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                  Capt. Tom's Guide to New England Sharks
DGtiger2.JPG (26657 bytes)  Updated August 14, 2008    - Scituate, Massachusetts
  e-mail  me at   mailto:capt.tom@comcast.net
  This site is primarily about the New England shark species. 
  There is also general information on Sharks   
  This site also contains recreational shark fishing information.       

                 Photos of New England sharks  would be appreciated.

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  Recent Updates:  August 14, 2008.  I have an article on big makos in the August issue of On The Water. 

  July 7, 2008 -  Put a shark photo for you to ID on the  new page I have added  

June 17th, 2008 -  Sandtiger sharks Carcharias taurus have started showing up in Mass. waters.
This is a protected species and should be released unharmed. They have been absent for about 50 years in any great numbers, but in the last few years have made a great comeback here. Many are caught by shore fishermen, while using bait for striped bass. 
Go to this page on the website for more information on that species. New England Sharks      
Shark sighting reports can be made at this link     http://www.masharks.com/Pages/sightings2.html

Max. size: 10  foot fork length (19 feet overall, incl. tail)

Max weight: 900 lbs.
Water temp 58-75 degrees.

There are 2 other species of threshers.  They do not enter the New England area. 
They are:
the big eye thresher, Alopias superciliosus, which gets up north as close as Montauk, New York. 
The pelagic thresher, Alopias pelagicus,  which is not in the Atlantic Ocean. 

The thresher in New England is one of only about 8 shark species out of 453 that are considered warm bodied.  

Being warm bodied usually translates into being more energetic 
in cooler water than the cold blooded shark species.  

The upper lobe of the tail is almost as long as the body section.   This characteristic makes it very easy to separate the threshers from other shark species.

 

 

Thresher Alopias vulpinus  
IGFA Record - 767 lbs. (A. vulpinus)
Maine record - 628 Lbs (A. vulpinus)
Massachusetts record - 548 lbs (A. vulpinus) 

           

Range of the Thresher, Alopias vulpinus

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Thresher Stats
Fork length
 Pounds
9 feet 575 lbs.
8-1/2 500
8 feet 430
7-1/2 360 lbs.
7 feet 305
6-1/2 250
6 feet 210 lbs.

The thresher gets its name from its abnormally long tail that it uses to strike or thresh fish.  They also can strike fishermen with that tail.  So be careful.  

This bizarre shark is a visitor to our area although in very small numbers on the north side of Cape Cod.  

South of Martha's Vineyard seems to be an area with many threshers. 

Threshers are very fast and occasionally  jump clear out of the water when hooked, or when free swimming.  They also wallop a hook bait with their tail and get tail hooked.  A common occurrence with longliners.

Capt. Bill Brown (on the rt.) BillFish Charters Watch Hill, R.I.   with a 526 lb. thresher.

For charter info. Capt. Bill Brown can be reached at : 860-741-3301

(Capt. Bill won the Oak Bluffs 2003 shark tournament with a   506 lb Thresher Shark – which was at that time a Mass. State record . )

In the 2004 OB derby a new Mass. State record  548 LB thresher was  taken aboard the Cookie Too.

 

 

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thresher jumping leonard.jpg (95692 bytes)
Posters of this jumping thresher are available from Michael Leonard.  E-mail him at the above address.

Michael was taking a nature cruise in August 2002 aboard the  schooner Margaret Todd in Bar Harbor, Maine,  when he took this great picture. Capt. Steven Pagels of  Downeast Windjammer Cruises, and Acadia National Park ranger Jack Arnott were witnesses to the event.

This photo above is a naturally occurring event , the fish is free jumping and is not hooked.  

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Capt. Dean Morace photo of a 472 lb thresher

 

This thresher species, the common thresher,  Alopias vulpinus Alopias vulpinus is one of three thresher species in the world.  This is the thresher species that is most likely to  be caught in the New England Area within 50 miles of the coast.

 

The rare bigeye thresher, Alopias superciliosis has  large eyes and grooves on its head.

The pelagic thresher, Alopias pelagicus,  also known as the smalltooth thresher is another rare species. Its teeth are small with what biologists call lateral denticles on one side. What this means is if you look at the teeth, on one side at the lower cutting edge of the tooth you will see a couple of smaller cutting edges. The other two thresher species don't have this characteristic on their teeth.
On July 4th, 2008 a group of striped bass fishermen fishing out side Gloucester Harbor, were live lining a mackerel for stripers  when a thresher takes the bait . It made 3 jumps before breaking loose. 

Photo by Joe Frazzo

Return to  Home Page

Next: in sequence  A profile on the Blue Shark Blue Shark Prionace glauca Blue Shark Prionace glauca

 

Below are links to all the pages on the website.
These links will be at the bottom of every page to help you navigate the site.
Scientific names             Explains the use of common and scientific names of sharks.
New England Sharks      
Tells what shark species come into our coastal New England  waters. 		Species by month           Relationship of blue, thresher, mako and  porbeagle populations during different months.
Thresher Shark            A whole page devoted to the Thresher, Alopias vulpinus. Blue shark                   A whole page devoted to the Blue, Prionace glauca. Lamnidae shark family         Gives characteristics of this interesting shark family. 
Shortfin Mako              A whole page devoted to the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus. 
With some info on the longfin mako.
Isurus paucus.		 Porbeagle                  A whole page devoted to the Porbeagle, Lamna nasus. ID sharks at sea            Suggestions on how to identify free swimming mako, blue, porbeagle and thresher sharks.,
Shark Tables               Shark length /weight tables and some IGFA records.   Books on Sharks      
         		 New England Whites         Information on white sharks in New England waters.  Info on 3 fatal New England shark attacks. 
Mako or porbeagle?       How to differentiate these two  sharks.
Also has a shark Quiz 		Sharky Links     
Links to other shark sites.		 Mass. Bay makos   Photos, and some additional info on makos.
What is a shark ??  Explains how to identify a shark, and distinguish male and female sharks.  bbgkent72dpilogo.jpg (5036 bytes) Oak Bluffs
Monster Shark
Tournament
Information

Fishing Charters
 Whale watching  
Coastal cruises  
Out of Scituate Mass.
Fishing Massachusetts Bay
Shark fishing gear for the beginner.
What you'll need to get started.    		Chumming up sharks for viewing or catching.   How to do this most important task of attracting sharks. How to battle that trophy mako. Some tips to keep you from bungling away a trophy mako.
Jumping mako video clip at end.
Lets go sharkfishing
Gives you an idea of what to expect out there.

Capt. Bill Brown
Sharkfishing

 Fishing For Porbeagles
By Captain Steve James

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