A Thresher's Tale (Tail): video footage solves a shark's mystery

One of the ocean's most unusual sharks, the thresher shark, has carried with it a great mystery: why the elongated upper caudal (or tail) fin? Suspicions were that it was used to strike and stun its prey. However, there wasn't any definitive documentation (ie: video or motion picture footage) to confirm it. Until now. . .

According to the BBC News, Dr. Chugey Sepulveda of the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research in Oceanside, California, captured some brief images of a thresher shark swatting several smaller fish and stunning or outright injuring them, making them easy prey.

The water visibility is a bit murky and it all happens in a blink of an eye, but the video slows it down to half speed and you can clearly see the shark's unique hunting ability. The BBC doesn't allow for embedding a video, so click on the image below to link to the BBC and view the footage.

Followers of great white sharks at Isla Guadalupe are very familiar with the Pfleger Institute as they were one of the first organizations to do an exhaustive picture cataloging of the island's population of white sharks that migrate there every fall.

Kudos to the Dr. Sepulveda. These are very special sharks - all three species of thresher sharks are listed as "vulnerable to extinction" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Thresher Shark: non-profit dedicated to shark's preservation

Speaking of sharks, here's a species you don't hear too much about and yet faces imminent danger: the thresher shark.

One of the more unusual and distinctive sharks due to its namesake elongated upper caudal fin or tail, it is believed that the shark might use its tail as a hunting device to stun schooling fish. The thresher shark is a popular seafood item in many forms - fresh, dried, salted - and so it's numbers have suffered (all three thresher shark species are listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN).

Here's a post from the Shark Divers blog, discussing one of the few shark organizations devoted to the thresher shark. Based in the Philippines where considerable local fishing, commercial and, sometimes, illegal fishing takes place, this group has their work cut out for them.

Thresher shark research & conservation project

Of the myriad of shark conservation sites worth visiting, none come better then the Thresher shark research & conservation project.

We have been following this site for the past year and are always happy with the vibrant field updates, images, video and news.

Consider taking the time to get to know the team behind the Thresher shark research & conservation project.

Shark conservation efforts are hard enough to get traction with; in places like the Philippines, it's doubly so.

It's takes determination, good outreach, and a serious research program to make a difference.