Tuna_chaser+all.. Fish an stuff pics .. what the heck is that!!

twinkletoes · You have been awarded the Posting Star of Honor!

Tuna_chaser+all.. Fish an stuff pics .. what the heck is that!!

MollieMae01 · Moderator

Those are awesome pics, Twink!! I have no clue how big a horseshoe crab can get, but maybe that one's a fake?? And what the heck is that one on the boat?? I can NOT tell!! Maybe it's a killer whale?? Let's hope tuna chaser can tell us what's happening with that and with all those poor squid!!

PrettyDobie · ~Best In Show~ Senior Board Member!

I would hate to be that surfer in that first pic. LOL and what the heck is that they are unloading from that boat.

StormyWinter · Moderator

The 1st pic I think I would be crying if I was him!

The 2nd pic is a Baracooda (sp)

The 3rd pic I have no clue

The 4th pic is squid

The 5th pic is fake (photoshop)

The 6th pic is some kinda ray.

The 7th pic I want to say babracooda but I think i'm wrong.

And if your asking about if the Ray can get that big yes they can I've seen them upwards of 7 or so feet wide before.

-- Edited by StormyWinter at 21:29, 2005-07-20

tuna_chaser · Post-a-Holic - Give this person a rabies shot!

aaaahhhh, now here is something i can answer. the first one is a big dolphin. it looks so big because the water magnifies it at that angle. .................the second one is a type of needlefish, there are several types................the third one i forgot, but the name is on the tip of my tongue, but i know its not a deep water fish or an eel like most would think, the one being unloaded off of the boat is a mola mola, or sunfish. they are huge and powerful swimmers who feed on jellyfish. we see them almost daily on the boat i work on. they are so cool, and usually not afraid of us and will swim right up to the boat. the one in the pic is the biggest one ive ever seen. the ones i normally see on the ocean are 4 to 15 feet across. i have accidently *wink* hooked them and can tell u i have never landed one as even with tuna equipment was overpowered by them. i could go on all day about mola mola. there mouth is just a round little hole, and they suck up jellyfish like spagetti. the ones on the beach are giant squid, and the pics were taken right here in california. they were all over the place and the sportfishing boats were even selling tickets and taking fisherman out to catch them. it was fun. i caught several myself and made the best calamari ive ever had. i dont know why they came up here as they are usually found deep in mexican waters, but this old salt is gonna guess it was a lack of food issue. the second to last pic is a ray, and an electric type if im not mistaken, but dont quote me on that one. im more knowledgable on sport fish. the last one appears to be a musky. im not big on fresh water fishing and havent been in ages, but that is what it looks like. im happy to try and answer any other questions anyone may have, and thanks for posting those cool pics.

PrettyDobie · ~Best In Show~ Senior Board Member!

Whats a mola mola?

MollieMae01 · Moderator

The second to last pic is a horseshoe crab. I've got a dead one around here somewhere and that's exactly what it looks like, only a whole lot smaller. I think that pic is prolly a fake, I didn't think they got that big. That thing on the back is a tail that they use as a defense against predators, they whip it around and it's sharp on the end, not to mention that they're somewhat spiny on top and their exoskeleton is reallly hard. Correct me if I'm wrong about that pic though, Tuna.

tuna_chaser · Post-a-Holic - Give this person a rabies shot!

ding ding, ty mollie, that is why i said not to quote me on that one. those pics are great, and the one of the sunfish ( mola mola ) makes me wonder if they didnt enhance the pics. the squid ones make me wonder too, cause they were big, but not that big washing up on the beaches here. i saw them first hand. but squid do get that big

twinkletoes · You have been awarded the Posting Star of Honor!

MollieMae01 wrote:

The second to last pic is a horseshoe crab. I've got a dead one around here somewhere and that's exactly what it looks like, only a whole lot smaller. I think that pic is prolly a fake, I didn't think they got that big. That thing on the back is a tail that they use as a defense against predators, they whip it around and it's sharp on the end, not to mention that they're somewhat spiny on top and their exoskeleton is reallly hard. Correct me if I'm wrong about that pic though, Tuna.

you are correct on it being a horse shoe crab like you said i'm sure the pic is a fake.. they only get to the size of a dinner plate at the most and your right about the defense behaviour .. and i wonde if that surfer knew that was a dolphin .. i certainly wouldn't wait to find out

tuna_chaser · Post-a-Holic - Give this person a rabies shot!

the first pic is cool. dolphins do that all the time, and also ride the bow wake on boats and ships. they love the pressure zone in those areas

twinkletoes · You have been awarded the Posting Star of Honor!

the sunfish pic i think is genuine ..they can get freaking huge ..and like that catfish caught in thailand you can get some freakishly large old fish

tuna_chaser · Post-a-Holic - Give this person a rabies shot!

yeah twink, i agree with u. ive seen some big sunfish, but nothing even close to that one. i wonder where that one was caught. i also wonder why they caught it. i dont think u can eat them, and i just dont know what they would be good for.

twinkletoes · You have been awarded the Posting Star of Honor!

yeah it definatly looks like its seen better day lol

twinkletoes · You have been awarded the Posting Star of Honor!

this is another pretty amazing pic~

tuna_chaser · Post-a-Holic - Give this person a rabies shot!

now THAT is an awesome pic!!!! thats the kind of pic that gets me excited!!!! woo hoooo, whites are awesome sharks. i have a tatoo of one

twinkletoes · You have been awarded the Posting Star of Honor!

i was in amazed when i saw it ..i would have loved to have seen that as it happened that close .. they are stunning sharks

tuna_chaser · Post-a-Holic - Give this person a rabies shot!

ive seen thresher sharks do that in the wild before, and ive seen lots of whites, but ive never seen a white shark do that. man would that be cool!!!

lil_exorcist · MAD DOG!

The second pic was one that had gotten passed around right after the Tsunami, Tuna...i believe your are right if i'm remembering correctly, a type of needle fish, but i'd have to locate the website for the study again. Great Whites don't usually breach the water like that, but there is an island called Seal Island (was watching discovery channel this morning SHARK WEEK!!! and they had a thing on it on) Anyways, around this island so far the ocean drops and the sharks actually have enough room to get up to speed to breach the water. I would love to see it in person, but alas I dont have the kind of money to make that trip. Giant squids do get huge, but if you notice the angle of the picture that is was makes those particular ones look bigger than what they might be. Horseshoe crabs dont get bigger than 2 feet I believe. I've seen some walking along Cape May in New Jersey and they weren't much bigger than that. Those are the only ones I know for sure. I'll have to do some searching for "The largest horseshoe crab ever" or something :) perfect project for me, wanting to study marine biology.

MollieMae01 · Moderator

I would really like to know what that 3rd pic is of though. I know I've seen them on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, but I can't remember what kind they are. I think I saw something about how they were mistaken as mermaids when they were first discovered. Is it an oar fish?? I used to have a fish kind of like that in my aquarium when I had it going, it was called a dragon fish and there was another one I had called a rope fish, but it doesn't look like the rope fish. Help, Tuna!!!

twinkletoes · You have been awarded the Posting Star of Honor!

lol TUNA WE NEED YA!!!