A popular question around San Francisco is “Are there sharks in the bay?”  A quick visit to any pier will often reveal fishermen pulling in bottom-feeding sharks such as the beautiful Leopard Shark and other harmless species.
However, while standing at Pier 39 watching 800 pound sea lions play, the question becomes much more specific; “Are there Great Whites in the bay?”
The answer is an arguable ‘No’.  A large shark was photographed swimming near the surface near the San Rafael Bridge in 2006, but whether or not it was a Great White is not certain.  Other than that there are no verified sightings.

On the other hand, the chances that Great Whites have entered the bay at one time or another are quite likely, especially considering that whaling stations existed as far north into the bay as Richmond.  Dragging the bloody carcasses of blubber-rich behemoths through the bay almost certainly brought Great Whites and a multitude of other predators and scavengers in hot pursuit.  After all, to the Great White, the more blubber, the more irresistible.

More disturbing is a report that discarded whale carcasses were buried under the bay, leaving an unmistakable scent to be followed for years to come.  Nevertheless, the chance of encountering a Great White in the bay is slim to none and no one has ever been attacked inside the boundary of the Golden Gate Bridge.

 


Comments




Leave a Reply

    Oh, the glory days of drenching the bay with the blood of majestic animals.

    Site of the Richmond whaling station closed in the early 70s











    Chopping the bait down to a smaller size.  The bait used on this boat is skip jack tuna.




    Bait is pulled out of the shark's reach, but brings it close enough to the cage for the divers to get a close look.  Not only are the tour operators prohibited from intentionally feeding the sharks, but they avoid it for the purpose of not continuously buying more bait.



    Sometimes the shark will launch itself from the deep in such a stealthy manner that the bait handler does not pull away on time.  A small snack for the shark, but hardly a reason to stop eating its normal diet of large, fat rich seals.

























    First of all, no one, not even Andre Hartman or the guys from ‘Jackass’ are gonna get in the water during a feeding frenzy
























    The photographer managed to snap this photo just before the turtle ripped him to pieces.  Witnesses say the turtle was actually 'smiling' as it tore through the poor diver's flesh.



    A herd of rare, 2-legged elephant seals await their chance to swim with the sharks.

    Archives

    March 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    September 2008

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed