Went for a paddle last night and saw a shark about 10 yards away from at the East end in Long Beach, NY. A chop wave threw the shark up towards the surface and I got a really good look at the front half of its body. Probably like a basketball/soccer ball width at its neck and about 3.5 to 4 foot long. It was brown/tan color. Thought it was a sand shark, but it had a distinctive blunt snout. Any ideas what species?
shark species I emailed your question since I was curious also to <info@supportoursharks.com> let you know if I get a response, since I am an avid shark supporter... .... I know there were rays out there mating, and when they turn their wing can look like a fin breaking the water, (these were mistaken somewhere else nearby recently) but you seem to have gotten a pretty good look.... what a gift to have seen that! (what time were you out? I go out at Laurelton...)
species etc... "The nurse shark is a common inshore bottom-dwelling shark, found in tropical and subtropical waters....Nurse sharks have been observed resting on the bottom with their bodies supported on their fins, possibly providing a false shelter for crustaceans which they then ambush and eat. Nurse sharks are able to respire while stationary by pumping water through their mouths and out gills....they spend most of their time rifling through the bottom sediments in search of food. Their diet consists primarily of crustaceans, molluscs, tunicates, sea snakes, and other fish, particularly stingrays." so possibly, but not sure if this would be the type of shark here resting on the bottom. But there are rays out there, my surfing friend actually was walking out near the jetty and got a stingray barb in his foot, he actually stepped on it and it swung its barb/tail right into the bottom of his foot...he had to have it surgically removed, a big magilla.... interesting what goes on out there with us and the marine life all around us!!
It's a sand shark. If you ever surfed in the Carolinas or FL they're actually pretty common. I heard about dude that got stuck by an urchin/skate at Laurelton..
Done some research and its most likely a brown shark aka sandbar shark. Very common in these areas. I surf LB east end and this past Saturday night I came down to surf and all the people/surfers were out of the water. People on the beach told me the lifeguards on ATV's were calling people of the water because "two bull sharks were spotted". No idea if this is true, but thats what people told me. Surfed there anyways and Saturday night was suuupah fun. There were a bunch of bait fish schools that night.....I paddled away from them Sunday morning, me and two other surfers saw a shark dorsal fin, from the size of the fin it was probably the same kind of shark.
rays in the Long Beach Herald and the actual buzz around town, the sightings were actually rays, when mating turn on their sides and their wing looks like a fin when breaking the top of the water... so maybe both or just the rays that the lifeguards went out by jet ski and verified. again, they live there we don't, it is actually thrilling to see and know about the prevalent marine life, including the dolphins that I saw one day.... very exciting.
It's in the Ray family. Very similar looking but has some differences. It has a barbed tail that if it gets a hold of you it HURTS but wont kill ya. I do a lot of fishing in the area and they are a pain to fisherman. You catch loads of them and they are a pain to get off the hook b.c you need to be careful they dont catch you with their tail. And there not very good eating. The old school Italians and Chinese cut the wings off and eat them like wings or ribs. Ive tried and its not worth the hassle. They rarely get swimmers.
i saw 4 good sized (what i thought were bullsharks) 100 yards off the beach down by camp anchor 2 weeks ago
