Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
BIG EMMA
The four sevengill sharks did quite well, and it wasn't long before
the sta¤ and volunteer divers felt comfortable sharing the tank
with them. Although the design of the exhibit tank successfully
showed visitors the inhabitants of the four di¤erent habitats of
Monterey Bay, it wasn't ideal for sevengills, who normally spend
little time around rocky reefs.
The sevengills had a problem at feeding time when food such
as a whole mackerel fell to the bottom. Using its acute and highly
directional sense of smell, a sevengill would zero in on it and go
down and try to pick it up. Because much of the bottom was rocky,
the sharks su¤ered abrasions on their snouts. They would also oc-
casionally bump the walls while turning around.
Unfortunately, due to repeated bumping, the white-colored
abrasions of the nose skin on some of the sharks didn't heal. We
eventually decided to release them back to the ocean and replace
them with new ones collected in Humboldt Bay.
On one such collecting trip for new sevengills in July 1990, we
put out the baited setlines just as we'd done on previous trips, hop-
ing luck would bless us on our first day with a nice six-footer to
take back to Monterey. When we checked the lines a couple of
hours later, one of them had something on it that definitely didn't
want to come to the boat.
It was quite a struggle to finally get the animal alongside. The
catch turned out to be the largest sevengill that any of us, including
sevengill-experienced Ken Bates, had ever seen. It looked huge and
was far too heavy for the onboard crew to lift into the shark box.
Ken secured the shark alongside, and at idle speed he headed over
to where some oyster harvesters were working in shallow water.
By enlisting their cooperation and muscle, we managed to lift the
shark on board and safely into the box.
The shark was a female, about ten feet long with an estimated
weight of around three hundred pounds. She was close to a world-
record size for sevengills and was certainly the largest ever in an
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