Ice cold water. Gale force winds...what’s not to like? And then a catch of note. Fishing in the Western Capee Shore Angling Association local competition as part of the Valsbaai angling team, saw Anita Bunn, from Stellenbosch, bagging a 50kg cow shark. As part of their conservation ethos, the shark was safely released. Cow sharks are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, usually in deep water. They are 5 to 15 feet in length. They have a single dorsal fin placed well down on their backs; an anal fin; and six or seven pairs of gill slits, most shark species only have five gill slits. A cow shark has a broad head, small eyes, and short, blunt snout. It gets its common name from the seven gills on each side of the pectoral fins. These unique sea predators have been recorded to live as long as 49 years and are believed to achieve sexual maturity around 1.5 to 2.2m in length. A versatile predator, seven-gill cow sharks eat a diverse range of prey, including fish, cetaceans, rays, and other sharks. Picture: Peter van Vollenstee
Ice cold water. Gale force winds...what’s not to like? And then a catch of note. Fishing in the Western Capee Shore Angling Association local competition as part of the Valsbaai angling team, saw Anita Bunn, from Stellenbosch, bagging a 50kg cow shark. As part of their conservation ethos, the shark was safely released. Cow sharks are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, usually in deep water.
They are 5 to 15 feet in length. They have a single dorsal fin placed well down on their backs; an anal fin; and six or seven pairs of gill slits, most shark species only have five gill slits. A cow shark has a broad head, small eyes, and short, blunt snout.
It gets its common name from the seven gills on each side of the pectoral fins.
These unique sea predators have been recorded to live as long as 49 years and are believed to achieve sexual maturity around 1.5 to 2.2m in length. A versatile predator, seven-gill cow sharks eat a diverse range of prey, including fish, cetaceans, rays, and other sharks. Picture: Peter van Vollenstee