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Posted: 01-06-2013 10:44 Post subject: In British Waters

While not a mystery species, a 300lb Tuna was recently caught just off Devon. While this may have been a monster fish that got lost after chasing a shoal of mackerel, local fisherman are reporting a rise in more exotic species and claim there are now Great White Sharks patrolling our waters.

http://www.dragoncarpdirect.com/fishonfriday/2013/05/monster-300lb-tuna-caught-off-devon/

Posted: 01-06-2013 18:46 Post subject:

Now that is interesting. A few years ago there was an hour long special on BBC on whether the great white was a visitor to our waters. No conclusion though.

Posted: 02-06-2013 10:57 Post subject:

While not a great White but a Porbeagle, it's still a big shark caught last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebjE8niF8qw

There are reported sightings of Great White going back years. It'll be worth keeping an eye on the waves this summer.

Posted: 02-06-2013 21:54 Post subject:

Porbeagle are very closely related to white sharks, they're almost like little fun size versions. They're apparently quite common around here.

Another thing that was in our local press a few years ago was a string of reports of a white in the bay, it's hard to know what to think as though as there are regular basking sharks about, apparently the sight of their dorsal fins often stimulate reports of great whites.

Posted: 02-06-2013 23:49 Post subject:

We have large populations of gray seals and common seals so great whites could easily live in our waters.

Posted: 03-06-2013 18:45 Post subject:

We've got a fair amount of seals round Gower. I'm stll not convinced that, in my area at least, there'd be enough to warrant a visit from a great white, but I'd bloody love it if they did.

Posted: 20-07-2013 22:16 Post subject:

I hope no one minds me posting this, it may turn into something mundane, but this 'discovery' a few weeks ago on Blackpool beach has me stumped, I thought i'd pop it in here because it doesn't look like a common native to me.

Its the barbs/ spines (the round pieces of skeleton you can see on the skin and along the tail, they havent come out too clearly in the photo) that piqued my curiosity, this is the only picture i took, does anyone have any ideas, i'm too curious not to want to know.

It smelt bad and the tide was giong out.
Thank you in advance

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/romie1976/image_zps96de5d71.jpg

Posted: 20-07-2013 22:31 Post subject:

Looks terrible Smile

Got an approximate size for it?

Posted: 20-07-2013 22:52 Post subject:

Naughtily

I didnt pay much attention to size, i'm guessing it was about 20inches

Posted: 20-07-2013 23:15 Post subject:

Posted: 20-07-2013 23:26 Post subject:

Thank you

Yes, I do mean the ones next to the hole, you can also see a few peeping through the sand that has settled on some of the skin around the other side of the body.
There appear to be many on the tail section
I do have a higher resolution photo but its at home and I am not.

Posted: 20-07-2013 23:56 Post subject:

Posted: 21-07-2013 00:47 Post subject:

I'm home, hope these help a little
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/romie1976/image_zps0de56faf.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/romie1976/image_zps2cf9859d.jpg

A shark would make some sense, I'd been searching barbs, spines etc but getting no where

Posted: 21-07-2013 12:05 Post subject:

Those barbs set in round sockets look like the rotating hooks that are on a very large squid, but the presence of so much cartilage in there does suggest shark.
I'm wondering if it's a dead shark with part of a squid's tentacle wrapped round it (or something like that).

Or it could be a dead baby Cthulhu.

Posted: 21-07-2013 12:17 Post subject:

OK, I found out that some cartilaginous structures are present in some squid, so I think it's possible that some of that cartilage may be squid.