Tuna may taste delicious, but hunting for it is the real treat.
A group of Tofino fishers, including former NHL star Willie Mitchell, recently experienced a rare salmon shark sighting.
Mitchell told the Westerly News that the crew was roughly 120 kilometres offshore, cruising around the Clayoquot Canyon.
sa国际传媒淲e were just doing some rad stuff offshore, exploring and trying to find some tuna,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淲e saw a big fin and got on top of it. We thought it was about an eight-foot white shark at first and then kind of settled down after the sa国际传媒極h my, that is a monster.sa国际传媒�
Tofino nature photographer Jeremy Koreski was fishing with Mitchell and said it was the first time hesa国际传媒檇 ever seen a salmon shark.
sa国际传媒淲hen we first pulled up to it, we just thought it was a blue shark. When yousa国际传媒檙e tuna fishing, you see blue sharks all day,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭hen we got closer and a lot of us thought it was a great whitesa国际传媒ooking down on it from the top, it looked like a great white and we were all kind of freaking out because we were swimming around in the water earlier.sa国际传媒�
He added it wasnsa国际传媒檛 until Jesse Bone of Filter Studios put a camera in the water that the crew realized it was a salmon shark.
Mitchell was thrilled that the animal stuck around for a while, allowing the crew to watch it.
sa国际传媒淔ortunately enough for us, it was just kind of cruising around and doing itsa国际传媒檚 thing and wasnsa国际传媒檛 too spooked so we got a couple of good looks at it,sa国际传媒� Mitchell said.
Along with the shark, Mitchell said the crew spotted white-sided dolphins, false killer whales, humpback whales and even a sei whale, the third largest species of whale on the planet.
sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 what we go out there for. To see rad stuff,sa国际传媒� Mitchell said. sa国际传媒淚f we get a tuna, or two, thatsa国际传媒檚 certainly a bonus. Thatsa国际传媒檚 dinner,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淔ishing and eating tuna is marvellous, but itsa国际传媒檚 what you see out theresa国际传媒ishing is more the vehicle for the adventure.sa国际传媒�
He said tuna lures fishers into the blue water around Clayoquot Canyon.
sa国际传媒淭hey skirt that line because theresa国际传媒檚 so much life in the water. They jump in there and feed and gorge themselves, so thatsa国际传媒檚 where we go,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a completely different ecosystemsa国际传媒tsa国际传媒檚 an hour out there and, because of the upwelling of the shelf, you just start to have an abundance of life from humpback whales to white- sided dolphins to mola mola sunfish, blue sharks, salmon sharks; it just comes alive.sa国际传媒�
Koreski said the canyonsa国际传媒檚 vibrant setting is a paradise for photographers.
sa国际传媒淵ou get out to that canyon and that drop off and all the upwelling brings the wildlife in and you see a lot of really interesting stuff,sa国际传媒� Koreski said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 fantastic out there.sa国际传媒�
Mitchell, who , added the West Coastsa国际传媒檚 abundant wildlife sa国际传媒減uts life into perspective.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淎ll of us play on the west side of Vancouver Island and all the beaches here are our playgrounds. Being a local and just knowing that we are certainly small creatures in the grand scheme of things, certainly we want to respect the ocean and respect whatsa国际传媒檚 in it,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 just an invigorating experience to be here and have all those noises and life and everything just kind of fill your soul and thatsa国际传媒檚 what itsa国际传媒檚 really about. Thatsa国际传媒檚 what I love about being heresa国际传媒he energy just fills the tank. Itsa国际传媒檚 one of the marvellous spots on the planet where you have this big, mountainous backdrop on one side and beautiful Clayoquot Sound where you can explore on so many different capacities.sa国际传媒�
