Goonch? Yes, a Goonch Dammit!

Every once in a while we get a fish story that just sticks in our craw...like for instance this story from last week of the Goonch.

Yes, we know we're a shark blog but the story of a wild Killer Catfish in the high Himalayan Mountains attacking honest and hardworking villagers was just too juicy to pass up.

It could be the name that got us...Goonch, or the story...probably the name.

Anyway this thing stuck on us so badly we looked into it and "surprise" there's a mess of Goonch related websites out there if you're interested:

1. Killer Goonch Fishing India

2. Katmaster Forum Goonch?

3. Blogfish Goonch!

Always Fish for Sharks With a CPR Buddy

You can file this latest beer fueled shark fishing story under "Shaudenfreuder" or any other Nordic word for "You got what was coming to ya buddy".

Turns out sharks do have the last laugh sometimes, it also turns out this guy was from a place in Australia called..."Darwin":

Man Bites Shark:

"I just pulled it on board and it thrashed around a little bit and the hook sliced my leg," he said. “The hook did more damage than the shark. There was blood going everywhere. I reckon I would have lost liters. I had to lay down and Jacky had to drive the boat back in."

Aquarium of the Pacific-Sea Fare

Shark Diver is one of the proud primary sponsors of the Aquarium of the Pacific's annual Sea Fare event set to go off October 18, 2008. The crew of Shark Diver and some of our special invited guests will be on hand.

Sea Fare is an evening of culinary delights prepared by top local chefs accompanied by wines and incredible brews by local providers at the aquarium.

This special evening also includes a silent and live auction and their popular "Live music, dancing, and an open bar" in an after hours setting at the Aquarium.

To view several of Sea Fares hot auction items (including free trips to Isla Guadalupe), click here. You can purchase tickets at their special 10th Anniversary price of $100 each by calling (562) 437-FISH(3474)

See you this weekend!

Guadalupe Island-Sharks, Tuna, Wildlife

Isla Guadalupe is wild place. Big game fishermen come here looking for monster tuna, divers come here looking for the sharks that sometimes feed on the tuna.

Occasionally the two meet at the same place at the same time, usually with spectacular results as a recent article in 976-TUNA will attest:

"Guadalupe Island provides both agony and ecstasy for anglers fishing its waters. The weather can be flat calm or brutal. The fishing can be epic or dismally slow. The dolphins, fur seals, elephant seals, whales, great whites, sea birds and flying fish provide continual entertainment for the naturalist in all of us."

For those few who have witnessed the sudden and very violent 2300lb addition to their catch, these words are nothing short of poetic.

Shark Divers-Classified Projects

Since the launch of Shark Divers a few months ago we have been busy with interesting projects and proposals ranging from white papers on shark tourism to this latest project off the big Island that Luke Tipple is on right now. While the report he's sent in is a little "dry"-due to the sensitivity of the project we can only reveal a few details:

Sitting here in my makeshift office (undisclosed hotel in Hawaii) I can’t help but grin. I was woken this morning by the subtle sounds of the pacific ocean washing up on the shores of the Big Island of Hawaii and this is certainly a day that I don’t mind having to work.

I’ve been on Hawaii now for about a week working on a project that regrettably I can’t talk too much about. This year has been a record year for shark sightings on the big Island of Hawaii with many popular tourist beaches being shut down due to large Tiger Sharks cruising the coast a little too close for comfort. Partly due to this Shark Divers was contracted by a private company to assess the danger inherent with their ocean going activities. The necessary legals and non-disclosure agreements between our companies restricts me from divulging exactly what their product is but what I can say is that their technology stands a chance of revolutionizing the way we study the ocean. With military and biological applications and potential 8 figure investments (yup, millions and millions of bucks) this is extremely important technology and highly classified… and I’ve had the privilege of seeing it first hand!

So the last week has been spent diving and training with some really smart and very cool people, who just happen to have one of the greatest offices on the planet! I’m now shacked up in my hotel writing the safety manual and soaking up some Hawaiian joy.