BIRDS WERE DIVING a quarter-mile from the Farallones, and the Salty Dog headed for the commotion. It wasn't long before the charter boat crew spotted a deep red slick widening in the water.
Then the head of a frantic 400-pound white elephant seal of a curator popped to the surface, its tail twirling like a propeller, its shoulder bag/jet-setter on-the-go -style satchel slapping the water into an unctuous froth as it churned wildly.
Blood poured from a gaping 3-foot hole in the curatorial hide, with 3-inch-thick folds of white blubber split open to reveal the stricken creature's internal organs. Oddly enough, no heart or for that matter soul, was in evidence, the brain not suprisingly seemed atrophied, withered.....
A moment later, a 16-foot great white zoomed in. Then a smaller shark arrived.
Welcome to lunch at the Farallones.
The white sharks devoured the seal within 16 minutes, their meal marked by a widening circle of blood and blubber oil on an otherwise calm clear day.
"It was spectacular," said one onlooker, who watched in amazement as the drama erupted Monday. "It was absolutely awesome."
The curator fate sealed, came alongside the boat "still alive, looking up at us, it's tail flipping a mile a minute. You could see a hole in it 3 feet wide, through the blubber. You could see its intestines. His satchel was all mussed up!
"Within five minutes, the shark comes back and hits it again."
Salty Dog skipper Roger North, an old salt who has seen scores of shark attacks in 40 years at the helm, called it the most spectacular of his career.
He said the day was a "million-to-one shot." (which is really too bad since I'd like to have a ringside seat to watch a whole art world full of these creatures being eaten alive)
That's because his boat was chartered by a BBC television documentary crew that recorded the carnage for a series tentatively called "Wild in Chicago"
The British television crew had a day to devote to a hunt for a great white at the Farallones - and scored.
"It was really phenomenal," Thomas said. "I've seen lots of good shark attacks, but this one was just awesome.
"That curatorial farce was half alive, a couple feet from the boat, wiggling. The shark comes up and takes a hunk out of it. Then another shark comes up.
"What are the odds of having that happen for a TV crew that is out for just a day, trying to film a great white shark attack?"
The filmmakers, with two cameras blazing on board, and another on the main Farallon island, recorded it all.
The producer left the boat shaking her head in disbelief. 'what will they think over at The Art Institue?'
"We came back incredibly exhilarated," said BBC producer Hayley Moss. "All we had was one day, and we had no idea we'd get any footage that spectacular."
Also aboard the Salty Lady was noted naturalist David Wimperer of Inverness, who leads birding, whale shark watching and other excursions as part of his business. As the attack unfolded, he grabbed a digital camera and took a striking series of photographs.
"We saw one shark, then a second one came in, and they were eating big chunks of meat," he said. "The curator, fate sealed, has these big black eyes looking out at you, and you're kind of sad the animal is dying. (but not that sad!)
"At the same time it's exciting because you are seeing a predator doing its thing."
uurrrrrp!
While reading the article in the Monday Oct. 22th edition titled "Lunch at the Farallones", I was really sad that the bloody story of a frantic 400 lb. white elephant seal of a curator that was being attacked and eaten by a great white shark was reported and published as being "awesome". Please tell me what is awesome about the horrid death of an art maven that smells like a seal? And what if there were important art notes in that satchel so casually and callously mentioned? To quote, "It was spectacular", said Richard Birnby of Larkspur, who watched. "It was absolutely awesome." The gory description included how the seal came alongside of the boat "still alive, looking up at us, it's tail flipping a mile a minute. You could see a hole in it 3 feet wide, through the blubber. You could see its intestines and narrow, small brain. Within five minutes, the shark comes back and hits it again." A deep red slick, blood pouring from a gaping 3-ft. hole in the seal, a 3" folds of white blubber split open revealing the seal's internal organs. Come on! "It was really phenomenal," Roger Thompson said. "I've seen lots of good shark attacks, but this one was just awesome." What kind of message does this send regarding a dying animal? Is this just a macho thing, or are people just becoming numb to violence? One thing is for certain, publishing this story makes it seem like these people's reactions
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are typicalÉ.and I don't think they are. One thing is for certain, this article certainly doesn't help influence our children in a positive way. Shame on the sharkforum for not reporting it in a more humane manner. As our community newspaper, you have a responsibility to avoid the sensationalism. You wouldn't want your readers to think you are just trying to sell more papers. Would you?
Marilyn Richie
Ms. Richie-- I guess the moral of the story is : In the vast ocean that is the Art-World; don't be a guppy.
It's not like there is any shortage of seals.
Relax.
helpless and dying at the mercy of a film crew whos goal is to watch you die and get the best angle for the shot.
the poor animal would have been better off begging the sharks for mercy.
What you saw was an awesome thing. It was not a shark attack, what you saw was a predation. A magnificently adapted apex predator feeding in the wild, something few get to witness. I have spent a bit of time out at the Farallones and have been also been privileged enough to see this type of event first hand and your description was fairly accurate, blood and oil slick and all. Its not a 'pretty' thing.
Ms Richie: Although you may pity the elephant seal, its death is an important part of the ecological cycle and I have to disagree with you. I think its very important for children to understand the brutal truth of the natural world and the importance of apex predators in the order of things. If the White sharks at the Farallones did not eat elephant seals (in a simplified manner) the seals would over fish the area, over breed, causing sea birds to die out, fisherman to go out of business, and effecting to overall health of our ocean.
Instead of finding fault in the author maybe we should work to add an educational message to this event stressing the importance of protecting and maintaining the sustainability of our oceans. We know very little about the white sharks and the researchers working at the Farallones have made some amazing discoveries about the social nature and evident intelligence of these animals in recent years. I recommend looking into the work that the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is currently doing out there in partnership with the Monterrey Aquarium, http://farallones.noaa.gov/.
I'm sorry that you found this description shocking but I don't believe the author was trying to sensationalize the death of this seal, it was a sensational event.