San Francisco Chronicle
August 3, 2008

There was a hard tug on the fishing line. The creature at the other end thrashed in vain. Finally, a landing net lifted the struggling fish onto the deck of the boat anchored off Alcatraz Island.

"He's on board!" yelled Mike McGill. "And he's very tired."

A sevengill shark, one of the largest predators in San Francisco Bay, had lost this round.

In the long run, however, the fish is likely to come out ahead.

The shark's captors are its allies - biologists embarking on an unprecedented project researching one of the bay's most mysterious residents by tagging it, releasing it and following its wanderings.

McGill, collections coordinator and dive safety officer at Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco, helped lower the shark into a saltwater holding tank set up moments earlier on the back of the 32-foot boat.

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