6 Gill Shark @ Cove 2 - Video

Diver_C · Post by **Diver_C** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:51 am

Pretty cool guys. Sorry Mav.

Pinkpadigal · Post by **Pinkpadigal** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:17 am

Calvin,

Have you let the Seattle Aquarium know about this shark? From what I understand, they are also wanting info on non-tagged sharks as well.

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:18 am

Pinkpadigal, no, I haven't. Who would I contact there to tell?

GillyWeed · Post by **GillyWeed** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:21 am

Ok after leaving the media player open and just being patient I finally got to see it!!!! Whoo Hoo.

Wow what a cool video!

It looks like she just finally stopped and said "alright you guys just take your video and then leave me alone".. She was fed up with you guys chasing her around with your lights.. Kind of like what us girls deal with all the time.. Oh alright I'll just stop and talk to you, what do you want?!?

Very nice Calivn... How lucky you and Nailer and Chef were... Now remind me not to ever dive with you because I am scared of seeing a shark.. and not afraid to admit that.

Just kidding...

Pinkpadigal · Post by **Pinkpadigal** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:23 am

I think you can do it through their website...

http://www.seattleaquarium.org/conserva ... chform.asp

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:39 am

The contact form wasn't working but I called and left a message with instructions to view the video as well. Thanks for the advice Pinkpadigal!

GillyWeed, I was pretty scared too, I have to admit. I've been around sharks before, a couple of times a great many of them at once. But I've never run into such a large one in such poor visibility and with such absence of anything else to eat at the time (tropical sharks have a buffet of options, most of the time).

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:10 pm

In-freakin'-credible!

Great vid. What a great encounter.

GillyWeed · Post by **GillyWeed** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:50 pm

Hey Calvin,

I did the shark dive in the Aquarium in Mooloolaba Queensland. That was actually my first time with gear on. Anyway, I was terrified and these were sharks that were used to seeing people every day, mulitple times a day. And they were sharks in captivity (not that that makes a big difference). But I was scared you-know-waht-less... Nothing so big as your six gill in there with me though. There was a pretty big Nurse shark but I was more scared of the baby tiger shark. It kept wanting to eat the dive masters hands. But its so different when you are in the open ocean and it's a wild animal that you don't know if it has ever seen a human before. I would be glad to be in a wet suit if I saw your six gill.. No one would know I made a mess!!! Better than a dry suit!

You all seemed to have relatively kept your cool. I did see some lights that were kind of shaky... I guess it's better not to turn around and swim away real fast.. Then you really do look like prey.. But I don't know how you couldn't hold your breath!

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:46 pm

Nice video. Sixgills are around all year but are more frequently sighted in the warmer months. The sightings in the winter are usually of smaller Sixgills.

This one is a larger one although it doesn't look like 14' to me. I have seen them on the bottom but the ones that I've seen do that are usually the smaller ones.

In general the ones that stay year round seem to be the smaller ones with the larger ones coming in the warmer months. Obviously there are exceptions to that rule.

While the Aquarium does have repeat customers most of the taggings are not repeats.

I have personally seen fewer Sixgills this year than in past years and reportings seem to be less this year as well. I have seen 27 in the last 4 years but only 3 this year.

I guess I need to get back out at Cove 2 soon. Nice find.

Gray

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 6:33 pm

gcbryan wrote:
This one is a larger one although it doesn't look like 14' to me.

How big does it look to you?

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:47 pm

Nailer99 wrote:
gcbryan wrote:
This one is a larger one although it doesn't look like 14' to me.
How big does it look to you?

It's hard to say without reference points but I would guess 10' or so. That's not to say that it isn't 14'. I'm just curious as to how you guys came up with that figure. It may well be 14'.

When I measure them I swim on top and place my fins by their tail and notice where my head come to and then I swim to that point and estimate how many more feet their are to their head. When possible I then repeat the measurements by swiming along side of them and using my body again as a point of reference.

Burntchef · Post by **Burntchef** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:57 pm

i know me and calvin were along side of it for a few minutes and we both did not match the length of her, this beauty gave us a amazing chance when it stopped and just layed there for us to gawk at.

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:06 pm

Grate Video Calvin
May I share it with family?

i know how exciting this can be rember Charles and I got to swim with one
I dont think the one we seen was near the sise of yours but what a beutyfull shark I am so jeilous

I cant waite to see my next 6 gill they are truly beutyfull and like you siad so gracefull in motion

I for one am also impressed at how powerfull they look yet they are so timed

Sparky

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:01 pm

gcbryan wrote:
Nailer99 wrote:
gcbryan wrote:
This one is a larger one although it doesn't look like 14' to me.
How big does it look to you?
It's hard to say without reference points but I would guess 10' or so. That's not to say that it isn't 14'. I'm just curious as to how you guys came up with that figure. It may well be 14'.

When I measure them I swim on top and place my fins by their tail and notice where my head come to and then I swim to that point and estimate how many more feet their are to their head. When possible I then repeat the measurements by swiming along side of them and using my body again as a point of reference.

Very methodical. I'll keep this method in mind the next time I see one. As to how we estimated it's length- I'm a carpenter, and I measure stuff every day. I'm new to diving, and "seeing" things underwater, but I'm pretty handy at estimating lengths. In my opinion, this thing was at least 12 feet, and I really do think it was longer, because they have elongated tails like thresher sharks.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:18 pm

I can't stop thinking of Lamont's credo: "Sixgill sharks are creepy when they come out of the dark... bring a change of underwear."

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:20 pm

Nailer99 wrote:
gcbryan wrote:
Nailer99 wrote:
gcbryan wrote:
This one is a larger one although it doesn't look like 14' to me.
How big does it look to you?
It's hard to say without reference points but I would guess 10' or so. That's not to say that it isn't 14'. I'm just curious as to how you guys came up with that figure. It may well be 14'.

When I measure them I swim on top and place my fins by their tail and notice where my head come to and then I swim to that point and estimate how many more feet their are to their head. When possible I then repeat the measurements by swiming along side of them and using my body again as a point of reference.
Very methodical. I'll keep this method in mind the next time I see one. As to how we estimated it's length- I'm a carpenter, and I measure stuff every day. I'm new to diving, and "seeing" things underwater, but I'm pretty handy at estimating lengths. In my opinion, this thing was at least 12 feet, and I really do think it was longer, because they have elongated tails like thresher sharks.

It may well have been 14'. They definitely have long tails and from 8' on they are very thick and they are certainly impressive as this one was.

lamont · Post by **lamont** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:01 pm

Sounder wrote:I can't stop thinking of Lamont's credo: "Sixgill sharks are creepy when they come out of the dark... bring a change of underwear."

Yup.

Took me around 150 dives to see my first 6-gill and it was one like this. Big female, very fat around the middle looking less like a 6-8 foot sleek reef shark and more like a small version of Jaws and resembling a 4x4 pickup with teeth. It swam directly at my dive buddy who got out of its way and it slipped off to deeper water completely in Stealth mode, it was gliding without really moving its tail around the whole way. It passed on the other side of my dive buddy and I know it was much bigger than his profile from head-to-fin tips....

The name of the huge female 6-gill often spotten on line runs is 'Blondie'. I don't know if 'Blondie' has any distinctive markings or if that's just become the generic name for any frikkin huge female 6-gills spotted around cove 2. I seem to recall a post on the 5thD list a year or two ago mentioning Blondie not being tagged, though, so that's consistent...

I'd get a little bit creeped out if a 6-gill sat down on the bottom like that for me. That'd make me suspicious that it was trying to hide from me, and I'd rather that 6-gills that I saw just go about their business and not react to me quite that much....

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:58 pm

The good news is that they attack from the top down, pinning their prey against the bottom so it's better to see them below you than above!

ljjames · Post by **ljjames** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:28 pm

I first met blondie napping on the APLPs line between the monolith and I-beams (she was settled on the bottom, right across the line) I will say the immediate thing that came to mind was "huh... strange... the I-beams shouldn't be for another few minutes" and then the I-beams woke up and decided to start swimming around with us...

Aside from the fact that she is much longer than a large truck, her girth is what made an impression on me. She's flippin' HUGE around as well as long...

I thought she was bigger than 15' (I had buddies next to her to compare) but it could have just been the mental image of the I-beams getting up and swimming away that was stuck in my mind...

timid is not a word I would use to describe ANY of the sixgillers I've encountered. Cold blooded hunter, master of their domain, is more like it.

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:33 am

ljjames wrote:
timid is not a word I would use to describe ANY of the sixgillers I've encountered. Cold blooded hunter, master of their domain, is more like it.

I like that. Well put. Welcome to our site, BTW!

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:02 am

Yeah, welcome ljjames!

I wonder if the sixgills also mistake the I-beams for their comrades. Blondie: "Gee, Harry sure is lazy today, laying around for hours on end."

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:33 pm

Wow, I just checked out this video ljjames. That's a terrific project you have going. I learned a great deal. Thanks for sharing!

lamont · Post by **lamont** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:39 pm

I estimated blondie at 12 feet after getting out and taking into account how freaked out i was and that they told me in BOW class that everything looks bigger underwater. My estimate underwater was 14-15 feet.

She looked and moved kind of like a nuclear missile sub... I caught a look at her from the back as she slipped off into deeper waters and none of her fins were moving, she was just gliding perfectly still...

ljjames · Post by **ljjames** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:32 pm

My underwater estimate for blondie was at least 18', which means she's probably 14-15. As I said, my buddies were next to her and they were essentially end to end, to the tip of her tail. (course one of them is kinda short

dsteding · Post by **dsteding** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:14 pm

ljjames wrote: . . . master of their domain . . .

Uh, do you mean this in the Seinfeld sense of the phrase?