"MythBusters Shark Week 2008"

Of course the crew here of Shark Diver knows more about this than we will let on:

On a March afternoon, Savage is busy with a 3-foot-long metal rod, a variable-speed drill and red string. He can't hide the "it's always Christmas Day" enthusiasm on his face as he works on his latest contraption: a device to simulate how an injured fish acts in the water. It is for a myth to be explored in an episode to air on the cable channel's "Shark Week" this summer.

The "Shark Week" episodes will be filmed in the Bahamas. A few weeks earlier, the team was in Alaska to examine myths associated with the far north. The last new episode, which aired Feb. 20, was the show's 100th. A new batch of original episodes will begin airing in July, and the crew is preparing those shows now.

S.Africa White Shark Boat Capsizes, 3 Killed

S.Africa Boat Capsizes, 3 Killed

37 minutes ago

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Two Americans and one Norwegian tourist on a South African shark cage diving adventure drowned Sunday when their boat was hit by a freak wave, tourism and rescue officials said.

The 10 passengers and nine crew members onboard were flung into the water when the boat capsized under the wave. Nearby boats rescued 16 people who were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, officials said.

The two Americans and one Norwegian were pronounced dead at the scene, said the head of the Great White Shark Protection Foundation, Mariette Hopley.

The accident happened in Gansbaai, which calls itself the Great White capital of the world because its waters are teeming with sharks. The small town, about two hours from Cape Town, attracts thousands of tourists each year who are lowered into the water in metal cages to view the sharks.

Hopley said the boat had just anchored around 10 a.m. and was preparing to lower the first cage into the water when the freak wave hit. She said there were no sharks in the immediate vicinity at the time.

She said it was the first accident since the advent of shark cage diving in Gansbaai in 1991.

Blow Your Mind-Shark/Sea Horse Pics

A few weeks ago intrepid underwater explorer Karl Stanley took his submarine down the Cayman Trench with some Nat Geo guys for another deep water shark adventure.

Let's back up a bit...

What would you do with a dead racehorse in Roatan, Honduras?

If you're Karl, someone "donates it" to you and you quickly drop it down 1700' and then drop your home made submarine down 1700' to see what arrives to feed on it. Karl wrote:

"National Geographic came down to shoot Six Gill sharks for a special on them- I sank a horse and we saw 5 sharks- we were actually in the middle of a Six Gill feeding frenzy, and they bit the sub".

The next series of images are nothing short of amazing. Like we told you years ago-the animals at this site are simply huge. Last time we got to see these monster Six Gills all we had were a couple of pigs heads...and don't ask us how we got them!

Bill at Congress-Act To Save Sharks?

A new bill is sitting in Congress that might require the bodies of all sharks taken in US Waters to also have fins with them and vice versa.

Shark Diver is in full agreement with the actions taken on this bill but it needs your support.

Here's how you can help today:

US citizens wishing to express support for this important bill should also contact their Representatives in Congress click www.house.gov and type in your zip code.

Many conservationists believe the bill could be improved by adding a requirement that sharks be landed with their fins attached.  Those who agree with this should mention their support for a fins-attached requirement in their letters to Congress.

Thanks all, Sonja

 Sonja Fordham
 Policy Director, Shark Alliance and
 Shark Conservation Program Director, Ocean Conservancy
 c/o Pew Environmental Group
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