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Is there any doubt at all that this was a shark? If so let me know. I've already been exaggerating the story to sound like we had to fight it off with our bare hands...at least I want to hear others agree it was a shark.
That was odd as hell, it sure did act like any shark I've ever seen and the size of that dorsal and no sign of a tail, would lead me to believe that if it was a shark, that baby was BIG !!!!
It looked very much like the Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) we routinely see in the Chesapeake. They sometimes "fly" along the surface while feeding, and their "wing tips" will frequently break the surface, looking somewhat like the dorsal fin of a shark, but usually floppier.
There's plenty of agile sharks that can move as quickly, not just hammerheads. Hammerheads (mostly scalloped) have been documented as far north as 45 degrees N latitude.
However, I agree with the others that the animal in the video is not a shark. As was previously mentioned, if that was the dorsal fin of a shark you would also see the caudal (tail) fin. Most likely it is a ray feeding or removing parasites.
I think it's a ray too... although when we were at Cape Lookout last year we caught about 6 smaller sharks while fishing. No larger than about 2.5 feet. It wouldn't surprise me if there are larger sharks in the Bight though.
Must assuredly not a shark, you will not have seen the dorsal fin like that without seeing the caudal fin as well. My experience would point this towards being a ray also.
Only one way to tell though, go back and have a swim with it be sure to have your camera ready
Well maybe it was a ray....but I still had to fight it off with my bare hands...
I had considered the idea of a stingray but the ones I have seen don't have a fin like that could stick that far out of the water. I may see if I can find some NC fisheries expert for their opinion.
My first thought was the tail of a tarpon, but a ray makes more sense. I've seen sharks, and they didn't look like that. Last one I saw looked like this, in hawaii but not quite as big. Maybe 16 ft instead of this monster.
it is a sun fish they grow quite large,we used to love coming up on one of those with a newbe on board, we would shake fins with them. the dead giveaway is no tailfin ,a cruising shark will always show the tailfin also ivce seen about a thousand of them in the gulf stream,but they do come close to shore
My wife and I were kayaking through the Florida Keys mangroves a couple of years ago and witnessed a similar sight. The guide we were with said the "wings" of spotted rays are commonly seen darting above the water's surface during feeding and mating - which they often do close to the surface.
My wife was later freaked out, when two of them swam directly under her boat, surfacing just a few feet away.
True Blue, I too have seen rays do peculiar things in the backcountry of the Keys, much like the video posted by Pamlicotraveler ... even flying through the air for short distances. Looks like a ray to me also
It was definitely a Sunfish. I found the following; "At first glance you might think it's a shark fin, but the shape and the characteristic back-and-forth sculling motion is quite different from the straight-line motion of the fin of a cruising shark." In this online book, referenced from Wikipedia.
I have seen ocean sunfish (Mola mola) on quite a few occasions too, but only in the ocean. My understanding was this video is from Pamlico Sound. But maybe I made a false assumption??
Was this video taken out in the ocean? It appeared to be in a protected/embayed anchorage.
Also, any time I've seen Mola mola they have sailed along smoothly just below the surface, with a steady, purposeful swimming pattern, making slow graceful turns. Rays on the other hand, will lurch, surge, turn, flop and make a lot of surface commotion, which is what I saw in the video.
We don't have a shark problem. Look, here comes the ferry with another load of summer Tourists!
Chris
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