The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1962-03-02
FAITH EvELYN.S" CATCH
KNOWN AS BASKlNG SHARK

"EAITH EVELYN'S CATCH
KNOWN AS BASKlNG SHARK
The mystery Of Identification sur
rounding the 12-foot-long shark
which was caught by the trawler
"Faith Evelyn" in mid-February
has been solved: Capt. Willie Ethe-
ridge, Jr., Kenny Lou Daniels and j.
T. Daniels of Wanchese snagged
the creature while fishing 80 miles
east-northeast of Oregon Inlet in
80 fathoms of water, but We're un-
able to recall ever having seen a
shark with such peculiar markings.
Apparently nobody at Wanchese
had ever seen q ,crature similar to
the sharp-nosed denizen with its
long upper snout and ivory looking
projection appended to the nose.
The relatively toothless shark,
which appeared harmless enough,
could only chew with its jaw teeth.
In an effort to identify the shark,
Aycock Brown was called on the
scene and, after browsing through
a number of piscatorfal volumes,
was unable to find a picture which
seemed to depict the peculiarities Of
the creature. He submitted a photo
graph to the "News and Observer
without a tag line giving the name
of the shark and hoped that some
one could recall the type and solve
the mystery.
It was 'fbasxing shark, accord
ing to Brown, and he has several
letters to prove it. The most inter-
esting piece of correspondence re-
garding this rare find has come
from the University of North Caro-
lima Institute of Fisheries Research
which reads as follows: "From the
photograph and from the remarks
concerning dentition and condition
of the snout l identify this speci.
men as an immature basking shark
(cetorhinus maximus). The distinc-
tive characteristics of this specie.
are the combination Of the 1unats
caudal fin, the very small teeth, the
shape of the snout at this particu
lar size, the extremely long fill
openings presumably, there arr
extremely long gill rakers on eaci
side of the gill arches) and thu
presence of two dorsal fins ant
anal fin in combination with thi
| type of tail.
The letter, from William E. Fahy
continues by stating that baskini
sharks are sluggish and inoffensiv'
fish which spend q considerable
lpart of their time in coastal water
basking at the surface with thei
backs awash and the tip of theil
SHOUTS and tails visible. Mr.. Fab.
indicates that they move along tn
Surface of the water in this mannel
with their mouths open and feet
on their diet of plankton Cthe mic
roscopically small plant and ANNA
life found in open waters).
4 In the old days, the livers o
basking sharks were used to pro
duce oil, the oil was considere'
nearly or quite equal in quality Il
sperm oil for use in lamps. Sine
then they have been most promi
inent in arousing the curiosity O
fishermen.
j The species was once thought Il
be an Arctic species but it is nov
known to be an inhabitant of tenn
perate and boreal waters. In tn
i North Atlantic it's range is bounde'
on the north by line extending
from the eastern side of the Gul
lof Maine and Newfoundland to I'll
j western and southern coasts Of Ice
Hand. the Orkneys, the Faroes an
Inorthward along western Norwa,
Ito the North Cape with occasiona
reports Of it from the Murmal
coast. On the eastern side Of tn
Atlantic, south Of this line, it is re
ported occasion ally from tn
IEnglish Channel and the North Sc
las far as the Skagerrak and Katie
gat, along the coast Of France an
, 1.-THE Iberian Peninsula, and fror
iii = n a III,