288 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



coastwise distribution in the west is in strong contrast to that in the eastern side of the 

 Atlantic, for while In the latter area it is most often encountered In the tropical-subtropical 

 belt, in the former there are but two published inshore records of It for the entire West 

 Indian region (St. Thomas and Cuba), with one for Florida (Miami) and none for the 

 Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean littoral. But it occurs more commonly there, offshore, than 

 this meagre record would suggest, for It is occasionally caught and often seen out in the 

 open sea around Cuba," while recently (September 1945) one about 12 feet long was taken 

 600 miles ESE. of Bermuda by the research vessel "Atlantis." 



Neither is there any record for It on the coast between southern Florida and Chesa- 

 peake Bay; and stray specimens only have been reported from the coast of Maryland, 

 New Jersey (two records), or from the vicinity of New York (two records) ; this is suffi- 

 cient evidence that Blue Sharks rarely come Inshore anywhere along this extensive sector 

 of the coast. But they are much more common as summer visitors farther to the east and 

 north. For example, 28 were counted 4 to 10 miles off Block Island on August 22, 1943, 

 in an hour's run, with the number seen during the day estimated as 150 to 200.^^ There 

 are many records of specimens taken in the traps close to land at Woods Hole, and it is a 

 well known shark at Nantucket and on the off-lying shoals. Blue Sharks swimming at the 

 surface are a familiar sight to fishermen In summer on Georges Bank, as we can bear wit- 

 ness. It was formerly regarded as a stray only, but it Is now known to be a rather regular 

 summer visitor in the Gulf of Maine, where it appears occasionally in July but more com- 

 monly In August and September, at least as far northward as Platts Bank, where three were 

 caught and others were In sight of the vessel at nearly all times during the day on Septem- 

 ber 3, 1925. Two have been reported recently to us as taken on the Maine coast a few miles 

 east of Casco Bay.^' Many have been seen also within Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bay, 

 and to our own knowledge several have been taken there in recent summers, even close to 

 Boston Harbor,^* 



Still farther to the northward the Blue Shark is quite common In some summers along 

 the Nova Scotian coast as far as Cape Breton, both inshore and on the offshore banks. 

 For example, near Halifax in 1920 It was first reported on August 15, was most plentiful 

 during the last week of that month, and was last reported on October lOth. It has been 

 recorded also as a stray on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. However, It is strictly a 

 summer visitor to the coasts of the northeastern United States and Canada 5 none have been 

 reported there later than mid-October. The great majority of those taken or seen there are 

 of medium or large size. Moreover, it appears that few, if any, females take part in this 

 yearly incursion, for all except two regarding which we have pertinent information have 

 been males. 



21. Personal communication from Luis Howell-Rivero. 



22. Three were harpooned and one, about 21 inches long, was brought into Woods Hole and identified. 



23. Personal communication from Walter H. Rich. 



24. Eighteen were reported to us from Massachusetts during the summer of 1935; measurements and photographs 

 of several of them were contributed by J. R. Lowes, Jr., a shark angler of wide experience. 



