The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-11
hIONTi1tEY'S GIANT SHfRKS.
Disastrous Attemut of Japanese Fishermen
to Take One of Them.

to Take One of Them.
MONTEREY. Cal, June 5-"You know how
initiative the japanese are" said naturalist
Of Monterey. Well. the Chinese for years
have maintained shark fishery here. They
catch small sharks. principally the leopard and
oil sharks. and make fairly good thing out OF
it, The iivers they uso Tor oil. the skins they
sell for shagteen and sword handles. and tho
fins are employed in making some delicacy
dear TO the Chinese palate.
some time ago a japanese appeared hero.
a little black eyed fellow who in very short
time mastered all the ntricaces OF the Chinese
method Of taking sharks. What he was par
ticularly interested in was "a big bono shark
that was supposed to he found of Monterey in
summer. lie was referred to me as O possible
authority. and 1t so happened that could give
the information desired. Monterey Bay Is pc
culiar in this respect. that. apparently. it is the
home OF one OF the largest sharks. an almost
toothess giant that attains n length Of
forty to fifty feet and a weight OF forty
or more tons. Occasionally the Sc large sharks
roam into the bay. feeding upon small fish !;
but in summer. for some reason unknown.
they go offshore about ten miles and lie at the
surface in schools At such times they are
very sluggish and can be approached with lit
tie or no difficulty. and for this reason are
known as baskinG sharks. as they appear to
bask on the surface.
All this told the Japanese all thu time
wondering what he was about. and finally he
unfolded his scheme which was to make a
business Of capturing these monster sharks
ones how much more could be realized from
the large ones2 he reasoned The liver Of one.
he estimated. would be worth large amount
OF money. suggested that the fishing might
be DANGEROUS. but he merely laughed at that,
and to make my story short he appeared in
Monterey some weeks later with Il party OF his
people; believe they brought their boats
around from San FRANCISCO but in any event
hqs II SIS. than wso, % ,oo,.o .,o h,o
Bay. There was sci ool OF large dimensions.
the fish all living awash or on the surface. with
heads in one direction. The sharks were OF
enormous size. and this and the extraordinary
nature OF the school would have demoralized
almost any one. but not the Japanese. They
stood of while. then three boats pulled In.
each with harpoon"r in the bow. The sharks
appeared to be sleeping. lying head on to the
sea and presenting a remarkable spectacle.
Nearer the boats approached until finally they
were fairly in the school. and not shark had
stirred. Then when directly over the big game
the little men, sent the harpoons into them.
The sharks all dashed of. and i9 lew mo
ing along at racehorse, speed. The rope was
soon exhausted and the boats we're jerked
demorai2e the fishermen. One boat was taken
out to sea several miles; two ct hers were car
flen up tne coast. ana tne men began TO thlnR
that they would have to cut away the line. but
finally after the fish had lowed them up and
down the coast and subjected them to many
dangers. theirsp began to decrease. and the
fishermen could lay on to the rope and haul
themselves UP on the fish.
" II was now the lancers turn to do his work.
The sharks appeared to be completely exhaust
ed and one Of the heavy boats was carefully
rowed alongside one Of them. As her bow
went over the giant the lancer thrust his keen
blade into the vitals OF the Ash. A terrible
struggle was expected but the shark merely
moved ahead cunvulsively. and tho fishermen
had every reason to think that IL was dead or
dying: but they had much TO learn about
sharks. The monster did not move. but lay on
the surface perfectly quiet. and two boats soon
made fast, one on each side. trio Ing the huge
fish up with large ropes 80 that It fioated be-
tweun them and about five feet from each boat
this accomplished. sail was set and the boats
They had gone perhaps mile. and the fish,
ermen probably were ielicitatinR themselves
on the capture when without warming. the
fish. which was estimated to be forty feet in
length and to weigh many tons. raised itself
partly out % water and began to strike with its
powerful tail The first blow crushed the star
board boat. beating in the raj and killing two
men and swamping her The shark then
struck on the other side. crushing the port boat
like an eggshell Then It rolled over beating
the water into foam. and with a terrific
lunge disappeared. carrying the boat under
water. The wreck soon came up. with one man
cnging to it. five having been killed or
drowned by. the shark. The survivor driftod
around for hours and was finally picked up
This was the first and last attempt to take the
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