Straight of Georgia Shark Species

[adanac]

Hey guys, just wondering what species you guys have encounterd in the Straight of Georgia other than the typical dogfish? The reason that im posting this is that today just off Thraser around noon we witnessed a large animal splashing on the surface, about 60 feet off our starboard side. At first we thought it was a seal until it rose to the surface again and you could clearly make out a shark shaped dorsal and tailfin sticking out of the water roughly 4 feet fin to fin. This was 100 percent not a porpise or whale. I have heard plenty about salmon sharks from the WCVI and up north, but has anyone witnessed any in the lower straight of Georgia?

Thanks,
Adanac

 

[Haze]

Last year during the sockeye run I caught two sharks at Sonora Island both on the same day, both about 4-5 feet with a heavy body and fairly wide girth. A fellow buddy had a salmon eaten of his line on the same occasion. I had never seen one before so I had to describe it to my west coast buddies who confirmed my thoughts...salmon shark. No it's not common around here but I wouldn't rule it out either.

 

[beemer]

Most likely a 6 or 7 gill shark. The juvenile males usually come up from the depths to feed on salmon at this time of the year. You don't generally see them at the surface so that is pretty cool. Great whites do regularily cruise our waters , but are rarely seen at the surface.

beemer

www.killerwhale.ca

 

[Lipripper]

6 or 7 gills wouldn't prolly wouldn't chase a salmon even on a hook...

On the inside it could be a salmon shark more than likely.......... It might be too cold for the Blues/Threshers on the inside (too far from the warm current)


Great whites are not out of the realm of possibility up here too


Charks are fun to catch

 

[trendsetter]

My guess would be a six gill too. That's the only shark I've seen other than dogfish around here. If it was on the surface it was probably injured or sick. But I'm no expert.

 

[fishin_magician]

Hey guys, just wondering what species you guys have encounterd in the Straight of Georgia other than the typical dogfish? The reason that im posting this is that today just off Thraser around noon we witnessed a large animal splashing on the surface, about 60 feet off our starboard side. At first we thought it was a seal until it rose to the surface again and you could clearly make out a shark shaped dorsal and tailfin sticking out of the water roughly 4 feet fin to fin. This was 100 percent not a porpise or whale. I have heard plenty about salmon sharks from the WCVI and up north, but has anyone witnessed any in the lower straight of Georgia?

Thanks,
Adanac

We saw it too. It was a Salmon Shark I think...I've had several up close dealings with them.......and it was definitely much larger than 4 feet. Definitely had some good girth to him. Was probably about a 6 footer. There are a few around in the Lower Strait....we'll see more than a few of them when the pinks show up off the mouth of the Fraser. I had a few pieces of gear and a couple of fish bit off in 2009 when the Pinks showed up.

One of my fellow guides had a fish in the high teens bitten off today and another guide in the last week had another one bit off.

 

[MILLERTIME]

Always wondered why we don't have Great White sharks here. It is the perfect environment for them especially with all those fat lazy Harbor seals. I was told by somebody that the Killer Whales kill them for various reasos not least of which is that they are a threat to young Whales and dead Great White sharks don't float they sink. There is everything here for Great White sharks to thrive except one thing Killer Whales.
Thanks for the link Holmes.

 

[Dogbreath]

Always wondered why we don't have Great White sharks here. It is the perfect environment for them especially with all those fat lazy Harbor seals. I was told by somebody that the Killer Whales kill them for various reasos not least of which is that they are a threat to young Whales and dead Great White sharks don't float they sink. There is everything here for Great White sharks to thrive except one thing Killer Whales.

In Gone Fishing shop in Port Alberni there used to be a pic of a Great White netted off the mouth of the Fraser back in the 70's sometime.

 

[FishBC.org]

Always wondered why we don't have Great White sharks here. It is the perfect environment for them especially with all those fat lazy Harbor seals. I was told by somebody that the Killer Whales kill them for various reasos not least of which is that they are a threat to young Whales and dead Great White sharks don't float they sink. There is everything here for Great White sharks to thrive except one thing Killer Whales.
Thanks for the link Holmes.

If you do some serious research, and digging back to old records, you'll learn that over 30 times in BC has there been documented evidence of confirmed Great White Shark, many in the QCI (HG) area, but also many around the island. Evidence ranges from teeth embedded in deflated buoys, to beached carcasses, to live sightings. I honestly would speculate that there are many more out here that have not been seen, nor documented, and they're actually probably more common than people might think. GW sharks have a warmer core body temperature than most sharks do, enabling them to enter cooler waters in chase of warm blooded prey. 6 and 7 gill sharks do not have a prominent dorsal fin that is typical for when people think "shark", and looks different both in height, and size / placement than a typical shark's dorsal. They are also generally a deeper water shark. My guess is Salmon Shark or Young White.

 

[MILLERTIME]

Killer whale attacks on Great White sharks have been documented off the coast of California.[SS6NjdGLVZs] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS6NjdGLVZs

 

[Prawnhunter]

We do get blue sharks on the inside when then the salmon are moving threw......they are pretty easy to pick out with the blueish color back. In the late 80's - 90's there was a report of a great white off tribune bay.....2 years ago a friend of mine was long lining off dixons entrance and hooked a great white around 12-13'.

 

[adanac]

Thanks for the replys guys. Some pretty cool stuff out there people dont realize swim in our waters.

 

[Seafever]

Saw a Thresher shark off Hornby Island one time when I was SCUBA diving. Seen lots of Sixgills off there also.

 

[Charter Tofino]

Have never heard of any confirmed salmon, blue or thresher shark in the straight so its pretty cool if you saw one. I often get dogfish that will bite shakers in half if i drag them to long as shown in the pic below. A bit different than having a teener chomped in half though. If anyone has a larger salmon bit in half you should try to take some pics as it would be awsome to see. We were at big bank last week and had what we think was a salmon shark about 4 feet that would chase some salmon up to the boat. We actually got one on film but due to the glare on the water you cant see it.

 

[Peahead]

If you do some serious research, and digging back to old records, you'll learn that over 30 times in BC has there been documented evidence of confirmed Great White Shark, many in the QCI (HG) area, but also many around the island. Evidence ranges from teeth embedded in deflated buoys, to beached carcasses, to live sightings. I honestly would speculate that there are many more out here that have not been seen, nor documented, and they're actually probably more common than people might think. GW sharks have a warmer core body temperature than most sharks do, enabling them to enter cooler waters in chase of warm blooded prey. 6 and 7 gill sharks do not have a prominent dorsal fin that is typical for when people think "shark", and looks different both in height, and size / placement than a typical shark's dorsal. They are also generally a deeper water shark. My guess is Salmon Shark or Young White.

The salmоn shark, Lamna ditropis, is a shark species occurring in the north рacific оcean. As an аpex predator, the salmоn shark fееds on salmon, аnd also on
squid, sablеfish, and herring. Salmon shark are remarkable for their аbility to maintain bоdy tеmpеraturе, known аs homeothermy, and an as-yеt uneхplained vаriаbility
in the sex ratio between the eastern north pacific and western north paсifiс.

Adult salmon sharks arе medium grey to black оver most of the body, with a whitе underside with darker blotches. Juveniles arе similar in appearanсe but generally
lack blotches. The snout is shоrt and cone-shaped, аnd the overall appearance is similar to a small great whitе shark.

Salmon shark generаlly grow to between 200 and 260 сm in length and weigh up to 220 kg.

The above was from: http://topgoogletrends.netcashdaily.net/tag/salmon-shark

 

[Sushihunter]

There was a big 6 Gill shark (1400 lbs) that washed up on shore in Garden Bay at Pender Harbour just a few days ago. There were photos of published online.

It was alive, but died before DFO could show up.

 

[cohochinook]

My friend Steve Apple made a fishing movie called "Hustle and Fish" by Roll Cast Productions. In the movie they fly to Valdez, Alaska and go up the coast in attempt to catch a Salmon Shark on fly. They do get one, but not on fly. It put up a pretty incredible fight. Here's the website for the video http://www.rollcastproductions.com/