iStockphoto / Alessandro De Maddalena
Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen in Sarasota County, Florida in years occurred earlier this month when a sperm whale carcass wound up on a beach in Venice. I’m born-and-raised in Sarasota and cannot say I’ve ever seen a proper whale (not a dolphin) around here until the sperm whale washed up in Venice and the same can be said for the thousands of locals who showed up at the Jetties in Venice to catch a glimpse of the whale carcass.
The sperm whale actually showed up in Venice still alive but emaciated and unable to swim out of the shallows and it passed away shortly after it was spotted off the beach. After the sperm whale passed, officials made the swift decision to drag the carcass back out into the Gulf of Mexico and away from the beach so the rotting whale carcass wouldn’t attract predators (sharks) to the beach that would pose a threat to swimmers.
On the flip side, so many of my buddies here in Sarasota with boats wanted to find the whale carcass and see what was feeding on it. I’ve heard from several friends who witnessed sharks feeding on the whale carcass after it was dragged out to see. But Capt. Ryan Harrington, a fishing guide out of Tierra Verde who I’ve been fishing with in the past at the Skyway Bridge, shared this incredible video of great white sharks feeding on the whale carcass after it had floated off St. Pete Beach, Florida.
Capt. Ryan Harington, who I came in contact with through another fishing captain here in Florida, Capt. Jimmy Wheeler who owns Everglades Fishing Co., is a wealth of knowledge. He taught me about how the spoonbill birds around here change colors based on diet, which I’d always kind of known, but he explained that the more pink they are the more crustaceans they are eating and the whiter the spoonbills are the more fish they are eating.
So, if you are targeting fish species that prefer crustaceans like redfish, look for the bright pink spoonbills. The same approach can also help match bait if you are fishing with live bait or artificial bait. I thought that was a really cool tip.
When there’s a whale carcass in the water, great white sharks and other sharks show up…
Those same great white sharks feeding on the whale carcass also made the local news here… Seriously, this sperm whale carcass is the most exciting thing to happen in Venice/Sarasota in years.
A major lesson to be gleaned from this is if there is a dead whale in the area that stench in the water is like a beacon to sharks. Great white sharks and other shark species will come from all over to feed on the whale carcass.
It’s not often this happens right on the beach as cities and counties have grown wise and typically drag the carcass back out to sea to make the beach and swimming safe for visitors. But it’s something to be mindful of.
Also, it’s worth noting that dragging the whale carcass out to see is preferable to allowing it to get stuck on the beach not just because of the sharks. The most famous instance of a beached whale causing complete and utter mayhem was 50+ years ago in Florence, Oregon when things got so bad (stench, birds, etc) the town decided to use explosives to blow up the whale… Bad idea.
That is believed to be the very first ‘viral video’ in history. The exploding whale in Oregon. And it’s easy to see why.