The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-01
GIANT rHRASHER SHARK
AMAGANSETT FISHERS MAKE AN
UNEXPECTED CATCH.

tts One Of Che wniptails. which Scat vvhAles
snA tn Death. Do n Feet Ions. weighs 0esD
Pounds and mad strayed From south
ern waters Its CaptSrs Nearly Killed.
The seagoing town Of Am~agansett, l.. L.,
came to the front with another deep sen
fishing story yesterday which even out
ranks the story Of how Capt. josh Edwards
and his four brothers. all captains. landed
a Il foot whale last February and gave
a Lig bull a hot chase across ten miles
Of ocean in March. This time IL is the
capture OF a thrasher shark, which bss
never been known to stray 40 far from
tropical waters and always gets n wide
berth from fishermen who know him.
Notwithstanding the statements Of all
the encyclopedias that the thrasher shark
doesn't generally get to he more than
eighteen feet long. the A~nagansett expert
on the measurements Of sea mons ers re-
ports that this one measured twenty-onc
feet and weighed 300 pounds. lie was
bagged by Capt. George milford AMI Capt.
j. |. hose in an ordinary sturgeon net.
after a two hours fight. in which the sharks
tail got in its work ON the captains power
boat and Almost swamped them five miles
out at sea. Amagansett missed all the
fun because Capt. milford and Capt. Rose
didn't expect to look mp with "A thrasher
when they went out to look at their nets.
Capt milford and Capt. Rose. both
veteran fishermen, are the owners Of "A
sturgeon net which il only twenty feet
wide. but stretches nearly two miles through
the ocean of A~Inagansett. They fish for
sturgeon exclusively, and had their net
dropped TO q depth OF about ten fataoms.
The ends Of the net were fastened to buoys
which would give the signal when anything
in the line Of big fish struck the net. The
nesles are over a foot wide. 40 small iisii
never bother il.
Both the captains are God fearing men.
30 they never visit their net Oh the Sabbath
day. They always take a stroll along tho
beach on Sunday. however. and train a
pair Of marine glasses Oh the buoys To see
IL they can expect anything when they
got out early Monday morning. They
looked yesterday afternoon and observed
hat the sea for many feet around the buoys
was heing beaten into q white foam by the
agitatei movements Of the signals.
The captains both saw il AT the same time.
and without saying "A word TO excuse their
actions they ran along the beach to where
their power boat WAS tied up. They jumped
ia aud were soon tearing across the water
NJ IA great rate. They both Thought that "a
record catch OF sturgeon had landed in the
net and merely wanted to make an
for use this morning.
The power boat had scarcely reached the
point where the water was foaniest when
the two captains saw q monster all AZ
least ten foot long beating, the water fur.
uusly. Then they noticed that the tail
belonged TO the body Of a shark H. long
again. The shark was securely entanglrd
In the heavy meshes Of the net. it, ei orts
TO free itself only fastening II more securely.
ITS q whiptall. as sure a. my names
George" said Capt. milford. Look ont
for him. They don't think anything VI
beating u whale TO death.
just then the shark In his frantic thrash
ing moved dangerously near the power
boat. stirring up such a f,iss thai The BOAT
boat "a little ways OF and mansruvrtzi To
get "a whack at the shark with the heavy
clubs they have for ,sse in expected meet
ings with sea monsters.
We'll nave to hit him OH the nose. it's the
Gully chance we've got to land him. All
yised Capt, ROse.
The fishermen waited around al a safe
distance for two hours. vainly trying Ia
Cunnect with the sharks nose. Finally he
stuck the vulnerable part Of his body
within striking distance of the captains,
and he got two good wali0ps that curled
him up instantly. In a jify they had
passed a running bovine over his head
and around his fin, n he WAS ready Tor
towing.
There was great excitement in Amagan-
sett late in the afternoon when the thraslrr
was finally beacbed and il was found that
the town had been visited by n shark that
hasn't been known TO travel north OF the
West ndies. IL was found to have eight
rows Of teeth, four above and four below.
Its mouth was two feet ride
The thrasher shark. also called the whip
tail, fox shark. sea ape and swingletail.
contains some oil. but shark fishermen
never consider that there is enough to
risk a battle with the thrasher, He fol-
lows gregarious fshes in their migrations
and gets his food by rushing into their
schools and killing and stunning them
with his tail. There have been stories OF
whales killed by the thrasher and of vicious
hahts with sxnrdhah in which the sharks