Dana Wharf’s eight hour whale watch trips are fun and they do them once a month. The target is always Whales and other marine life. They take 25 people to Catalina Island, CA for an ultimate whale watching adventure trip. On Friday 3/26/21 Capt Steve Burkhalter aboard the Ocean Adventure encountered the Shark they first thought was a Great White at the east end of Catalina. But it looked very different up close, after review and sending the video and pictures to experts the boat was thrilled to learn his shark was indeed a Salmon Shark. This Shark is often seen in Alaska and we were far from Alaska , he must be visiting for spring break.
As an APEX predator they eat salmon and other fish, squid and other sharks. There is some evidence suggesting that adult salmon sharks include pinnipeds as prey.” Catalina Island is known for squid so perhaps that is why it’s is here. Alisa Shulman Janiger the expert on the trip said that her shark experts said the sighting is very unusual for Southern Cal.
While they have a range from Alaska to Southern California none of our Captains in 50 years have seen one here.