I don’t go to Ocean Shores to surf much. The waves aren’t nearly as consistent as across the other side of Grays Harbor. I’ve been skunked more times in O Shores than anywhere else. Why do i keep going there? Mainly cause everyone else takes a left at Aberdeen.
However, the other day i did go there to explore. Almost predictably i got more or less skunked. But i did come across a sweet new store.
Check out the entrance!
They sell shark everything. Shark towels, shark coffee mugs, shark hats (with bite marks), ash trays, face masks. They even sell baby sharks-in-a-jar.
Also, while we were surfing, there were a ton of silver minnows swimming all over. There were a bunch of seals and seagulls feasting. Pretty cool to watch. Later in the session we saw a large swirling in the water about 10 yards out…a good 10′ diameter swirl of water. It happend a few times. I didn’t actually see anything alive, but it was enough to get me paddling inside. Yikes.
shark week! been tuning in a bit in the evenings, them’z some pretty sharp critters…
yeah yeah…you guys and your tv’s.
i wish i had one.
SharNarGnarGnar. When was the last attack in WA anyway? Shark factor higher down here IMO.
O-Shores huh?
As far as i know the only shark attack in WA was in 1989. I found out about it on The Shark Research Committee website… more info here:
From: http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm
Ocean Shores, WA — On July 31, 2009 Rick Chastain, his 4 year old son Cooper and 15 year old niece Kiara Drake were in between Damon Road and beach access West Chance A La Mer NW, Ocean Shores at Grays Harbor, Washington. There was a light fog with over a mile of visibility. It was 2:30 PM and the air temperature was approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Chastain reported the following ; “I was watching three to four whales, about 300 yards off the shore, when I caught a glimpse of a dorsal fin in the breakers. As I watched more than one appeared, usually 30 – 40 feet apart from each other. They were traveling across the water rather than up and down. Then as we were watching a seal appeared between us and the sharks. We watched as the sharks would roll in the waves as they were breaking. The sharks would roll and the seal would show up 50 feet or so in either direction. They were actively chasing it up and down the shore. One shark would roll and before it made it under another would surface from the other direction. Then we would see another approximately 30 – 40 feet away from where the first had surfaced. I was watching the Seagulls and it did not seem that they were able to pick up any scraps. At least while I was there. We watched for an hour and they were still actively surfacing when we left. Whether they caught the seal or not I have no idea. But the seal kept surfacing quite aways from where the sharks were each time. I believe there was only one seal. There were many, many people enjoying the warm weather. Many were surfing with long boards and body boards, as well as using boogie boards. Most of them had no idea what was only 100 feet away from them. The sharks appeared to be 12 – 15 feet in length with a dark colored back and dorsal fin and a white underbelly.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.
wow! i always get an errie feeling surfing in oshores–never “feels” that way at Westport. i think it’s cause of all the sea life in water. in the past i’ve been out in the middle of a feeding frenzy–minnows, salmon, porpoises, seals, seagulls….lotta action.
check this out from sissyfish: http://sissyfish.blogspot.com/2009/08/warm-water-cold-blood.html
Shark Week has you pussies all scared. Researchers have already proved that shark encounters almost quadruple during a period of a week prior, and 3 weeks after Shark Week. I wish Discovery would play it all year long to keep the weak away from the beach. Ignorance is bliss!
Yeah, they caught a 7ft Shark in your hood yesterday (Tacoma).
Watch yo self – just because they haven’t bitten, doesn’t mean they won’t bite.
I surf that shiite on the waves, a little fan action with a grind right off the sharks nose – tis tight.
S-o
sam.o that was a six gill shark, you’ll be hard pressed to ever find a record of a six gill shark attack. or….for that matter, a six gill shark in waters above 100 feet. We are safe from these fish, need to worry about the 12 footers feeding on seals @ the surface.
“ki”ller whale’s probably right, you wouldn’t have even heard about that six gill being caught if it wasn’t for shark week. Maybe we should all stay out of the water for a few months just to be safe, (we… meaning you)
I heard that the only six gill attack ever was on somebody’s dog. Also, sixgill’s do come above 100 feet when they are breeding. Its funny actually, because they spend their time in the summer in very shallow water (around river mouths and such, like grays harbor). Fish and Wildlife tracks them, and says that they spend most of their time around the groins. Its not scary since there is absolutley zero chance of being attacked, its just interesting.
Damn CLEM – Bitin’ back.
Not certain we had beef on this blog – but I get it.
Probably not much of a chance I’ll be grinding off one’s nose either – damn, you really straightened me out there.
Oh yeah – butterz is right too. Talk to some oceanographers – they do come up to the surface.
Nothing to fear for sure though – thats not saying I (As in WE) wouldn’t be nervous as hell having one pop up near us. I ain’t no shark expert and if I see one, I get out.
S-o
maybe Clem and Sam O should take it to the beach: http://nwbroweather.com/2009/08/what-to-do-when-the-waves-are-flat
got no beef son, just sayin yo’!
If i see a couple hundred pound fish swimming around me, i’m paddling in too. Don’t get me wrong at all. but talking about shark attacks in Washington state, you might as well talk about being scared of camping in the cascades because at any time a black bear might take you out. Probably not gonna happen.
I’ve seen one of those six gills in 60 feet of water on Whidbey Island. We were scuba diving, dive instructor dood said it was pretty rare to see them because they hang out down deep. I don’t have any scientist friends to ask, but sounds like they come up more often than I thought. Who knew?