Blue Shark
Blue sharks patrol Chile's offshore Pacific waters as a naturally occurring pelagic species. Artisanal fishers target them for meat and fins under permit, and a small but growing number of sport anglers pursue them offshore.
OCEARCH has tagged blue sharks in Chilean waters near the Juan Fernández Islands, confirming their presence in the country's oceanic zone.
Scientific Name: Prionace glauca
Also known as Tiburón azul, blue dog
- Deep indigo-blue on the back, vivid bright blue on the flanks, and clean white underneath — one of the most distinctively colored sharks in the ocean.
- Slender, elongated body with a long conical snout, large circular eyes, and scythe-like pectoral fins that are noticeably longer than those of a mako.
- Serrated triangular upper teeth distinguish it from the shortfin mako, which has smooth-edged, narrower teeth.
- Common size around 3 m (10 ft); can reach 4 m and over 200 kg, though fish in that range are uncommon.
What to know
Habitat Distribution
- A wide-ranging pelagic shark present throughout Chile's Pacific EEZ, from northern waters down toward the southern temperate zone.
- Primarily open-ocean and epipelagic, but moves closer inshore where the continental shelf is narrow — which describes much of Chile's coastline.
- Tagged individuals have been documented near the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago, roughly 670 km off the Chilean coast.
- Typically found from the surface down to around 150 m, occasionally deeper.
Key Locations
- Juan Fernández Islands — remote oceanic archipelago where OCEARCH confirmed and tagged blue sharks in Chilean waters.
- Northern Chile offshore zone — artisanal fishers actively target blue sharks here, and a conjoined-twin specimen was documented from this region.
- Chile's central Pacific EEZ — broad offshore zone where blue sharks are encountered by vessels targeting other pelagic species.
Specific Spots
- Offshore blue water well away from the coast, where cooler, clear oceanic water concentrates squid and baitfish that blue sharks follow.
- Around the Juan Fernández Islands, where deep water rises close to the surface and pelagic species congregate.
- Temperature breaks and current edges in open water — blue sharks track these boundaries when hunting.
Blue Shark FAQ
Answers from onWater's species guide.
What are the best lures and bait for Blue Shark?
Whole or cut squid and mackerel are the go-to baits, fished on a wire leader at varying depths in a chum slick. Large skirted trolling lures and heavy metal jigs can draw strikes from blue sharks encountered while trolling offshore, though bait fishing in a slick is more consistent.
What flies work for Blue Shark?
Large baitfish-imitating streamers, Clouser Minnows (which imitate small fish) and Deceiver-style patterns in white, blue, or chartreuse, are the standard starting point in the chum slick.
When is the best time to fish for Blue Shark?
Blue sharks are present in Chilean offshore waters year-round as a highly migratory pelagic species, with no clearly defined closed season.
How do you catch Blue Shark?
Most blue shark fishing in Chile is done by artisanal fishers working offshore with bait and chum under permit. Sport anglers targeting them follow the same basic approach: run offshore into blue water, set a chum slick with cut fish or oil, and present whole squid or fish on a wire leader.
What do Blue Shark eat?
Squid and octopus are the primary draw, carrying squid-imitating jigs or rigging whole squid as bait is the most direct way to match what blue sharks are already hunting offshore. Fish make up a large part of the diet too: mackerel, hake, herring, and similar pelagic species.
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