Florida Record Sharks some can be beat?

Hi e polk:

That photo you posted of the Black-tip Shark that Sean caught last winter. I don,'t think it is a Black-tip Shark? Looking at the photo, I'm not sure what it is, but I think it is not a Black-tip Shark. On Black-tip Sharks, the leading edge of the dorsal fin starts in front of the trailing edge of the pectoral fin. In the photo, the leading edge of the dorsal fin starts appears to start well behind the trailing edge of the pectorial fin.

It could be a Spinner Shark, but I can not tell by the photo? I also thought it may be a Silky Shark, but again I can not tell from the photo?

Just my humble opinion as I have caught all three of them!

Norman Bateman
Cape Coral, Florida
ncbateman1@aol.com
http://www.ncbateman1.smugmug.com

It may be a spnner but it had a pointed nose, way to pointed to be a silky. I have never payed much attention to the smaller species cause that ant what i am after. Black tips have been a nucance for me untill i started using them for bait. I wanted to release that fish but Sean wanted some meat. It looked like a breeder. We caught it in late october from the beach. All of my sharks come from the beach pier or bridge. That is where my heart is and what i dream about, on the hill, not in a boat. I like boat fishing but i boat fish to produce bait to shark fish.

I looked at the NOAA field guide to sharks caught in the comercial fisheries of the south east US. The book said that the blacktip has a white anal fin. it also said like Norman said that the spinner dorsal is a little farther back than the blacktip dorsal. It says its hard to distinguish between the two. It probaly is a spinner.

I found another pic of that fish and it has black tips on its anal fin so that puts it being a spinner. Great eye Norman. Sorry about the miss ID. Any way, is that a big spinner?