Dusky Whaler Shark

Fishing limits

• Size limit: No minimum legal length.
• Bag limit: A combined Dusky Shark and Bronze Whaler Shark limit of 1 shark per day.
• Boat limit: A total of combined Dusky Shark and Bronze Whaler Shark limit of 3 per day. This applies when 3 or more people are fishing on board.

Fishing gear restrictions apply to metropolitan shark fishing.

Identification

Dusky Sharks have:

• a dark brown to grey colour on the dorsal side
• pale to white underside
• charcoal to black tips on the underside of most fins
• a short, broadly rounded snout
• long upper tail lobes
• triangular, serrated teeth.

Dusky Sharks have a distinct ridge running between the 2 dorsal fins on their back towards their tail. This ridge can also have small wavy lines running away from it.

Some Dusky Sharks have a slimy coating covering the upper side of their body.

They grow slowly and range in size up to 3.5 m, living for up to 55 years.

Dusky Sharks feed on:

• a wide variety of invertebrates
• fish
• squid
• other sharks and rays
• marine mammals.

Habitat

Dusky Sharks live in the continental shelf and gulf waters of South Australia. They are sometimes caught in the same water as Bronze Whaler Sharks.

While mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical waters, they are highly migratory.

Large juveniles move to temperate waters between South Australia and Western Australia during the warmer periods of:

• late spring
• summer
• early autumn.