I was paddling between Portsmouth, NH and the Isles of Shoals yesterday with a couple of friends. A couple of miles off the coast you usually encounter a good current(especially on the ebb). As we were crossing this area we saw a large fin flopping back and forth, drifting toward us. This thing was BIG. The fin would stick out of the water 18-24 inches and then kind of flop back down. We drifted with it for a little while. The body looked to be close to four feet tall and maybe five feet long. It was hard to tell how tall it was from fin tip to fin tip. It wasn't really swimming, rather occasionally 'flopping' to give itself direction. None of us had ever seen one but we assumed it was a sunfish. Does anybody know more about these? What is their range? How big do they get? What do they eat? What eats them? Thanks Dennis *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
You probably saw a basking shark. They are a large fish and quite common in NE waters. --allan On Mon, 4 Oct 1999 08:28:07 -0400, Lorraine&Dennis wrote: >I was paddling between Portsmouth, NH and the Isles of Shoals yesterday with >a couple of friends. A couple of miles off the coast you usually encounter >a good current(especially on the ebb). As we were crossing this area we saw >a large fin flopping back and forth, drifting toward us. This thing was >BIG. The fin would stick out of the water 18-24 inches and then kind of >flop back down. >We drifted with it for a little while. The body looked to be close to four >feet tall and maybe five feet long. It was hard to tell how tall it was >from fin tip to fin tip. It wasn't really swimming, rather occasionally >'flopping' to give itself direction. > >None of us had ever seen one but we assumed it was a sunfish. Does anybody >know more about these? What is their range? How big do they get? What do >they eat? What eats them? > >Thanks >Dennis > >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ >*************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dennis wrote: > > I was paddling between Portsmouth, NH and the Isles of Shoals yesterday with > a couple of friends. ...<snip>... > None of us had ever seen one but we assumed it was a sunfish. Does anybody > know more about these? What is their range? How big do they get? What do > they eat? What eats them? These fish are just plain wierd! The following sites have some great photos as well as various tidbits of information about these large, strange fish. As for your questions, they are widely distributed; they get up to 3000 lbs. (or more?); they eat mainly jellyfish; and they are eaten at times by sea lions (and other large predators?). As with a rudder, if they get stuck on your boat (even a very large ship) they can slow it down substantially. See the story in the last link about the large cement carrier whose speed was slowed from 14 knots to 11 knots when a sunfish got stuck on its bulbous bow. This obviously could not be explained by its effect on wetted surface area. :-) Great photos: http://oceanlight.com/html/mola_mola.html http://www.earthwindow.com/mola.html Other good sites: http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/tharsis/molidae.html http://www.austmus.gov.au/fish/fishenq/mola.htm What a cool fish! Dan Hagen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
As a follow-up to my earlier message about your probably having seen a basking shark, see the following url's: http://www.mbl.edu/html/MISC/basking.html http://www.isle-of-man.com/interests/shark/scient.htm Also, search with www.metacrawler.com for the term 'basking shark' Hope this helps, --allan On Mon, 4 Oct 1999 08:28:07 -0400, Lorraine&Dennis wrote: >I was paddling between Portsmouth, NH and the Isles of Shoals yesterday with >a couple of friends. A couple of miles off the coast you usually encounter >a good current(especially on the ebb). As we were crossing this area we saw >a large fin flopping back and forth, drifting toward us. This thing was >BIG. The fin would stick out of the water 18-24 inches and then kind of >flop back down. >We drifted with it for a little while. The body looked to be close to four >feet tall and maybe five feet long. It was hard to tell how tall it was >from fin tip to fin tip. It wasn't really swimming, rather occasionally >'flopping' to give itself direction. > >None of us had ever seen one but we assumed it was a sunfish. Does anybody >know more about these? What is their range? How big do they get? What do >they eat? What eats them? > >Thanks >Dennis > >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ >*************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Allan McLane wrote: > > As a follow-up to my earlier message about your probably having > seen a basking shark, see the following url's: ...<snip>... >From the information in these sites it seems likely that the fish Dennis saw was *not* a basking shark. He describes it as having a body that "looked to be close to four feet tall and maybe five feet long". This is consistent with a sunfish, but not a basking shark. These large sunfish bask at the surface (like basking sharks), and are often mistaken for sharks from a distance, but up close it is easy to tell them apart due to their radically different body shapes. I think that Dennis got it right--his description is in every way consistent with a sunfish. Dan Hagen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> From: "Allan McLane" <amcl_at_sover.net> > > You probably saw a basking shark. They are a large fish and quite common in NE waters. > > --allan They are a large fish that reach up to around 35 feet in length. The size of the fin relative to the size of the fish which Dennis said was about four feet by five feet would not indicate a basking shark, imo. Cheers, Jackie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I stand corrected ;] Down the coast of Maine I have not seen a sunfish, as far as I know, but have seen several basking sharks. They -are- impressive sights! --allan On Mon, 4 Oct 1999 08:56:29 -0700 (PDT), Jackie Fenton wrote: >> From: "Allan McLane" <amcl_at_sover.net> >> >> You probably saw a basking shark. They are a large fish and quite common in NE waters. >> >> --allan > >They are a large fish that reach up to around 35 feet in length. The size of >the fin relative to the size of the fish which Dennis said was about four feet >by five feet would not indicate a basking shark, imo. > >Cheers, > >Jackie >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ >*************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> From: "Allan McLane" <amcl_at_sover.net> > Down the coast of Maine I have not seen a sunfish, as far as I know, but > have seen several basking sharks. They -are- impressive sights! I'll bet they are :-) Tell me, have you seen one from a kayak? Would impress me a lot to be paddling in my sea lion and see a shark almost twice as long as my kayak swim by.... btw, for those that don't know, basking sharks are harmless to humans. Just very big. It is the second of all largest fish, the whale shark being the first at about 40 feet in length (also harmless). Cheers, Jackie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
It is also important to note that the most dangerous sharks do not swim in the water. There is one very well known to students called Stafford Loan shark, which does not release its bite for years after graduation. But the most dangerous of all is called Providian. That shark bites with a $450 finance charge in addition to 21% interest every month. Throw it to the garbage can while it is still a baby and you will be safe. :-)) - Julio > btw, for those that don't know, basking sharks are harmless to humans. Just > very big. It is the second of all largest fish, the whale shark being > the first at about 40 feet in length (also harmless). > Jackie > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> Hi Dennis, I'm pretty sure it was a sunfish. I've come across two this year in August off the Maine coast. One off the North side Kimball Head -Isle, Au Haut and the other a few yards off Oversett Is.-Casco bay. The Casco one was quite sluggish and as I paddled right over to it, I could see the propeller marks on it's back. Phil *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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