Fisherman reports encounter with 20-foot great white off Point Defiance [Tacoma Washington]

The [Tacoma] News Tribune ^ | December 15th, 2002 | Bob Mottram

[HairOfTheDog]

We don't have Great White Sharks in Puget Sound!

[Notforprophet]

Isn't it a tad bit cold for Great Whites in that part of Pacific? I thought that White sharks were mainly found in southern latitudes - around Australia, South Africa, etc. What the heck is a great white shark doing in Puget Sound?

[HairOfTheDog]

Point defiance is the point that runs NW out to the Narrows from Tacoma (Commencement Bay)

[Notforprophet]

On second reading, it does say they are found "world wide in temperate seas". Though I've never heard of one so far north.

[HairOfTheDog]

Good question! We don't have great white sharks!

I thought they came as far north as San Francisco!

[HairOfTheDog]

He is quite a ways inland, though, if you find Tacoma on the map. Very curious! I will say that Point Defiance is loaded with Harbor seals. It would be a good gig for a shark.

[Bogie]

That's what I have always liked about saltwater fishing: The unexpected!

[Paul Atreides]

Anyone who would report seeing a "great white" is obviously a racist, and should be censured.

[AGreatPer]

Too far north? I don't think so. My aunt, a whale of a lady from Miami, is spending the winter in Toronto. Hey, it happens.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Damn!!!

I knew I shouldn't have dumped out my pet shark in that sound about 20 years ago.

Sorry guys!

[HairOfTheDog]

HA!

They are coming inland!

[Tailback]

If you have seals or sea lions in Puget Sound, then you have Great Whites. Since the ban on shooting "water varmints" (aka seals) the number of shark attacks off the oregon coast has risen. The seals also consume huge quantities of "endangered salmon". I guess it's ok if a predator eats those salmon though, God forbid if an angler that pays money to the state for a license can catch and eat one.

[Sam Cree]

" Great whites inhabit the ocean from California to Vancouver Island, she said."

Most of these people (academics) are really underqualified, I am thinking that most ordinary folks even know that great whites occur in all of the oceans of the world, not just where that dummy lives.

Remember when, in the early 1900's, a great white swam 11 miles up a New Jersey river, into fresh water, and ate some kids, plus an adult, in a swimming hole, before escaping?

BTW, among sharks, great whites are kind of unmistakable in appearance, no matter their size, only one other shark, the mako, looks very much like them, so, if the aquarium worker was much up to speed on sharks, he's probably right on the ID.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

You see, that picture right there illustrates why you should never attempt to make it across low-water crossings.

[Archangelsk]

Isn't it a tad bit cold for Great Whites in that part of Pacific? I thought that White sharks were mainly found in southern latitudes - around Australia, South Africa, etc. What the heck is a great white shark doing in Puget Sound? There's an El Nino phenomenom occuring right now. The warming of the waters off the west coast of South America may be affecting waters as far north as Washington and Canada. This may have caused this event to happen.

[HairOfTheDog]

I support the ban on shooting seals. If people hunted them for food, I could accept that. But self-appointed vigilantes shooting them because they eat fish is just as wacked as the eco-terrorists who think we can't take fish either. A harbor seal washed up on our beach once, shot in the head, and it made my blood boil.

We have both a healthy salmon population and a healthy seal population. We can watch them out front every day. What a treat. We have a couple of pods of killer whales that make their rounds through every year. I am happy to have them all. Seals are not varmints, they are part of the world we live in.

I don't buy the native versus hatchery fish nonsense. There are more fish returning to the hatcheries than ever. I think we can support them all here. I agree we have to be smarter, and stop the practice of pretending hatchery fish don't count. They are the same dang fish, from the same dang river, as the "wild fish".

[PoorMuttly]

The speculation is that the New Jersey shark was a Bull Shark. They are known for their tolerance of fresh water...and ferociousness.

[HairOfTheDog]

HA! If he has a collar with your ID tag on it still... you are in big trouble!

[Sam Cree]

That's true about bulls...they are a common shallow water shark here in FL, do they often occur that far north?

I hadn't heard that speculation, but am interested in it.