Notes on Sharks recently recorded from the Mediterranean and European Region
Helmut Nickel, Shark Year Magazine, 06. January 2013The following list provides a supplement and continuation of our previous posts from 24. August 2012 The Latest Notable Shark Records from the Mediterranean and European Region and 09. September 2012 Great White Shark caught in Corsica and other Shark Records from France.
Twenty-seven recent noteworthy Elasmobranch Records from the Mediterranean and European Region
( recorded from 30. September 2012 to 06. January 2013 ).
Details on each specimen in descending chronological order :
Specimen No. 01
Date: reported on 06. January 2013.
Location: Turkey.
Species: Bramble shark ( Echinorhinus brucus ).
Size: said to be 2 metres in length and 140 kg in weight.
A record from the Aegean Sea.
The source is reporting that this rare shark was caught by commercial anchovy fishermen in the waters off Izmir.
The photo below was taken in front of a fishmonger’s shop in Bursa.
Source and Photo Credit: 2haber
——————————————————–
Specimen No. 02
Date: reported on 05. January 2013.
Location: Istanbul, Turkey.
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus ).
Size: said to be 500 kg in weight.
This specimen got accidentally caught in a fishing net in the Bosphorus Strait ( other source: Sea of Marmara ).
The photo was taken at a fish market in Üsküdar, a municipality of Istanbul.
Source and Photo Credit: iha
———————————————————
Specimen No. 03
Date: reported on 31. December 2012
Location: Turkey
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus ).
Size: said to be 2,7 metres in length and 600 kg in weight.
A record from south-western Turkey.
The shark was caught in a fishing net off Antalya.
The reported weight appears to be unrealistic, it must be an overestimate.
Source and Photo Credit: haberler
——————————————————
Specimen No. 04
Date: 28. December 2012
Location: Turkey
Species: Thresher shark ( Alopias vulpinus)
Size: said to be 4 metres in length and 200 kg.
The catch of this specimen occurred off Mersin in south-eastern Turkey.
The photo below was taken at a fishmonger’s shop in Gaziantep.
Source and Photo Credit: Bugün
———————————————————–
Specimen No. 05
Date: 28. December 2012
Location: Tizi Ouzou Province, Algeria.
Species: Basking shark ( Cetorhinus maximus ).
Size: almost 7,5 metres long and 1600 kg in weight.
This basking shark got entangled in a fishing net off Tigzirt.
It’s a small town that is situated approximately 39 km north of Tizi-Ouzou.
The source is reporting that the shark was still alive and the fishing crew struggled with the fish
for over two hours before bringing it to the port.
The landing of the massive shark raised a lot of excitement among the local community.
A Tigzirt citizen in his 50s is quoted as saying:
“ I’m from Tigzirt. I live here since my birth, and I do not remember such a scenario.
This is the first time that a shark is caught in the region ”.
There is a video of this specimen in our Video-Section ( HERE ).
Source: depechedekabylie.com
—————————————————-
Specimen No. 06
Date: reported on 28. December 2012
Location: Tekirdağ Province, Turkey.
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus ).
Size: said to be 3 metres in length and 250 kg in weight.
Another record from the northern Sea of Marmara.
Members of the Sarkoy Fisheries Cooperative caught this sixgill shark in their fishing net,
about three miles off the coast.
Source and Photo Credit: virahaber
———————————————————
Specimen No. 07 and 08
Date: reported on 15. December 2012
Location: Istanbul, Turkey.
Species: two records
- Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus )
- Thesher shark ( Alopias vulpinus )
Size: said to be ca. 4,5 metres in length.
The two sharks were displayed by a fishmonger in Istanbul.
The specimens had been caught in the waters off Beylikdüzü, an Istanbul district located
on the northern shores of the Sea of Marmara.
Source: haber7
————————————————–
Specimen No. 09 and 10
Date: reported on 01. December 2012
Location: Liguria Region, Italy.
Species: two thresher sharks ( Alopias sp. )
Size: both specimens said to be 2 metres long and 100 kg in weight.
The source is reporting about the capture of two thresher sharks (‘squali volpe’) in the Tigullio Gulf.
The catches occurred in the waters near Riva Trigoso and Framura.
Both specimens were sold at a fish market in Milan. No photos available.
Source: babboleo.it
————————————————————–
Specimen No. 11
Date: reported on 01. December 2012
Location: Gulf of Hammamet, Tunisia.
Species: Great white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ).
Size: said to be 1900 kg in weight.
According to the source, the catch of this great white occurred in the vicinity of Hergla in late November.
It has to be the same specimen that was repeatedly shot and killed by commercial tuna fishermen in the raw footage shown in our Video-Section (HERE).
The youtube-video was supposedly taken off the coast of Sousse, which is situated about 26 km south of Hergla.
Source and Photo Credit: Attounissia
————————————————————-
Specimen No. 12
Date: reported on 30. November 2012
Location: Canakkale, Turkey.
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus )
Size: 270 cm in length
The sixgill shark got caught in a fishing net in the waters of the Dardanelles
( the strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara ).
The shark was displayed at a fish restaurant in Bursa.
Source and Photo Credit: bursadabugun.
————————————————————-
Specimen No. 13
Date: 12. November 2012
Location: Greece
Species: Thresher shark ( Alopias vulpinus )
Size: not reported.
A record from the northern Aegean Sea.
The fishmonger brought this specimen from the city of Kavala, where it had been caught.
Source and Photo Credit: periferiaristas blog
———————————————————
Specimen No. 14
Date: 04. November 2012
Location: District of Vlore, Albania
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus )
Size: said to be 400 kg in weight.
A record from the Northern Epirus Region in the Adriatic Sea.
This large sixgill shark got entangled in a fishing net near Sazan Island,
which is situated at the entrance to the Bay of Vlore in southern Albania.
Source : pygmi.gr
—————————————————-
Specimen No. 15
Date: reported on 01. November 2012
Location: Denmark
Species: Porbeagle shark ( Lamna nasus )
Size: 2,26 metres in length and 76 kg in weight (gutted ).
According to the source, the porbeagle had been caught by commercial fishermen in the Danish sector
of the North Sea in mid-October.
The catch was confiscated by Fisheries Inspectors, due to the zero TAC (Total allowable catch )
for this species in European waters.
Photo Credit: Henrik Carl. Source: Københavns Universitet, Statens Naturhistoriske Museum.
——————————————————–
Specimen No. 16 and No. 17
Date: reported on 28. October 2012
Location: Bursa, Turkey.
Species:
- Butterfly Ray ( Gymnuridae Family ).
- Blackchin Guitarfish ( Rhinobatos cemiculus ).
Size:
Butterfly ray : said to be 157 cm wide, 117 cm tall.
Guitarfish : said to be 1 metre in length.
According to the source, this ray and guitarfish were caught in the Sea of Marmara.
The ray must be a Spiny butterfly ray ( Gymnura altavela ), because it’s the only butterfly ray species that occurs in the Mediterranean Sea.
It was caught by anchovy fishermen and sold for 12,-Turkish Lira ( ca. 7,- US Dollar) per kilo.
The Mediterranean population of the Spiny butterfly ray is assessed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List.
Source and Photo Credit: Timeturk
—————————————————
Specimen No. 18
Date: reported on 26. October 2012
Location: Calabria Region, Italy.
Species: Shortfin mako shark ( Isurus oxyrinchus )
Size: said to be 2,5 metres in length and 200 kg in weight.
The mako was caught in the waters off Soverato, located on the coast of the Gulf of Squillace in the Ionian Sea.
Stomach content: the remains of a small swordfish and an ice cream plastic container.
Source: Soverato Web. Photo: Facebook.
——————————————————–
Specimen No. 19
Date: reported on 24. October 2012
Location: Apulia Region, Italy.
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus )
Size: said to be 200 kg in weight.
A record from the southern Adriatic coast.
The mutilated carcass was recovered by staff of the Coast Guard in the inner harbor of Brindisi.
The shark had deep cuts and its tail was missing.
It is believed that the death of the animal was caused by the propeller of a ship.
Source and Photo Credit: Brindisi Report
———————————————————-
Specimen No. 20
Date: reported on 24. October 2012
Location: Cornwall, UK
Species: Thresher shark ( Alopias vulpinus )
Size: approx. 4,5 m (15 ft)in total length and 145 kg (320 lb) in weight.
Boat skipper Chris Glaves netted this male specimen about 100 yards (ca. 91 m) from shore near Padstow,
situated on the north coast of Cornwall.
The fox shark was already dead when it was brought onboard. It was sold at the Plymouth Fish Market.
Source and Photo Credit: SWNS
————————————————–
Specimen No. 21
Date: 20. October 2012
Location: Mazagon, Spain.
Species: Bigeye thresher shark ( Alopias superciliosus )
Size: measured 3,30 metres in length.
A record from the Gulf of Cadiz coast ( Atlantic Ocean ).
The thresher shark washed ashore on Ciparsa beach in Mazagon,
a small town which is located near the city of Huelva.
It’s a rare bigeye thresher shark ( A. superciliosus ).
All the other identified thresher shark specimens in this post are common thresher sharks ( A. vulpinus ).
Source: huelvaya.es. Photo Credit: Gonzalo Lara Cuadrado.
——————————————————
Specimen No. 22
Date: reported on 20. October 2012
Location: Calabria Region, Italy.
Species: Bluntose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus )
Size: not reported ( Quote: A Huge Shark ).
The dead shark was found floating off the coast of Sellia Marina,
located in the Province of Catanzaro in southern Italy.
Fishermen dragged the carcass to San Vincenzo.
Source and Photo Credit: ilquotidianocalabria.it
—————————————————-
Specimen No. 23
Date: 19. October 2012
Loaction: Cyprus
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus griseus ).
Size: said to be ca. 2 metres in length and 150 kg in weight.
The fisherman caught this specimen in the offshore waters of Zygi, a small village located in the south of Cyprus.
Source and Photo Credit: SigmaLive
————————————————-
Specimen No. 24
Date: reported on 15. October 2012
Location: Turkey
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus grisues )
Size: said to be 4 metres long and 525 kg in weight.
This specimen was caught in the waters off Canakkale.
The fisherman brought his unusual catch to the distant city of Erzurum ( in the Eastern Anatolia Region )
for advertising purposes at a fishmonger’s shop.
The reported size is most likely an overestimate.
Source and Photo Credit: haber50
———————————————–
Specimen No. 25
Date: 05. October 2012
Location: Sicily, Italy.
Species: Thresher shark ( Alopias vulpinus ).
Size: about 4 metres in total length.
The fox shark was found stranded on the beach of Cava d’Aliga in southern Sicily.
It was still alive and showed no signs of injury.
Beachgoers dragged the shark back into deeper water.
Source and Photo Credit: Nove TV
——————————————————
Specimen No. 26
Date: reported on 02. October 2012
Location: Turkey
Species: Bluntnose sixgill shark ( Hexanchus grisues )
Size: said to be 4,5 m in length and 900 kg in weight.
Fishermen netted the sixgill shark in the Sea of Marmara and later sold it to a restaurant in Istanbul.
Source and Photo Credit: millihakimiyet.com
—————————————————————
Specimen No. 27
Date: reported on 30. September 2012.
Location: Denmark.
Species: Porbeagle shark ( Lamna nasus ).
Size: not reported.
The shark was part of the catering menu during an open-day event at a school in Denmark.
According to the source, the porbeagle had been caught in the North Sea.
But another source (the school’s facebook site) is reporting that the specimen was caught
by Danish fishermen in Portugal.
Source: Nordjyske. Photo: Facebook
