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Perdido Pass, Gulf Shores, Alabama (http://www.orangebeach.ws/2007/News/2007-12-17-609lb_Mako_Shark_Photos/Mako_Shark_Caught_near_Perdido_Pass.html)

11 feet long, 609 pounds, caught in a 17 foot boat.  The spot it was original hooked is full of boaters, waverunner riders, and such pretty much all year except during the couple months it gets (kinda) cold. 

Crazy stuff.

(http://www.orangebeach.ws/2007/News/2007-12-17-609lb_Mako_Shark_Photos/Captains_Wade%20Weidenbach_and_Scotty_Bowman.jpg)

Uhm, sharks in the Gulf of Mexico? Am I missing something?

There are tons of sharks along the Gulf Coast. Most of the shark attacks in recent years have been along Florida's Gulf Coast (bull sharks, if memory serves). It is shallow and warm, so you likely won't see great whites, but tropical sharks dig it.

Mako Shark is so goddamn tasty.

I thought he was saying it in the, "Sharks in the Gulf of Mexico? No shit, Sherlock" sense.

Still, 600# is big for a Mako, isn't it?

As for it being where boats and such usually are, that's not uncommon.  Shark Week on Discovery usually has enough "oh hey, look at this pic from a helicopter where you can see 40 sharks swimming less than 200' away from the unsuspecting bathers" pictures to convince me never to go into the ocean farther than my calves.

Hehe, yeah- those shots are spooky. Still, a mako is more of a deep water shark, at least I thought it was. That is pretty close to shore.

Sharks in the GoM definately not uncommon.

Mako shark, on the other hand?   Pretty much unheard of.  Especially not one that is 11 feet long and 600 pounds.

Back when I had my pilots license, I flew down the beaches of Gulf Shores.  You could see the sharks swimming not even 50-100 yards off the breakline.  But those are mostly black fin and the like, not makos.

Shortfin Makos are more prevalent in gulf stream areas so finding one in the GoM isn't that surprising.  They regularly tag shortfins off the coast of Florida for research. They do occasionally go inshore at this time of year aswell. Those measurements don't add up though - 600lbs is either a heavy male or a very light female but the males only reach a length of about 9ft.  If it's 11ft then it's likely to be a female and should be weighing in at over a 1000lbs.  Difficult to tell in the photos - it looks likes it's 10+ft so I'm surprised that it's as light as it is. 

The GoM isn't quite accurate....

Here is where they originally hooked it (400 yards off the beach):

(http://images.google.com/url?q=http://www.buy-the-beach.com/wow1.jpg&usg=AFQjCNHxq7UpC34vH8qQdoVvyOSOwSkORw)

That's Perdido Pass, the picture being taken from the southwest looking northeast.  West is Gulf Shores, east is Orange Beach.

I'm surprised they didn't need a bigger boat.  :oh_i_see:

I'm still laughing that they named their dog 'Chum'  it's stupid funny.