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Blue sharks, graceful sea wolves

Blue shark, Prionace glauca. A female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest Cornwall, UK.

The blue shark, Prionace glauca, is possibly the most beautiful of sharks.  It is a slender, fast and graceful shark, but it is the vivid, almost electric blue colouration that is most striking.

Blue shark, Prionace glauca. A female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest Cornwall, UK.

A blue shark passes close by.

Blues are oceanic sharks, uncommon in shallow coastal waters.  In the tropics they are normally found in deeper, cooler waters, but in temperate seas they are more likely to be found in surface waters (thus are described as being epipelagic).  This does not mean that in temperate waters they occur only in the warmer surface layers.  Recent data from satellite tags have shown that they blues may regularly undertake dives to more than 1000 metres.  One male blue shark, nicknamed Bodi by the researchers, was logged as having dived to 1250 metres off the Bay of Plenty (New Zealand) three weeks after being tagged in 2013.  An earlier joint British- Portuguese study recorded a female blue shark diving to 1160 metres off the coast of Portugal (Queiroz et al, 2012).   This behaviour is probably linked to hunting activity.  Blue sharks are quite catholic in their diet, eating a wide range of mid-water fish and cephalopods,  but appear to be particularly fond of squid, and of course squid will often undertake marked vertical migrations, with many species occurring at considerable depth.  That this deep diving behaviour of blues is primarily foraging for food is supported by a preponderance of deep water quid species found in the gut of contents of blue sharks caught by long-lines, in particular the wonderfully named vampire squid, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, a small deep-water squid those scientific name literally translates as the vampire squid from hell.

In the northern Atlantic at least, they appear to undertake seasonal migrations. They are unusual amongst ocean sharks in that they will sometimes aggregate in groups, often all same sex, as they roam.  This pack-like activity has lead to them being dubbed the wolves of the sea.  Around Southwest Britain blue sharks start to appear in June each year, and hang around until late October or early November.  Although there have been attacks on humans by blue sharks, aggressive behaviour is relatively rare.  Certainly in British waters, where large blues are rarely seen, most are quite timid and easy to scare off accidentally.  The largest blue caught in UK waters was approximately 2.5 metres long and weighed 107kg. This was caught off Penzance, Cornwall, in 2012 (but was also released).  Blues can grow up to 3.5 metres or more (the largest on record was 3.83 metres long) the females being significantly larger than males.

Blue shark, Prionace glauca. A female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest Cornwall, UK.

Blue shark, Prionace glauca. A female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest Cornwall, UK.

An underwater encounter with a blue shark is a wonderful experience, and provided one takes sensible precautions (i.e. wearing gloves, not wearing shiny bits of equipment and NOT trying to feed them) is normally quite safe.  Blue sharks have been one the shark species hardest hit by the practice of shark fining in various parts of the World and there numbers appear to have declined markedly.  Consequently it’s worth remembering that most blue sharks have far more cause to fear us that vice versa.

The above, and more of my blue shark images, can be found on my stock image website www.colinmunroimages.com. They can be licensed for publication, or purchased as fine art prints and canvas wall art.

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References cited: Queiroz N, Humphries NE, Noble LR, Santos AM, Sims DW (2012) Spatial Dynamics and Expanded Vertical Niche of Blue Sharks in Oceanographic Fronts Reveal Habitat Targets for Conservation. PLoS ONE 7(2): e32374. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032374

 

Photographing Blue sharks off Cornwall

Blue shark, Prionace glauca. A female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest Cornwall, UK.

A few days ago I was fortunate enough to get in to the water off Cornwall with a couple of blue sharks (Prionace glauca).  Getting some good images of blues had been high on my ‘to do’ list for several years, but for one reason or another it had not happened. In part this was a result of the dreadful summers we have had in the UK for the past few years; wet and windy and severely limiting the number of days when it was possible to spend all day offshore in a small boat (and limiting even more the number of days one would want to). This summer has so far been perfect, high temperates and light winds.

Blue shark, Prionace glauca.  A female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest Cornwall, UK.

Blue sharks are highly migratory, with strong evidence for there being a single well-mixed population within the Atlantic Ocean and seasonal trans-Atlantic migration.  Some studies indicate a crosswise annual migration across the temperate zone of the Atlantic but evidence for this is inconclusive.  What we do know is that blue sharks start to appear off the tip of Cornwall in early July and remain around Southwest England until late September.

Blue shark, Prionace glauca.  A female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest Cornwall, UK.

Off the tip of Cornwall is one of the best areas to see blues; it also has the advantage of exceptionally clear water.  Most are found at least five miles offshore, so with the longish drive an early start was required.  By 10a.m. we were drifting with the current, a nice fish oil slick trailing from our chum bag, cameras ready and waiting.  The sky was blue, the sun hot, the sea ruffled by a light breeze and our spirits were high.  And we waited.  Mid-afternoon a brief flurry of excitement: two sharks arrived within the space of an hour, grabbed our mackerel bait….. and disappeared.  By 4.30pm our hopes were fading and our thoughts turning to when we could schedule the next trip.  Suddenly at 4.45pm a third shark arrived.  A smallish female, probably around 5ft, but most importantly she showed none of the skittishness of the previous two. She was interested in the fishy smell from our chum bag and she was hanging around.  It took a real effort of will to stay calm, remain on the boat and allow her time to settle – what if she also suddenly disappeared?  However, after a few minutes Charles, the boat skipper, gave us the nod and Richie and I slipped gently and quietly in to the water.  As we swum towards her she showed no fear at all, appearing quite curious about us, to the extent that she temporarily lost interest in the chum bag and began cicling us as we drifted slowly from the boat.  Time and again we would swing around to make close passes, to the extent that she occasionally had to be gently pushed away as she came nose to nose.  A more obliging photographic model I could not have wished for.  Around 20 minutes passed in a flash, at which point she became bored with us and disappeared.  Yet no sooner had we climbed back in to the boat than a larger female arrived.  She definately wasn’t timid; before anyone could react she had grabbed the chum bag and was tearing it to pieces.  Within seconds the water around the boat was a murky brown from the contents of the chum bag and the bag itself shredded.

This was too good an opportunity to miss, all four of us hit the water.  She was a real beauty.  Between 6 and 7 ft long, the most dazzling vivid blue on her dorsal surface with deep indigo patches near her dorsal fin, pure white on her underside.  As she passed close the mating scars left by the males teeth could be clearly seen on her head neck and back.  For more than 30 minutes she hung around. circling us.  It was almost 6pm when we finally climbed out of the water.  Tired but very happy.

passing under a snorkeller

Our trip was on board the RIB of Charles Hood (charleshoodphotography.com).  Charles regularly runs basking shark and blue shark trips from Penzance, Cornwall.  I would heartily recommend him.

All my blue shark photographs are available for licence and some as fine art prints along with all my other stock images at http://colinmunro.photoshelter.com. Or you can contact me directly email me

Signed canvas prints and photographs of my work can be bought through my Etsy Store

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