Large dusky shark netted at Zinkwazi Beach

A massive female dusky shark was captured in the shark nets off Zinkwazi Beach last week, causing quite a buzz among locals at the popular swimming and surfing beach.

The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board’s head of operations Mike Anderson-Reade confirmed the sizable catch in their nets on Monday, May 25.

“The shark was captured in net number two in the shark safety gear installed off Zinkwazi Beach. She had a precaudal length of 266cm (that is excluding the caudal or tail fin) and it weighed 340kg,” said Anderson-Reade.

The dusky shark can be found in tropical and temperate oceans cruising at depths of 400m near the continental shelf all the way into the surf zone and other shallow inshore waters.

According to National Geographic, dusky sharks are not necessarily one of the most dangerous sharks but it does have quite a powerful bite.

Dusky sharks may survive up to half a century, but they are slow to grow and to reproduce.

The sharks only reach sexual maturity until about 20 years of age.

Dusky sharks may have a gestation period of up to 22 months, so females only give birth once every three years.

The young sharks congregate at inshore nursery areas along the coasts of South Africa, the southeast United States, and southwest Australia.