Monthly Archives: September 2011

Interview with fisherman who caught protected great white shark

NBC Los Angeles conducted an interview with Michael Castillo, the fisherman who caught and killed a shark from Huntington Beach Pier last month. The shark in question was a juvenile great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), which is a protected species in California waters. However, Castillo believed he had caught a shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), a species unprotected by law.

A warden from the California Department of Fish and Game examined Castillo’s catch and also identified the shark as a mako. However, the warden took teeth samples from the shark which later confirmed the species as being a white shark. After the shark was positively identified, the warden returned and confiscating the shark.

Castillo was not issued a citation for the white shark. However, NBC LA reports that DFG officials are still investigating the catch, and it will be up to the Orange County District Attorney’s office to decide whether charges will be filed. Castillo maintains that he did not know his catch was a protected white shark.

Man injured in shark attack…by fake shark

USA Today reports that a publicity photographer was injured on the set of “Shark Night 3D” when he was accidentally bitten by an animatronic great white shark featuring a set of real white shark teeth (as seen in the video above). The 12-foot mechanical shark, created by Oscar-winning special-effects Walt Conti, has a full set of white shark teeth that were acquired from the California Academy of Sciences. The shark weighs 1,000lbs and requires two remote operators to control it.

In addition to the mechanical white shark, a 13-foot animatronic hammerhead shark used in the film was also equipped with a full set of genuine shark teeth. Actor Sinqua Walls told USA Today that he cut his hands on the hammerhead shark while filming a fight scene with it.