OB Shark Sighting

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Ocean Beach — On August 8, 2012 A. C. (name withheld by request) reported the following; “At around 10:30am I was surfing Ocean Beach, San Francisco, at Qu1ntara Street. Air and water temperatures were in the 50's Fahrenheit, sky was overcast; waves were 1 – 4 feet. There were no other people in the immediate 2 – 3 blocks, one person had gotten out just as I paddled out earlier. I was about 100 meters offshore, paddling and waiting for waves, and saw a very large fin about 100 meters to the north, possibly just slightly further out at a maximum of 105 meters offshore.

The area where I saw the fin seemed to have some sea life congregating there, i.e.: a few birds diving in that particular spot. Due to the fin size and wobbly movement, I sat up and took notice right away, but then blew it off as the fin seemed too thin and had too much of a curve to it to be a shark. About 15 seconds later I glanced over and saw a large grey head sticking out of the water in the same area. The head was facing the beach, and as we were about the same distance from shore, I got a good look at the profile. It had a very large, round, black eye, and a wedge shaped, angular snout.

I can't define the size as there were no reference points out in the lineup, but if I had to guess, I'd say the shark was 12 feet in length but with no visual cues it was really hard to tell. The shark seemed to have a casual air about it, just hanging out and not making aggressive movements. I paddled to shore and looked for the fin in the water but didn't see it again. At home I looked up the types of dolphins in this area and compared dolphin vs. shark profiles. In the course of looking up dolphin and shark profiles, I learned that great white sharks spy-hop.”

Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

7
H20MansLibrary
39 weeks ago

Tis the season....

Tenderloin tom
39 weeks ago

Well it is shark week on discovery channel, I thought I saw one at Kronkite last week, I saw a fin out of water cruzin about 15 feet ,but there's a lot of dolphins too and saw a big seal pop half its body out of the water so who knows

sharkturd
39 weeks ago

every week is shark week on SR.

Rocco
39 weeks ago

could have been a Salmon Shark getting ready to beach itself......

RashGuard
39 weeks ago
fatnewt
39 weeks ago

Salmon sharks do tend to have a casual air about them when they're getting ready to beach themselves. I think what was seen was actually a salmon shark trying to get a bead on his beaching location & a large dolphin swimming behind him.

unfocused
39 weeks ago

They're out there

leroythemasochist
39 weeks ago

Shark Week.

mlanson
39 weeks ago

I have to concur with fatnewt. Nothing to see here.

P.B.
39 weeks ago

I'm the one who had the nice moment with The Landlord. Being 100 meters away, it would have had to be a salmon shark on serious juice to have a head THAT big from that distance. The eye looked huge. In hindsight that wobbly fin was probably the tail, or part of it.

Casual = not heading my way :)

You can bump this thread to the one where people are talking about peeing in their wetsuits.

mlanson
39 weeks ago

I saw one 2 years ago, f'ing huge. Looked like it was on steroids, shot straight up out of the water and then dove down again. I was pretty far out and it looked a couple blocks farther out.

I've been in denial ever since. For all I know it really could have been a massive angular dolphin. But I've never seen a dolphin that big or move like that. It was all muscle.

In fact, now that I remember... I did paddle in right away screaming "shark" to anyone who would listen.

Broseidon
39 weeks ago

I like to believe the landlords up here know who to collect rent from. The one's down south are still trying to figure out who the tenants are...with their mouths.

tracey
39 weeks ago

Newt: I added some pals for your Salmon Shark Dolphin swim team. Yetihugz!

fin
39 weeks ago

.

paddleout
39 weeks ago

Sounds like AC or PB doesn't really know the local residents. I'd want to have somebody who's seen a lot of dophins making a call. That being said, there's lots of sharks in the area, more baitfish than ever, a few salmon, seals, and sea lions chasing them, why wouldn't they occasionally check out the lineup? Last weekend I didn't notice I was bleeding pretty good from a hand cut until I got out- great.

Tenderloin tom
39 weeks ago

HERE

unfocused
39 weeks ago

these are things that just make my day. oh...the power of laughter :)

Tracey, Fin ,TT : priceless :))

Tenderloin tom
39 weeks ago

http://youtu.be/c1hLduV1p88

THIS ONES FOR YOU UNFOCUSED:)

unfocused
39 weeks ago

Good ole Charlie...

Wave Glider
39 weeks ago

Here ya go. Always funny to see Charlie justify himself of his actions/meltdowns.

And 'ditto' what @ unfocused said!

fatnewt
39 weeks ago

here

eric
39 weeks ago

I saw one last year around this time. At least in my experience, if you see a shark (and you've seen a dolphin at any point in your life), you'll KNOW RIGHT AWAY it's a shark. They move and behave completely differently than dolphins. Their fins don't bob up and down through the water as they move. They just glide.

The one I saw surfaced about 20m from a friend and I, and just hung out there on the surface, nearly motionless, checking us out. It was really creepy. Trust me, if you see a shark, there will be absolutely no doubt about it in your mind that it was a shark, based on its behavior alone.

You won't be like "Hmm, was that a dolphin or a shark". You'll be like "OH SHITTTTT!!!! SHARK!"

Tenderloin tom
39 weeks ago

I've seen winter the dolphin swim live ,she has no tail,

Tenderloin tom
39 weeks ago

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winter

Winter swimming without her tail
Species Tursiops truncatus
Born 2005
Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Clearwater, Florida, USA
Years active 2005–present
Known for Prosthetic tail
Website
SeeWinter.com
Winter (born 2005) is a bottlenose dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida, USA, widely known for having a prosthetic tail. She is the subject of the film Dolphin Tale, a dramatization of her story. Winter was found off the coast of Florida in December 2005, caught in a crab trap, which resulted in the loss of her tail. She was found and taken to Clearwater Marine Aquarium. She was fitted with a silicone and plastic tail which enables her to swim normally. She has since become a highly popular attraction at the aquarium, which led to the film's making.
Contents  [hide] 
1 Injury and discovery
2 Prosthetic tail
3 In popular culture
3.1 2009 Book adaptation
3.2 2011 film
4 References
5 External links
[edit]Injury and discovery

Winter was entangled in the ropes of a crab trap, on December 10, 2005,[1][2] in Mosquito Lagoon off the coast of Florida. The rope cut off the supply of blood to her tail. She was spotted and caught by a small fishing boat and a SeaWorld team (with assistance from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute) which brought her to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.[3] Winter (estimated to be about two months old when she was rescued) survived, but her tail flaked off due to the lack of blood for a prolonged period of time.[4] At first it was thought that Winter would have to learn to swim without a tail, but this forced her to swim with a "side to side" body motion instead of the normal "up and down" motion, and the veterinarians feared that this unusual movement would damage her spine.[4] Kevin Carroll,[5] who had designed prosthetics for other animals (including dogs, an ostrich, and a duck), volunteered to help.[6]
[edit]Prosthetic tail

Carroll and a team of experts took a year and a half designing and testing a tail for Winter, eventually settling on a simple silicone and plastic tail.[4] A gel-like sleeve was used under the tail, in order to prevent it from irritating Winter's skin.[7] In Winter's case however, both the flukes and the caudal peduncle had been severed, making the task much more difficult.[7]
Lessons learned from Winter also have been applied to human amputees. Carroll used the same gel sleeve concept to ease painful prosthetic limbs for US Air Force Senior Airman Brian Kolfage, who lost both legs and his right hand in a 2004 mortar attack in Iraq.[8] Books and Nintendo DS games have been published about Winter.[9][10]
[edit]In popular culture

[edit]2009 Book adaptation
In 2009 Winter's story was told by Craig Hatkoff in Winter’s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again. The book was published by Turtle Pond Publications and Scholastic, and released with a Nintendo DS game.[11][12]
[edit]2011 film
Main article: Dolphin Tale
A film based on Winter's story, titled Dolphin Tale, was released September 23, 2011.[13][14] The film's main protagonist is a young boy who is played by Nathan Gamble. It also stars Harry Connick, Jr., Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, and Kris Kristofferson.[13] Winter played herself in the film. Several modifications were made to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to accommodate her, including a new 80,000-gallon pool.[15] The movie was filmed in Clearwater, at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and other locations in Pinellas County, Florida.[16]
[edit]References

^ "Researchers Hope to Give Dolphin Prosthetic Tail: Underwater interview of Diana Zucker by Melissa Block". National Public Radio.
^ Winter received her name because she was found in December, traditionally considered a winter month, even though the exact date of her rescue (December 10) is actually within the autumn season.
^ Ludmilla Lelis, Orlando Sentinel (27 November 2010). "Winter the dolphin's rescue off Volusia has Hollywood ending". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
^ a b c Daniel Aven (9 August 2007). ""Bionic" Dolphin Getting New Tail". The Early Show. CBS News. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
^ Yahalom, Tali (2007-07-17). "Dolphin and Iraq veteran share wonder of prosthetics". USA Today. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
^ "Pictured: The world's first bionic sea creature: Winter the dolphin gets a prosthetic tail". Mail Online. Daily Mail. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
^ a b Jaime Holguin (26 August 2007). "Fuji The Dolphin's Rubber Tail". CBS Evening News. CBS News. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
^ Theodora Aggeles (30 December 2010). "Once-paralyzed Ohio man meets Clearwater's Winter the dolphin". Tampabay.com. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2 January.
^ "Winter's Tail DS". Scholastic.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
^ "Scholastic’s ‘Winter’s Tail’ Makes Waves". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2012-
Winter at Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Save Winter

Categories: Individual dolphinsClearwater, FloridaAnimal amputeesWildlife rehabilitation

sleepy la beef
39 weeks ago

I'm pretty sure Hasselhoff weight lifting sharks would be a great addition to the Olympics.

GlamourHammer
39 weeks ago

@eric, yeah I have to agree. I saw one about 15 feet from me last summer. It was just slowly cruising on by, just the top 6-8 inches of the dorsal exposed. No telling how big it was since the tail fin never breached. There is absolutely no mistaking it for a dolphin. You really, really, really want it to be a dolphin, but it's not.

Tenderloin tom
39 weeks ago

So are you guys saying I saw a shark ,I think I want my name withheld by request

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