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Displaying items by tag: Sixgill Shark

10th May 2017

Sea Anglers Hook 'Record' Sixgill Shark Off Clare Coast

The sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus), one of three shark species with six gills, is usually found in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean

#Angling - A group of sea anglers off the Co Clare coast have hooked what’s thought to be the largest ever sixgill shark caught by rod and line in Europe.

As BBC News reports, English angler Ben Bond struggled for 90 minutes to reel in the 7.5m monster shark, which was photographed for record before being unhooked and released.

“Watching it swim away was probably the best part, I wouldn't want to kill such an impressive creature,” said Bond, who added he was thrilled by the experience off Loop Head last Thursday 4 May.

Though the shark was not weighed, Fishing in Ireland estimates it to be over 1,500lbs — more than 50% larger than a similar shark caught from the same boat off Co Clare just two days before.

BBC News has more on the story HERE.

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland and internationally for many years, with his work appearing in leading sailing publications on both sides of the Atlantic. He has been a regular sailing columnist for four decades with national newspapers in Dublin, and has had several sailing books published in Ireland, the UK, and the US. An active sailor, he has owned a number of boats ranging from a Mirror dinghy to a Contessa 35 cruiser-racer, and has been directly involved in building and campaigning two offshore racers. His cruising experience ranges from Iceland to Spain as well as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, and he has raced three times in both the Fastnet and Round Ireland Races, in addition to sailing on two round Ireland records. A member for ten years of the Council of the Irish Yachting Association (now the Irish Sailing Association), he has been writing for, and at times editing, Ireland's national sailing magazine since its earliest version more than forty years ago