Tuesday, July 04, 2006

WHAT freakish species is THAT??




HELP! Can anyone identify the sharks my son caught in the surf at Doheny Beach 2 weeks ago?? The first one is a pup. Most fishermen on the beach said it was a Sand shark, and I thought it was a Bull because there is an estruary down the beach at San Juan creek where Bull shark pup nursery is...After Googling up an image of Bull shark pup, it is definitely NOT a Bull...So what species is it??

As for the weird looking one above...It looked like a cross breed of a skate (sting ray type of fish) and a shark...Not far-fetched considering that skates belong to the shark family. After some research, it seems to be a Sandskate Shark. The physical description seems to fit...Top half resembles that of a skate...Eyes on top, wings on side, the bottom has a tail with double dorsal fins (back) and caudal fins (side) and characteristic shark tail fin. Sort of like a centaur type species - half and half, but within the same species family, while a centaur sure is not!

My husband and I have been debating on the species of these fish. Help us settle our difference of opinions!

My son also caught a 4 foot Leopard shark - beautiful shark, but too big and unsafe for him to handle, so the line was cut off. Did not dare to unhook it...We Deafies value our hands! The tide took it back to the sea. Darn too bad I and my camera were not on the beach when my son caught it.

FYI - we are strong advocates of our precarious ecosystem...We did not keep these sharks - they were safely released back to the sea. Sharks provide essential role in the ocean ecosystem. They are the top predators and keep the ocean clean and healthy! On the sportfishing boat, they did catch some reef fish such as perch, sea basses among others and they did keep those and ate them for lunch.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The "sting ray" shark sure looked freakish. That is not something you commonly see. Betcha your son was surprised when he fished that one out!

How do you unhook sharks without getting bitten??

Anonymous said...

Angellover,

LOL. You use pliers to unhook any fish, including the sharks. With the leopard, at 4 foot, it was full-grown, with full set of teeth, with strong muscular body, we did not dare try unhooking it with pliers so we just cut the line. The hook will corrode in the sea water and eventually fall off.
Most sharks he caught were on the small side, so it was no big deal using pliers.

I don't like fishing, but with sea fishing, I DO enjoying sitting and waiting to find out what fish my guys caught on the end of their poles! Freshwater fishing? You will find me reading a book in some hotel room or in the tent.

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