Predation Carcharodon carcharias or Isurus oxyrinchus?

A long beaked dolphin (Delphinus capensis) missing it's middle section in a "very suspect" semi circular pattern washed ashore in Redondo Beach in March this year (click image).

The wound pattern opened up the question about it's attacker(s) and a running debate is now unfolding between two camps who are championing:

1. Carcharodon carcharias

2. Isurus oxyrinchus

“It’s a predation kill, most likely by a great white shark,” Dave Janiger, a curatorial assistant in the mammalogy department of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.

The main question is timing. Do we even have Carcharodon carcharias off Redondo beach in March large enough to make a successful predation on an animal this big?

Seals in August and September have washed up in the same location without heads in previous years and that's fits with migration profiles.

So, was this the work of an overlarge Isurus oxyrinchus perhaps?

Image by surf photographer Brad Jacobson.

1000lb Mako Shark Taken in Florida?

Hat Tip - Peter Thomas

"Wound Up" 1000lb. Mako Shark June 18, 2011 - WSVN Channel 7 Miami

Mako on Predation - Sweet

Call us old school but we just love a good predation image when it comes to sharks.

Who doesn't?

Diver and underwater photographer Al McGlashin got the surprise of his life yesterday off Port Stephens, Australia when a sizable Mako blasted past him to seize a striped marlin about to be released during a fishing tournament.

Needles to say the animal was not released for reasons that will quickly become self evident.

Al stayed in the water with the shark and shot an entire series - nicely done sir.

Want to see more?

Yeah we knew you would.

Shark Diving Azores...White Sharks?

If underwater photographer Jan Reyniers has his way the Azores will soon be known as a top notch destination for Blues and Makos.

Perhaps Great Whites in the mix as well, as rumors of these critters cruising the backside of the Azores have been drifting through the shark community for many years now.

Here's the website for your review.

It looks from all intents that they will be running a "sharks first" operation offshore in crystal clear waters.

Wishing them the best of luck in the new shark endeavor.

Image by Jan Reyniers

Brian Skerry Does Makos in 3...2...1

From the Global Explorers Blog this week:

"I was contacted by an underwater videographer named Joe Romeiro from Rhode Island. I had seen Joe's shark films and they were beautiful. He had a true artist's eye and his films were respectful of animals and brought viewers into their world for an intimate view. Joe was doing a fair bit of shark diving locally and invited me to join him, but as usual, my schedule simply never permitted me to do so. But finally last week, the day after I made my last blog post ("Thinking About Sharks"), I went diving again for sharks in New England."

Key West - 656 Pound Mako Caught

While a few forward thinking industry leaders are developing new shark tournament models in Florida complete with research tagging and tracking, some have yet to understand the basics of catch and release.

Another reason for Shark Free Marinas in Florida and around the world.

Massive Mako Mother Makes Good Science

So....we missed the flight to NZ but the story remains one of predatory fascination. Turns out this female had recently given birth. More than 800 onlookers showed up:

The 3.6-metre, 460-kilogram shark died in the Mapua channel last month.

Conservation Department shark expert Clinton Duffy, who carried out the dissection, found an empty stomach and that the mako gave birth recently. The autopsy indicated it may have been killed by an encounter with a boat.

There was massive bruising behind its jaws, Touch the Sea aquarium marine educator Richard de Hamel said. "So it may have been feeling a bit sick, then got a bump on the head, and that's really put her on the downhill slide."

The condition of the shark's uterus showed it had given birth within the past few months.

A sample of its spine was taken and its growth rings will be used to determine its age, which was probably about 30. Video here.