| Copyright 2006 by The Haole Crab |
| When the hunter is the hunted: Catalina Great White |
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| The following are from posts to the Freedive List and Spearboard after a 10/28/05 trip to Catalina on board Bill McIntyre's boat. The picture above is the closest thing that I could find to what the shark looked like as it disappeared into the murk. Enjoy! --------------- From: Bill McIntyre Subject: Willie has all the fun Willie Mahin was here from Maui on business and stayed an extra day to go diving with us today. Mark Hultgren, another old diving buddy, has Fridays off so he came along. When Willie was here in May and dove with me, he got his first yellowtail and his first two white sea bass. The last time I dove with Mark on a mutual friend's boat, he got two white sea bass, including a 45 pounder. I figured that considering the luck I've had since I got back from vacation, these were the sort of guys I needed for inspiration. Maybe something would rub off on me. We got a late start since Willie was introduced to the realities of SoCal traffic when a semi overturned on the I-5 and backed up traffic for miles, but at least it was a nice calm crossing to the east end of Catalina. The fishing boards have been reporting big yellowtail at Freddy's beach on the back side, so we ran up there and found a mob of boats anchored. We didn't see any bent rods, and it's a bit awkward to just jump in out in open water among a bunch of boats, so we ran down to Salte Verde and dove a kelp bed. It was clear and pretty with 62 degrees temperature, but no game fish were seen. When we pulled anchor, every boat had left Freddy's, so we decided to run out to Farnsworth Bank. There were no boats there either, but as the GPS said I was on top of the spot, the guys looked over the side and said they could see bottom at 55 feet. I had them jump in and try it while I just idled around watching them. After about 15 minutes, Willie popped up and shouted something like, "Call Mark." My first reaction was to think that Willie had seen a school of yellowtail and was such a great guy that he wanted Mark to get over there before he took a shot, but then I noticed that he was swimming toward the boat rather rapidly and only touching the tops of the swells on the way. At some point I heard something like, "F#$%ing shark," and then he handed up his gun without being courteous enough to unload it and vaulted onto the swimstep. I ran back to the wheel, jammed on the power, ran over to Mark, and invited him to get aboard rapidly, which he did, also without unloading (I guess I'm going to have to beef up my safety briefing.). When things calmed down, Willie said that he was on the surface, looking down at the top of the high spot, when this great grey thing started to obscure his view of the rocks. It was a great white, and he said it was VERY LARGE, but it just continued on its way. When pressed for a size estimate, he pointed at my engine box and said it seemed at least that wide across. Willie has dealt with many big sharks on the offshore buoys of Maui, having them grab his fish from his hands and having to fend them off. He says he couldn't get his arms around the middle of some of them, but that this shark was so much bigger that there was no comparison. Later, he stood next to my 22 foot boat for reference and said it was probably around 18 feet, but at least 16 feet. Mark was bitching that he didn't get to see the shark too, but then he didn't seem to fight us to get back into the water. Last year there was a similar incident on Farnsworth when Brandon Whalers and others were diving from Gary Jones' boat. Brandon saw a great white go by and everyone got out of the water just in time to see the shark kill a seal right behind the boat. After my guys were out of the water, we noticed a sea lion playing on the surface nearby and watched to see if the show would be repeated, but I guess the shark just wasn't hungry. In deciding where to go next, one of the criteria was a place far from Farnsworth, so we ran up to West Cove. The vis was decent and there was a lot of bait, but no fish. Willie did shoot a couple of calicos to take back to Maui. Since the days are short and it's nice to clean up the boat in daylight, and since Willie has an early flight out tomorrow, we decided to go home. Bill McIntyre San Clemente, CA --------------- From: Willie Mahin Subject: RE: Willie has all the fun Well, Bill kinda summed it up really well, so I just have a couple of observations to add.... The size of the shark was just amazing. It took me awhile just to realize what it was, simply because it was so much bigger than any shark I'd seen before. I just read through a bunch of GWS sightings on the web, and it would seem my size estimate is consistent: about 18 feet long, but at least 16 feet long. But it wasn't the length that was so impressive, as the width of its back, which looked to be 3 feet across. The other thing that was really neat was that as soon as it got off the pinnacle, it disappeared. The only reason that I could make it out in the murk was because the dark background of the pinnacle highlighted it. As soon as it was over water, it was invisible. It's just amazing that a fish of that size could be underneath you and that you could not see it... which is why I was so very happy to see Bill when he brough the boat over to pick me up! Willie Mahin Maui, Hawaii --------------- From: Willie Mahin Subject: Train of thought when seeing a great white shark This is a reply to someone who asked what I was thinking. Reading it now, it's pretty funny! Train of thought goes... Hhhmmmm, I don't remember there being a sand channel on top of the pinnacle. Let's dive down to take a look! Hold breath, swim down. That's not a channel. Wha......... What is tha......... That's a GWS! Look at the size of the scutes on his tail. Damn, he's HUGE! He's off the pinnacle. Crap, I can't see him now. Crap. Damn, we're sitting ducks. Wave down Bill. Gotta let Mark know, gotta pick up Mark, he's off the pinnacle. Swim, swim, swim. Be casual......... Send out the vibes: I'm not a seal. I'm not a seal. I'm not a seal What a beautiful swim step! Willie Mahin Maui, Hawaii --------------- From: Willie Mahin Subject: Tiger shark sighting Damn, back to back weekends... After that really big great white shark last weekend, I went on a camping trip to Maui's isolated backside. Three days of diving... yeah. However, after dropping 2 gallons of chum, I was lying on the bottom waiting for an uku to come in, when I noticed a large shark to my left. I surfaced and let my partner know, since it was near sunset and the water was fairly murky. I swam back out, located the shark, and dropped down on top of him. He was a tiger, the first one that I've seen. Fortunately, he was very mellow, so I was able to hover above him and appreciate what a magnificent fish he was. I'd guess he was about 12 feet long, but he was certainly at least 10 feet long. Nice fish. Willie Mahin Maui, Hawaii --------------- Home |