Milford chronicle., 1961-07-07
The Delaware Shark


Commissioners, for the State of
Delaware report that there is very
little recorded data on sharks in
the Delaware Bay. Species known
to be present in these waters are
the Hammerhead, Dog Thrasher
Brown or Sandbar. They report
that they are not aware of any
deaths attributd TO sharks in Della
ware waters.
I have been interested in the Del
aware sharks for some years. BY
talking to fishermen and others
and reading any and all material
could get my hands on, | have
come up with these facts. The more
you learn about the subject, the
more you know you need to learn
more. If you have any interest in
sharks, the first thing you need to
know is that what you learn may
not be so. have heard that por-
poise and a shark will not fight
that the propose will kill the
shark in a fight and because of
this, the shark will not come close
to a porpoise. had a man tell
me he saw fight between a shark
and a porpoise and the porpoise
played with the shark until it had
killed it with its nose-but in Aus
tralia,. the people who fish for
sharks for a living, tell another
story.
These men cut open the sharks
and find that the sharks favorite
diet is porpoise, or dolphin. Speak
have cut open sharks to find things
like tin cans, wire, parts of men,
bottles, rope and the like. During
the war a mans hand was found
in 14-foot leopard shark. The Fed
eral Bureau of Investigation in
Washington proved it to be the
hand of member of the Armed
Forces on tanker.
The shark Bubble Curtain" used
in New Jersey last year to keep
sharks out of bathing areas, has
been proven of no value against
some of the most common, and
most dangerous sharks like the
tiger.
The copper acetate used in the
shark chaser" (the best the Navy
or Air Force has for shark repell-
ing) has been proven of little val
ne. The dye in this same repellent
also is of little value if the water
is moving away from the man in
the water, faster than the man.
When the dye is thin it only makes
the shark come around for a look
see.
The Survival Manuals. written
during the war told the men the
shark was not so bad, and a noise
would send him away like a dog.
This has been proven wrong too
Manuals written today tell of the
shark danger and point to the fact
that little is known about the shark
and what will help the man in the
water.
The Delaware Bay is again full
of small sharks These sharks have
just been born & have large heads
and long thin tails. Just what the
shark will grow into, is hard to
say. Most shark experts tell the
name of shark by it's teeth. The
shape of the body will tell you If
IL is one of the best known, but
some sharks are so hard to tell
apart few men can name many of
the $50 types.
The Hammerhead has a flat wide
head with eyes at each end, and Is
one of the Delaware Sharks and
one of the easiest to point out. The
white shark was found in nearby
Maryland last year and is white in
color. The blue is blue on top and
with a white belly. 1t has alarge
forward flipper. The tiger is called
tiger because of the stripes it has
when it is born. 1t loses its stripes
later and is dark gray with razor
sharp teeth. The thrasher is a kill
er of whales. One weighing over
three hundred pounds was boated
in Delaware. 1t has an extra long
tail 1t uses to splash the water
with, and drive the smaller fish
into ever-decreasing circles.
The sand shark is the. one most
often seen in Delaware Bay and
could be ten feet in length. The
top fins are about even on top.
| q could say the AMI fin is little
larger than the second dorasal fin,
but l WON'T There are some 9TH
er sharks that just might come to
Delaware this year like the Bull,
Cub or Ground the Mako the Le-
mon or the Nurse. The Dog is al
ways in good supply. They are un-
der four feet and good to eat.