# Seal was bitten by 'great white' (BBC)



## Gavin Gait (Aug 14, 2005)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7169415.stm

No great surprise really , our waters are more than warm enough for a Great White to live in.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

The way things are going, pretty soon they'll be warm enough for crocodiles too! Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water -dun dun dun dun dun dun ........

John T.


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## Gavin Gait (Aug 14, 2005)

Not exactly "PC" but a few hundred of these around the coast would thin out the Grey Seal numbers a bit ( there are a historically high number for the last 15 odd years !! ) and bring in the nutters that fancy "swimming wiv da sharks"


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## cboots (Aug 16, 2004)

The first shark attack off Blackpool Beach, now there is one to watch out for.
CBoots


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## Gavin Gait (Aug 14, 2005)

I've seen a photo from a screen grab of the BBC news report and it was definitely a shark bite , I have contacted the photographer direct and asked for permission to upload the photo and will do so only if permission is given.


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## 6639 (Apr 20, 2006)

Sod off! cboots (in the nicest possible way).

I live just up the coast at Fleetwood. 
The last thing I want nibbling my toes when I go paddling is one of those b****rs! neil.


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## Gavin Gait (Aug 14, 2005)

I have been given permission to host 5 of the photos of the Seal from Chris Taylor the photographer.

http://www.trawlerphotos.co.uk/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/714

Davie


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## Tmac1720 (Jun 24, 2005)

cboots said:


> The first shark attack off Blackpool Beach, now there is one to watch out for.
> CBoots


It *wasn't* a shark, just Benjidog in for a dip (Jester)


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## Santos (Mar 16, 2005)

Makes you think, dosnt it. I wouldnt be surprised if it was true and there is the odd great white about the UK coasts. Dont forget the Gulf Stream does still warm certain areas and if one or two have made the long passage then they could well have decided to make the UK their home for a bit.

Chris.


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## Gavin Gait (Aug 14, 2005)

I have had reports of Great Whites since the early 1990's when I worked at the Marine Lab in Aberdeen. The Porbeagle is the Great Whites 1st cousin and its more than at home in our waters and very abundant at this time of year from the North end of Scotland ( Wick to Cape Wrath ) up to the West Shetland basin as that is their main NE Atlantic breeding grounds so if they can survive a Great White can. It would be more surprising if they _weren't_ in our waters really.

I'm just lucky the photographer allowed me access ( and permission to upload them ) to the 5 photos so I could have a good look.

Davie


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## Santos (Mar 16, 2005)

Sorry Guys but this reminds me of a joke :-
A priest was walking along the beach when he came upon two locals pulling another man ashore on the end of a rope. " That's what I like to see," expressed the priest. "Man helping his fellow man!" 

As he was walking away, one local remarked to the other, " The Father doesn't know the first thing about shark fishing, does he ?!"


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## cboots (Aug 16, 2004)

Take comfort guys, here in Oz, when we take the plunge into our oceans we always remind ourselves that one is far more likey to die in a road traffic incident on the way to or from the beach than to do so as a result of a shark attack. Very old Australian joke: "Why are lawyers never attacked by sharks when they go swimming? Professional etiquette."
CBoots


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## JoK (Nov 12, 2006)

I wonder why the shark spit the seal out? Furball maybe?


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## Coastie (Aug 24, 2005)

Before you go swimming, write "Liverpool for the Cup" on your arm and if a shark attacks, just show him that. Not even a shark will swallow that one!!! LOL!


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## Gavin Gait (Aug 14, 2005)

JoK its what they call an Initial kill bite , Great Whites do this in a single move then move away to let the seal die ( its to prevent a thrashing seal from injuring the sharks eyes ) and has been widely studied in GW attacks on Seals in the Pacific and Mediterranean ( how many people realise that there are a breeding biomass of GW's in the Med all around the eastern end right beside the popular swimming resorts !!! )


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## billmaca (Jan 14, 2006)

Pods of killer whales(orcas)are becoming quiet common up here around the pentland firth, and with the number of seals lying around everywhere its only natural for something to come in for an easy meal , its the same ashore up here , thanks to the RSPB etc we've now got mostly silent skies ,no larks etc only Buzzards hawks ,reintroduced red kites, hen harriers, they seem ennamoured with anything that kills, exept man of course


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## wully farquhar (Aug 4, 2005)

*great white*

It was probably that one we hooked before christmas below the Dunnet light Bill,he did take off in that direction. haha.(Jester)


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## jodalo (Sep 24, 2005)

After the film "Jaws" was screened on HMS Leopard the next few times the skipper put the handbrake on and piped "Hands to bathe" over the side that is for those that chose to partake in a swim was not taken up by many over the following months in the Far East.....apart from a few brave or foolhardy souls, myself definately not one of them.


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## SeaStoryWriter (Dec 31, 2006)

We could use a few "snappies" here at our port-the b****y seals have taken over. Last confirmed fatal GW attack on the US West Coast was right here too-some female "nutter" who went out quite often to swim with the seals. Had a frogman get it up the coast since then, but we don't know if it was a GW or some other dentist's dream-nothing recovered, so no teeth to check.


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## cboots (Aug 16, 2004)

Would Billmaca please note that it is the size of the food species that determines the population of the predators, not the reverse as he is suggesting.
CBoots


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## billmaca (Jan 14, 2006)

why then was the sky's of Caithness not full of raptors when there was plenty of small birds 20/30 years ago,?


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## spartan (Jan 20, 2006)

Hi guys small piece in the local paper letters page last night (Norwich evening news).A couple claim to have seen the seal dead and with no bites on it on the waters edge.They claim that it was bitten after it was on the beach.
Cheers
Spartan


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## derekhore (Sep 21, 2007)

Biting a seal in our waters is nothing ... how about this for the English Riviera!!



http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22917219-2,00.html?from=public_rss

:sweat:


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## Gavin Gait (Aug 14, 2005)

spartan said:


> Hi guys small piece in the local paper letters page last night (Norwich evening news).A couple claim to have seen the seal dead and with no bites on it on the waters edge.They claim that it was bitten after it was on the beach.
> Cheers
> Spartan


It is more than possible that they saw an entirely different seal carcass Spartan. The mortality rate for young seals is around 50% and with all the recent storms there will be a lot of dead seals being washed up along our coasts. I am still pretty sure it was a Great White kill bite , everything ties in with the clean bite and when you play with the contrast/brightness balance you can clearly make out the "signature" shape of the GW teeth where they first entered the body...

Lets just say we have nothing to worry about as Great Whites , although able to survive colder water then we ever have , are infrequent visitors so don't worry about going for a swim in the seas around our coasts. there is a permanent population of Great Whites in the eastern Mediterranean and its been over a decade since the last known attack on a human. you are more likely to be run down by a bus/car/hit by a meteorite than bitten by a shark !!

Davie[=P]


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## McFlett (Mar 17, 2007)

I for one don't believe that article derekhore. The roo would've punched the sharks lights out with lightning speed. And what an opportunity with that Great White prowling around just waiting for his next victim!! I'd go swimming. Imagine going down in history as being the very *FIRST* person in Britain to be devoured by one.Your name would be immortalised.


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