Shark Hunting

Okay... We have been really busy with having family in town. Along with clamming we spent a day and a half making Fireweed Jelly. When my dad got into town it was off to Seward for Shark Hunting!!! It was by far worth every penny we spent to do it. I have never had so much fun. It was a lot of work, but we choose a great charter. The boat ride took us about 3 hours away. One hour of which was through 9 foot seas. Very bumpy, but I thought it was fun. You just had to watch and make sure you didn't fall out of your seat! We saw salmon jumping everywhere. We also saw seals, puffins, glaciers, seagulls (they don't say mine here like Nemo. They just take.)

When we arrived at our fishing spot the captain went over the basics of what to do. We were NOT to reach our hands over the side of the boat to grab our bait when reeling back in. The Salmon Sharks like to chase and will follow the bait up then jump out of the water to catch it. They had us all put our poles down and it wasn't but 15 seconds later that someone had one on and we would have to real up. The sharks were fast and they only wanted us to fight one at a time so the Captain Nate could move the boat with the shark. There were sharks jumping out of the water all the time. It was AWESOME!!! We did take some video and I will attempt to post it later. I got the biggest shark! The captain estimated it at around 400 pounds. The rest were pretty close to that. Me, Scott, our friend Matt and my dad all went. Matt got his first, then Dad. Dad's came up pretty easy, but then when it reached the top it changed its mind and put up a great show. I was next and then Scott. They have to gut the sharks right on the boat. They pee through their skin and the bodies don't know that they are dead, so the meat goes bad it you don't. Between the 4 of us after everything was cute we have about 450 lbs. of shark meat. They say that it has no fish taste and had a pork-like texture. We will let you know!

Our boat was harbored at the end of the dock and it was fun to watch the deck hands put all the sharks in whel barrels and wheel them up to the cleaning area. It's right near a few shops and touristy spots. The tourist were watch people clean there little salmon. When we came up there was definatly a huge crowd. Lots of people were taking pictures with our sharks. It was a blast! Seriously... the pictures don't do this justice. I know that Matt took more and I will get them. It was a long day well worth the effort!