Photo: Krys Amon//Unsplash
Hermosa Beach, in Los Angeles’ South Bay, popped up in headlines this month when a fisherman accidentally hooked a great white, then stripped down and ran down to the beach to release the animal. Another story out of the South Bay town (and off the same pier) might start to make the place look like a hotbed for sharks, after a group of fishermen reportedly hooked 20 sharks in just one day.
Local newspaper The Easy Reader reported over the weekend that the group arrived at the pier around 6 a.m. Saturday morning using whole mackerel as bait on 1.5-inch hooks. According to information they passed on to a nearby restaurant owner, the group were reeling the sharks to the surface and then cutting the lines, all while keeping away from the surf line in order to steer clear of swimmers. The paper’s Kevin Cody took photos of at least one of the sharks as it was brought to the surface.
One point of the story that’s under contention is which species of shark they had been catching. It’s illegal to take white sharks or use any bait, shark lure, or chum, targeting them. And while the fishermen said they believed they had been reeling in makos, which aren’t illegal to hook recreationally, an expert who was shown Cody’s photos believes the fish were actually juvenile great whites.
Keith Poe, who’s tagged 5,000 great whites and makos over the past 30 years, told the paper the different species were distinguishable by their dorsal and pectoral fins. The most clear signs (in these photos) were their dark fins. The ends of a great white’s pectoral fins are black, while a mako shark’s pectoral fins are white. Poe also told The Easy Reader it’s likely the fishermen were hooking multiple sharks and not just one animal and releasing it several times throughout the day because sharks tend to flee when endangered.
