COLOR]
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I exit thread ;)
 
Mikefule said:
As a canoeist, I've often had anglers complain that I will "scare the fish". As a former diver, I have often got within inches of perch, pike, roach and other species (in freshwater) and all manner of marine fish. I was using an aqualung releasing large and loud packets of air bubbles, and I was shining a torch bright enough to hurt a person's eyes from a few metres away. I had friends who used electric cameras with flash to take close ups of fish.
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Respectfully, they're probably right with respect to canoeing.

It varies with fish to fish and also to the level and frequency with which they are exposed to the potential scare and also to the extent said stimulus is followed by an unpleasant event.

While it might be the case that fish watch a diver with apparent indifference, it's absolutely the case that some fish species vanish as the least background bank-side movement or disturbance - chub, for example, are very shy, melting away at a careless movement, carp that are not habitually exposed to anglers, feral one might say, are likewise and often the only sight you get is the swirl as it bolts. Perch, large ones, are also wary of bankside movements and sudden surface disturbances. Pike will generally mosey off if they spot an angler and if you move too fast, will also bolt, often too fast to see exactly where, just leaving an eddy of silt.

I've in all these cases seen the fish and seen them remove itself from my presence. I've even snuck up on said carp/chub/pike and then suddenly waved my arms...off they go...I've done the same experiment by stamping my foot and that'll do it as well.
 
Signs...

What eats 3m long great white sharks at 4 a.m?


And, for good measure, the footage from 2008 of that probable giant of a sleeper shark in Suruga Bay. The Japanese commentary gives an estimate of seven metres (22 feet), based on the size of the lobster traps in the shot.

 
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The attacked shark was 3m not 9.

Does anyone understand enough Japanese to say whether they estimate the size of the sleeper shark? It looks enormous but nothing to compare it to.
 
hunck said:
The attacked shark was 3m not 9.

Does anyone understand enough Japanese to say whether they estimate the size of the sleeper shark? It looks enormous but nothing to compare it to.
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Sorry, that was a straight typing error--I'm looking at a lot of big sharks and numbers!

The estimate is included in my text, but the figure may be influenced by the earlier giant Pacific Sleeper spotted in 1989 (they guess it's the same specimen)

Most records, however, are from water deeper than 780 feet (240 metres). In September 1989, a large female Pacific Sleeper — estimated to be 23 feet (7 metres) long — was filmed from the viewing ports of a submersible at a depth of 4,000 feet (1,220 metres) off Saruga Bay, Japan. Another large individual — estimated to be between 16 to 26 feet (5 to 8 metres) in length — was photographed by a robot camera at a depth of 6,300 feet (1,920 metres) off Oahu, Hawaii. Neptune only knows how much deeper Pacific Sleepers can go.​

http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/deepsea-pacific_sleeper.htm
 
Yithian said:
What eats 3m long great white sharks at 4 a.m?
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I remember hearing this discussed, I think it was by Darren Naish. He pointed out that there's no direct evidence that the shark was eaten, just that the tag passed through an animal, apparently they're known for snapping iff all the time.

She might have just shaken her own tag off then swallowed it.
 
oldrover said:
I remember hearing this duscussed, I think it was by Darren Naish. He pointed out that there's no direct evidence that the shark was eaten, just that the tag passed through an animal, apparently they're known for snapping iff all the time.

She might have just shaken her own tag off then swallowed it.
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Possible, but the rapid descent immediately prior?
 
Yithian said:
Possible, but the rapid descent immediately prior?
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Perhaps this behaviour is just something sharks are into? But the temperature increase happened during the dive so whatever swallowed the tag/ate the shark did so at that depth, and presumably may not have been connected to the initial reason for the descent.

But if it was the whole shark that was eaten, the best candidate is another larger whute shark. Especually as the can get to twice the length of the one in question.
 
Fisherman catches giant shark -- just as something even bigger takes a bite

While fishing for small shark off the coast of New South Wales, Trapman Bermagui, also known as Jason, hooked a bronze whaler shark, which was promptly eaten by a colossal mako.

Before the huge shark could be hauled in, however, it fell prey to an even bigger creature, which devoured all but the mako shark's head.
"We didn't see what ate the mako," Jason told CNN, estimating that the intact shark would have weighed "at least" 250 kilograms (550 pounds). The head alone weighed about 100 kilograms (220 pounds), he said.

When the crew cut the meat from the mako's head, they found another surprise: the detached bill of a marlin, embedded into the flesh, which Jason speculated was the result of "a battle years ago." The find highlighted the "amazing healing powers of the shark," he wrote on Facebook.

Looking at the size of the shark -- and the bite taken out of it -- it's tempting to speculate that the mighty mako fell victim to some gargantuan ocean predator, one better suited to a Hollywood disaster movie.
That might not have been the case, however. Jason speculated that the culprit was a tiger shark, telling CNN: "There's so many around at the moment."

Tiger sharks are among the largest sharks in the ocean, according to Australia's Great Barrier Reef Foundation, growing to 10-16 feet long and weighing 800-1,500 pounds.

Continued:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/29/australia/australia-shark-fisherman-scli-intl/

190329124441-australia-shark-fisherman-exlarge-169.jpg
 
I was watching a shark documentary recently that says they're basically an endangered species because of over-fishing. So please, don't eat shark, make sure your pet food and cosmetics don't contain shark, because pretty soon they won't be around. There's been a 90% drop in numbers over the past two or three decades. It's not a catastrophe about to happen, it's a catastrophe happening now.
 
Sharks are fucked, their turn now, our turn later.
 
Coal said:
Respectfully, they're probably right with respect to canoeing.

It varies with fish to fish and also to the level and frequency with which they are exposed to the potential scare and also to the extent said stimulus is followed by an unpleasant event.

While it might be the case that fish watch a diver with apparent indifference, it's absolutely the case that some fish species vanish as the least background bank-side movement or disturbance - chub, for example, are very shy, melting away at a careless movement, carp that are not habitually exposed to anglers, feral one might say, are likewise and often the only sight you get is the swirl as it bolts. Perch, large ones, are also wary of bankside movements and sudden surface disturbances. Pike will generally mosey off if they spot an angler and if you move too fast, will also bolt, often too fast to see exactly where, just leaving an eddy of silt.

I've in all these cases seen the fish and seen them remove itself from my presence. I've even snuck up on said carp/chub/pike and then suddenly waved my arms...off they go...I've done the same experiment by stamping my foot and that'll do it as well.
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Possible reason for using descretion while trout fishing the stream. It's claimed a large wiley brown will spook if one spots your shadow.
 
Yithian said:
Signs...

What eats 3m long great white sharks at 4 a.m?


And, for good measure, the footage from 2008 of that probable giant of a sleeper shark in Suruga Bay. The Japanese commentary gives an estimate of seven metres (22 feet), based on the size of the lobster traps in the shot.

Click to expand...

I remember reading that and was thinking it was more likely a dispute with another shark, bit off the fin or at least the bit with the tag in and swallowed that rather than the whole shark
 
Yithian said:
An interesting account from 1899 of a roughly 40ft-basking shark killing five. Interesting because, if accurate, it was damned big (they average 20-26ft), but also because they are largely placid. As you will see, this one was grievously provoked.

(Read the newspaper report on the second page):

http://www.sharkattackfile.net/spreadsheets/pdf_directory/1899.08.23.R-BaskingShark-Monterey.pdf
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I think, like many animals the maximum size is far bigger that the maximum measured size.Also in the past with lest disturbance, animals grew to these sizes more often.
 
Curiously not attacking. Must be old and slow and has a full belly.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Curiously not attacking. Must be old and slow and has a full belly.
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Sharks very rarely attack humans, they much prefer fish to eat. Most, if not all, attacks by sharks on people are out of the sharks' curiosity and depletion of their fish stocks due to chronic global overfishing.
 
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