Identify my shark!!!

B

Big_Spark

I went for a swim in the water off Maldon this evening and had an encounter with a shark, but I have no way to identify it properly.

I was only about 50 meters off shore, as I have not been swimming in years I was being reasonable sensible, and the water depth was probably around 20 feet, but as it is pretty murky it may be deeper. This area is also the estuary of a river so full of sediment.

I had been floundering about for some 15 to 20 minutes when I felt that I was not alone, please don't ask how I knew this, it was some primeval feeling of being watched, and despite being wet I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. To be honest I felt bloody silly, as I know there is nothing I need be afraid of in the water except perhaps some idiot on a water-ski or speedboat.

Anyway, I suddenly noticed a large "thing" on my right side and it swam very slowly past me, this came as a shock, but I soon realised it was a shark, I had seen enough when in Canada to recognise the distinctive shape of the shark.

As it came back again I watched it intently, but not with any fear, more apprehension as the only sharks I had ever been this close too were either in a tank or dead. The animal in question was about 3m in length, but may have been slightly larger or smaller due to diffraction. I would estimate that it was about 0.5m wide in the body. Colouration was Bluish on top and a grey or dirty white on the underside. As it swam past me it's dorsal fin broke the surface and I was aware that there appeared to be a very much smaller dorsal behind this just in front of the tail, which had also broke the surface.

At no time did the shark act aggressively, infact I would say it appeared curious about this almost 2m thing that was floundering about in the water near to it. I don't feel the shark was eyeing me up for lunch, but as this is the first time I have encountered one whilst swimming I was both apprehensive and curious, though I resisted my urge to reach out and touch the animal as it went past less than 1m from me before disappearing into the murky water.

I have done a search on the net to identify the animal, but have not had much success as the description I can find of UK sharks seem to elude to several possible species, but as the descriptions do not give accurate anatomical information I cannot narrow it down, does anyone on here know enough about sharks to narrow the species down for me?
 
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Looking at something under the water, it usually appears smaller. I swim several times a week and always notice how diddy my hands look when they are under the water.

As one who likes to read random stuff whenever possible, I have learned a little about sharks. Great Whites are in fact similarly coloured to the shark you describe (although I would say more blue-grey than bluish), and are occasionally spotted off the coast of the UK, but there aren't really confirmed sightings... Durrrr-duh... Durrrr-duh...

Have you considered a Thresher shark?

thresher2.jpg
 
Well, my swimming partner is rather "bouyant" but unfortunately she doesn't look smaller under the water.

On the upside, when she does backstroke it looks like a pair of turtles swimming side-by-side. :LOL:
 
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Adam, I have considered the Thresher, Mako and Blue, as these are the only sharks I know of that inhabit our waters, fit the general size range and colouration.

To a large degree I ruled out a Thresher due to the tail size, the shark I encountered did not appear to have a tail that matched it's body size in length.

I understand how diffraction of light by water can change apparent sizes of objects, but I was guessing overal size also from the distance from Dorsal Fin to Tail, which was some 1.5 to 1.8 meters, and this is usually about 50% of the overall size of the animal.
 
AdamW said:
Well, my swimming partner is rather "bouyant" but unfortunately she doesn't look smaller under the water.

On the upside, when she does backstroke it looks like a pair of turtles swimming side-by-side. :LOL:

If she see's this your shark fodder !
 
AdamW said:
Well, my swimming partner is rather "bouyant" but unfortunately she doesn't look smaller under the water.

On the upside, when she does backstroke it looks like a pair of turtles swimming side-by-side. :LOL:

I sincereley hope she does not visit this forum or I fear you will be shark bait mate!! :LOL:
 
Done bit of scuba here and there though not much in the UK. A bit unsure as to what species based on FWL's details. Firstly, I would say you can rule out the Thresher which is mostly a deep water shark and is actually quite rarely seen (even in wildlife docs). The Mako would usually be found in warmer waters than the coast of Britain offers, though this is changing of course as the seas are warming generally. The liklihood would be a Blue shark which are pretty commonplace and are caught quite regularly off the coast of Cornwall etc. Yours sounds like a big one (ooh mrs!) at 3m and I would definetely have poo'ed my trunks if I'd have been in your shoes (well flippers then).

You can be rest assured that all three species you named are regarded as aggressive. :evil:
 
Ferdinand, it was certainly not a Porbeagle, I can recognise them and the colouration is off.

Chainsaw, I ruled out the Thresher on similar grounds, also the tail was not the right shape and size.

The Short Fin Mako lives in UK waters, but is rarely seen close to shore according what i have read since last night, and the size seems a bit large for a short fin, apparently in UK waters they reach about 2.5m not the 3+m that I saw.

Blue Shark is a good possibility, but the photo's I have seen the snout is wrong and the secondary dorsal too small to have been one, but I am sure there is natural variation.

Interestingly the two shark that most fit in terms of size and body shape are the two I would not want to run into, and that is the Bull (Zambezi) and the Tiger..HOWEVER, they do not occur in waters around this part of Europe as both are cold blooded species and cannot survice in our cooler climate, although i am coming to the conclusion it is a member of the group commonly referred to as Salmon shark due to body shape.

I'm still hunting and trying to track the fella down. I'll go back there later and see if I can see it again, although it is probably miles away by now.
 
GODAMN TO HELL

I wanted to use the "small" joke on AdamW but I guess his exs have told it too much ,lol
AdamW's big bristol friends are at other XXX sites he recides at,lol

its more likey he dives with the two fat/chubby male friends, the david brent, an the old soldier who was an ex sas commando he stresses,not forgetting the Aussie who runs the dive centre in Derby in a swimming pool ..lol

only kidding ...lol...it maybe a UK instructor .. go to Cuba ,say for diving your in an amateur pool with the learners ..lol
 
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