Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:07 pm
Hi all
Newbie to the forum and greatly enjoying digesting all the info -
Here is a article I spotted in the Kerryman online which you may find interesting. I'll be down that way myself with my boat so must keen the eyes peeled and camera handy
Wednesday August 15 2007
A MACKEREL fishing trip off the Maharees turned to terror for anglers when a massive shark towed their 30-foot boat through the water after becoming tangled in ropes.
Two men ? a local and a Belgian tourist ? were fishing west of Gurrig Island, off the tip of the Maharees, when they spotted a 10-metre basking shark swimming towards them.
Swimming with its gaping mouth open, the shark it came right up to the boat that was in its feeding path and then the encounter turned to panic. Its tail got caught in a rope connecting the 30ft boat we were in to a naomhóg that we were towing behind us. Then the shark started to panic,? one of the fishermen, who did not wish to be named, told The Kerryman.It decided to dive and our own boat, a 30-footer, was pulled back with it. We were very lucky that the thwart [seat] on the naomhóg broke before any serious damage was done and the naomhóg popped back up to the surface, the worse for wear?? he said, adding: I?ll be faster with the knife to cut the rope the next time.?
While the men remained calm as the huge shark came towards them, their mood changed to one of terror as it got entangled.I?d never seen one before and I was just amazed as it came towards us with its mouth open under the surface. The ordeal was very frightening and we were certainly relieved that the rope broke when it did,? he said.
How did the men regain their senses after the encounter with such a creature?Well, we stayed on and caught our mackerel but I?ll have the knife to hand in a second if I ever meet one like this again,? he said.
Basking sharks were once very common to Irish waters and intensively fished along the west coast in the last century. The second largest fish after the whale shark, the largest basking shark ever caught was in Canada and measured 12.7 metres and weighed in at 19 tonnes.
The Maharees terror aside, basking sharks are not considered dangerous to humans.
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