Tall Tails

Or, perhaps that should be long tails.  

Summer has finally arrived on the Central Coast of California and with warmer water, south swells, and bait balls.  Bait balls, or large schools of bait fish, are easily observed just offshore. Though you can't generally see the fish themselves, what you can see is often just as impressive.  Large flocks of seagulls, dive-bombing pelicans, a froth of seals and sea lions, and evidently thresher sharks as well.

Thresher Shark, photo: www.atlanticanglers.com

About a month or so ago, I paddled out with a friend on a classic summer evening; warm water, sunny skies, kine little chest high peelers coming through on the inside bar.  After about 30 minutes or so, we watched in awe as a 6' thresher shark started to destroy some unlucky thing, thrashing wildly only 50' from where we sat!  

The water cleared, and my friend and I eventually went in as well, not from fear of the thresher so much as fear of what might come sniffing around all the blood and noise.  

Later, over an oil can of Fosters on the bluff above the break, I assured my friend that these shark feed on bait fish and that it would be highly unlikely that they would ever bite a surfer (as we watched it cruise right through the line-up).  

Then a few days later the local paper reports that a surfer at this break was treated for puncture wounds from what was suspected to be a small shark.  

I don't really have an end to this story but I thought it was worth sharing all the same.  Any of you out there in the blog-o-sphere have any fish stories to share?

Until next time, keep your feet up.

Aloha.