Russ Vetter, Leg II SHARK CRUISE. Today we're working a block due west of Los Angeles. Normally this area has not produced high catch rates, but this year is an exception. Our morning set produces 6 large animals including the largest blue shark of the trip at seven and a half feet (231 centimeters) from the tip of its nose to the fork of its tail. (To find out how we put out the lines for a set, check out Carl Safina's blog. He accompanied the ship on the Leg I.) This large male was better behaved than we expected. We were able to get him into the cradle despite some initial misgivings!

The blue sharks tend to dive straight down once they get near the cradle and at that point it is a matter of who is stronger: the shark or the leader. In this case the wire leader held and we were able to guide and pull him into the cradle. Shortly thereafter we lost a large mako that was estimated at 7 ft. This one shook off the hook as he was coming alongside the ship. The take-home message is: Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield.

The afternoon set was our greatest amount of animals by weight, if not by number. Nineteen makos may not seem like a lot but imagine 19 football tackles in one hour and you can imagine how banged up and tired you can get. All of the animals seemed ready for a fight. The good news is, this means the animals are in prime condition. We deployed two double-tagged makos, a male and a female, 68 inches (173 centimeters) and 64 inches (162 centimeters) fork length.

It is always fascinating to me how selective fishing gear can be. While we are routinely catching blue and mako sharks, white sharks are common in the area, but are seldom caught by our gear. The Channel Islands are the centers of breeding for many marine mammal species and the numbers of seals and sea lions around the islands can be phenomenal. Along with seals and sea lions come white sharks. We did not catch a white shark today, but one made its presence known by trying to eat one of our large floats. The float must have looked like a sleeping seal (even though the float's orange). The size and spacing of the tooth marks suggests it was quite a large animal. We were glad we did not have to try and tag it. ABOARD THE R/V DAVID STARR JORDAN, off the Channel Islands, California.