This species is one of the easiest game fish to catch found in the southern waters of New Zealand. However, the average is between 25 to 60 pups. They can have very large litters with as many as 135 being recorded. It is essential to process the flesh quickly after capture before the onset of urea decomposition which makes it un-eatable with a strong ammonia smell.īlue sharks are viviparous (their young are born fully formed and swimming). This small blue shark was taken surfcasting at Gentle Annie Beach on the South Island’s West Coast.Īlthough eatable the flesh of the blue shark is quite watery. They reach a maximum fork length of 10 feet. However, when blues reach about 9 feet in length they tend to become heavier in the body rather than growing much longer. The blue shark is more slender than the mako. Unlike the Mako, the blue shark has no keel where the body joins the tail. Its eyes close each time it takes a bite out of something! The large black eye has a circle of white around it and a nictitating membrane that closes over the eye to protect it from struggling prey. The blue fades darker after capture becoming almost black. The blue shark, also known as a blue whaler or blue pointer, lives up to its name with the upper body colouring a strikingly vivid cobalt blue. The blue shark is easily distinguished from the mako by its more slender body. Blue sharks are viviparous – their young are born fully formed and swimming.Home » New Zealand Sea Fishes » Blue Shark – Prionace glauca – also Blue Pointer, Blue Whaler Blue sharks are viviparous – their young are born fully formed and swimming Table of Contents

Size of deep blue shark