English: Hunting brown sharks (Carcharhinus milberti =Carcharhinus plumbeus) in Great South Bay, Long Island. The shark is harpooned from the bowsprit of a sloop, a bucket being attached to the harpoon line.

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo16amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Text Appearing Before Image:
346 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURXAL
Text Appearing After Image:
Photos by J. T. Nichols Huiiliiif? lirowii sharks ((Uirchiirhinits niillivrli) in Great South Bay, LoiiK IsLind. The shark is harpooned from the bowsprit of a sloop, a bucket l>elng alta<;hed to the harpoon hue. A tender is lowered wliicli picks up the bucket and hauls up to the sliark (upper picture). The shark is then Ian(;eil (middle picture) and haul(;d on board. This spe- cies is not daiit,'erous and is common in this vicinity in summer. In a recently published paper Mr. Kdwin Thoriie, from whose sloop the above pliotoKrai)hs were taken, mentions taking fourteen brown sharks in one day, and of the hundreds he has caught at various limes all but two have been females. These enter the Great South Bay in midsum- mer to give birth to their young and may be found there until Septem- ber. The brown shark feeds on crabs, lobsters, and various fishes. Its fin and tail are seldom seen above the surface, as are those of pelagic sharks quiet at the surface for a long time and that the gill arches are provided with strainers which resemble whalebone. This fish was described l^y the Norwegian bishop Gun- ner in 1765 in a learned paper in which he sought to prove that this must have been the "great fish" that swallowed Jonah. From the standpoint of mere size, the basking shark fulfills all the require- ments, for it is one of the largest of sharks and the in- gestion of a prophet would have entailed no difficulty or inconvenience. A length of fifty feet has been claimed for it, but the available authentic records give a maximum of under forty feet. It is at home in the Arctic seas, but sometimes has strayed as far southward as Virginia and California. In former years it was not uncommon on the New England coast and also on the shores of western P^urope; and it was regularly hunted for its oil in Ireland and Norway. In the early eighteenth century, and in the early part of the last century, it was not infrequently har- pooned by the IVIaine and Massachusetts fishermen, and the liver of a large speci- men has been known to yield twelve barrels of oil. From Eastport, Maine, and Prov- incetown, Massachusetts, and even from the lower harbor of New York, quite a number of individuals rang- ing from twenty-eight to thirty-five feet in length have

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