The west beach of Selsey was unusually void of bathers this week-end.
On Wednesday a shoal of over 50 sharks came into the RSPB Medmerry Nature Reserve with the high tide for a feast of crabs before escaping out to sea as the tide ebbed.
Video footage shows dozens of
fins circling in the knee-deep water at RSPB's Medmerry wildlife site near
Selsey.
The society says it was an
"unprecedented" group and identified them as smooth-hounds, a type of
shark usually found offshore in coastal waters.
RSPB warden Peter Hughes captured
the footage.
He said: "It was
astonishing. There were just these huge fish everywhere in knee-deep water.
"We assume they were coming
in to feed on the crabs and other marine life that have made their home at
Medmerry.
"We knew in time that (this)
was going to be a great place for wildlife, but I don’t think anyone expected
this!"
A smooth-hound can grow up to 159
cm (5 ft 3 ins) long and weigh more than 13 kg (29 lb).
They are a shallow water shark
species and regularly come close enough to land to be targeted by the shore
angler.
This report courtesy of Sky News
Many people were concerned that the sharks were swimming in the same shallow waters as bathers but smooth-hound sharks. also known as gummy sharks, don’t have razor sharp teeth like other larger species of sharks. Instead their teeth are flattened plates which they use to crunch up crabs along the bottom of the seabed.
Many people were concerned that the sharks were swimming in the same shallow waters as bathers but smooth-hound sharks. also known as gummy sharks, don’t have razor sharp teeth like other larger species of sharks. Instead their teeth are flattened plates which they use to crunch up crabs along the bottom of the seabed.
They are
commonly known as dogfish, and are what is served as Huss, Rock Eel or Rock Salmon
at your local fish and chippie and regularly caught by anglers of the beaches
of the South of England.
Here’s a selection of dogfish that the family have
caught over the last 2 years.
So why not pop down to your local chippie for good old fish and chips –
you never know who you might meet!
Hey Ho!
