Jackster's Blog: August 2009

Turns out Tom King, also a shark expert, was the captain of the boat. Here is his story from his website: http://newenglandsharks.com/shortfin.htm (about 3/4 down the page)

I captain 4 different boats out of the Mill Wharf Marina in Scituate, Mass.

On Thursday August 27th, 2009, I was captaining a 30 foot Grady White, with Capt. Taylor Sears as the mate, and Bob and Pam Mayo from Dartmouth Mass, and their two children, Elizabeth and Ian Mayo, 10 and 12 years old, as the charter.

We left Scituate harbor and went fishing for bluefin tuna near the SW Corner of Stellwagen Bank, about 17 miles away.

Mid morning we hooked a tuna. Bob Mayo had been fighting it for about 40 minutes when the tuna surfaced, and we all saw a mako attack it. The result is the mako took the back section off the tuna.

I carry a wire shark rig in my bag, but since I have used this boat before I had put one onboard previously. We put out the wire shark rig baited with a piece of the mutilated tuna. The charter agreed to let Taylor be the angler.

The mako took the bait and Taylor did a great job as angler. I explained that since we were using a conventional wire shark rig, and not a wind on leader, that we couldn’t get the mako within 15 feet of the rod tip because the wire section would not come through the rod tip. Also, it would be too dangerous to ask the charter to wire up the mako or try to harpoon it. I had the two children get out of the cockpit and stay forward since makos can jump into the cockpit.

Since I have had lot of experience with makos; and we had no wireman, when Taylor brought the shark in as close as he could, I had Taylor put the rod in the forward holder and grab the harpoon while I swung the boat to get the mako within harpoon range off the stern - with the mako’s head pointing away from us.

I told Taylor to stick it behind the dorsal toward the tail. This greatly reduces the problem of the mako jumping into the cockpit. Also they come back tail first on the handline and are easier to tail wrap.

Taylor made a perfect throw and got the harpoon dart into the rear section of the mako.

The enraged mako bolted way from the boat peeling line off the reel in the rod holder and taking the harpoon dart line and the attached ball right out of the cockpit. The ball bounced along the water and went under.

Taylor resumed fighting the mako on the rod, but later on, the snap swivel from the mono running line to the wire leader broke. The snap swivel didn’t open up; it just snapped off.

Now we have to hope the dart in the mako is well placed, and it was.

We saw the ball on the dart line surface and followed it.

When we would get close with the boat, the mako would dive and take the ball under. Eventually, when I would get the ball alongside, Taylor would get the ball back into the cockpit and get on the handline only to have the mako bolt and pull the ball overboard. This happened several times. Finally, Taylor with the help of Bob and Pam Mayo and myself were able to keep the line in the cockpit and bring in the mako, and tail wrap it.

The mako looked to me to be over 500 lbs but when I saw the male claspers I was somewhat disappointed because it would be rare for a male shortfin mako to exceed 500 lbs. (Some female makos will weigh well over a thousand pounds.)

I called State shark biologist John Chisholm and told him we were bringing in a larger than usual male mako.

Steve James weighed in the mako at 624 lbs-an unheard of weigh for a male mako.

Biologist John Chisholm asked if it could be left intact for biologists to dissect the next morning, because there was a lot of scientific interest in this large male mako.

The charter agreed to this. The fish was iced down and left in a tuna bag overnight.

The next morning, Dr. Greg Skomal and John Chisholm from the State, and 2 Federal biologists, dissected it. Samples were taken and will be distributed to the scientific community.

The Mayo family came back and got their mako steaks as promised.
I missed the necropsy that morning, as I was out fishing .

So far it is the largest male mako known to science. - Tom