Tuna may taste delicious, but hunting for it is the real treat.
A group of Tofino fishers, including former NHL star Willie Mitchell, recently experienced a rare salmon shark sighting.
Mitchell told the Westerly News that the crew was roughly 120 kilometres offshore, cruising around the Clayoquot Canyon.
鈥淲e were just doing some rad stuff offshore, exploring and trying to find some tuna,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e saw a big fin and got on top of it. We thought it was about an eight-foot white shark at first and then kind of settled down after the 鈥極h my, that is a monster.鈥�
Tofino nature photographer Jeremy Koreski was fishing with Mitchell and said it was the first time he鈥檇 ever seen a salmon shark.
鈥淲hen we first pulled up to it, we just thought it was a blue shark. When you鈥檙e tuna fishing, you see blue sharks all day,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen we got closer and a lot of us thought it was a great white鈥ooking down on it from the top, it looked like a great white and we were all kind of freaking out because we were swimming around in the water earlier.鈥�
He added it wasn鈥檛 until Jesse Bone of Filter Studios put a camera in the water that the crew realized it was a salmon shark.
Mitchell was thrilled that the animal stuck around for a while, allowing the crew to watch it.
鈥淔ortunately enough for us, it was just kind of cruising around and doing it鈥檚 thing and wasn鈥檛 too spooked so we got a couple of good looks at it,鈥� Mitchell said.
Along with the shark, Mitchell said the crew spotted white-sided dolphins, false killer whales, humpback whales and even a sei whale, the third largest species of whale on the planet.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we go out there for. To see rad stuff,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淚f we get a tuna, or two, that鈥檚 certainly a bonus. That鈥檚 dinner,鈥� he said. 鈥淔ishing and eating tuna is marvellous, but it鈥檚 what you see out there鈥ishing is more the vehicle for the adventure.鈥�
He said tuna lures fishers into the blue water around Clayoquot Canyon.
鈥淭hey skirt that line because there鈥檚 so much life in the water. They jump in there and feed and gorge themselves, so that鈥檚 where we go,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a completely different ecosystem鈥t鈥檚 an hour out there and, because of the upwelling of the shelf, you just start to have an abundance of life from humpback whales to white- sided dolphins to mola mola sunfish, blue sharks, salmon sharks; it just comes alive.鈥�
Koreski said the canyon鈥檚 vibrant setting is a paradise for photographers.
鈥淵ou get out to that canyon and that drop off and all the upwelling brings the wildlife in and you see a lot of really interesting stuff,鈥� Koreski said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic out there.鈥�
Mitchell, who , added the West Coast鈥檚 abundant wildlife 鈥減uts life into perspective.鈥�
鈥淎ll of us play on the west side of Vancouver Island and all the beaches here are our playgrounds. Being a local and just knowing that we are certainly small creatures in the grand scheme of things, certainly we want to respect the ocean and respect what鈥檚 in it,鈥� he said. 鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 just an invigorating experience to be here and have all those noises and life and everything just kind of fill your soul and that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 really about. That鈥檚 what I love about being here鈥he energy just fills the tank. It鈥檚 one of the marvellous spots on the planet where you have this big, mountainous backdrop on one side and beautiful Clayoquot Sound where you can explore on so many different capacities.鈥�
