Guadalupe Shark Alert - Shredder Back for Season Nine!

With his distinctive dorsal fin and well known cage diver curiosity Shredder has thrilled divers from around the world for the past nine years.

We named this iconic shark Shredder back in 2003 in an incident that defined this remarkably animal in more ways than one.

See How Shredder Got His Name.

The good news is that our beloved shark is back this week once again thrilling divers after his 2000 mile migration into the deep Pacific and back to Isla Guadalupe.

We are always on the look out for this special and endearing animal and each season when we do not see him in the first pulse of sharks with characters like Bruce we wait with growing concern.

For our divers who have been asking about Shredder this year, he's back and bigger than ever, great news!

Let's go shark diving!

Canadian White Shark Caught?

Great white shark caught in Bay of Fundy

CBC News, 17 August 2011.

A great white shark was caught this week in the Bay of Fundy, the first confirmed great white shark sighting in Atlantic Canada in more than six years.

The three-metre, 272-kilogram shark was caught in a fishing weir by fisherman Wayne Linkletter, near Economy, N.S.

Steve Campana, head of the Canadian Shark Research Laboratory, said the shark was likely looking for fish when it got trapped.

“They’re interested in fish and perhaps small seals and dolphins. It’s very unusual for a great white to attack a person and usually when they do, it’s because they look up and see a surfer on a surfboard and it resembles a seal, which is one of their favourite prey,” said Campana.

Campana added that great white sharks are often more threatened by humans, rather than the other way around.

“Canada is within the range of great white habitat, so they’ve undoubtedly been coming up here since time immemorial,” he said. “It’s just that the population of great whites used to be much larger, at least 10 times larger, just 30 years ago than it is now.”

Campana said the sharks are sometimes seen around Sable Island.

“The great whites will go up there and have a buffet meal of tasty young seal,” he said.

The shark was caught alive but later died.

The head was sent to Halifax’s Museum of Natural History for further study.

White Sharks and Snickers - Good Combo

From time to time commercial interests enlist sharks to sell their products. This week Snickers launched it's new brand using the white shark.

Great stuff, very funny, and terrific graphic rendering of a white shark, with details on individual animals right down to scar and spot patterns. This is not your average Nicorette commercial.

Did we see the spot patterns of Isla Guadalupe's Bruce on the first shark?

Hat Tip: Dorsal Fin Blog

Corkscrew Killers - U.K Ducts vs Greenland Sharks

There's an ongoing Battle Royal between U.K and Canadian researchers with completing theories over corkscrew deaths of seals.

Canadian researcher Zoe Lucas who works on Sable Island has conducted an eight-year study of "corkscrew" seal injuries.

She maintains Greenland Sharks are capable of inflicting such wounds.

However, scientists at the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of St Andrews, U.K have ruled out the possibility of the deaths being caused by sharks. They claim mechanical ducts are causing these wounds.

Having a shark blog that goes back over three years allows us to cover the stranger side of sharks and this enduring predatory mystery.

Underwater Thrills Corkscrew Killer Timeline

April 26 2008 The Mystery

August 8 2008 More from Sable

August 17 2010 UK Corkscrew Killer

August 20 2010 Sharks Ruled Out

August 25 2010 Canadian Researchers Say Shark

As we posted last week, "unless the same set of mechanical variables is present on the remote Sable Island in Canada, their efforts (U.K) leave much to be desired as does the removal of a biological answer to the mystery of the Corkscrew Killer in the U.K"

The Challenge

Underwater Thrills is officially offering a fine bottle (signed) of 2005 Floodplain Proprietor Red from Napa Valley, California to any U.K researcher who can prove without a doubt that the Corkscrew Killer is in fact a man made object or machine.


Further reading Corkscrew Killer Blog.

Secret shark grotto off Western Australia coast near Exmouth

These kind of shark discoveries make sharks folks excited especially when divers come back with brilliant images.

A 31-year-old marine biologist discovered a secret deep-water grotto, seething with 19 grey nurse shark pups, heavily pregnant females and fully-grown males off the coast of Exmouth.

The grey nurse shark mating cave, or aggregation site, is one of the first of its kind to be documented in WA waters.

Ms O'Callaghan got up close and personal with these docile creatures during a 40-minute recreational dive last month. She surfaced with some amazing photos.

Complete Story.

Shark Repelling Bracelet - For what species?

According to Repel Sharks, LLC and Bob Millings this anklet will repel sharks. The theory being that if you wear this item a potential shark bite might be averted.

It is well known that magnets repel some species of sharks but as far as we know none of these studies have been done on much larger charismatic in shore species like Tigers and Hammerheads.

Back in 2007 and again in 2008 we field tested shark repelling magnets in a non scientific study at Isla Guadalupe, Mexico with white sharks.

The results were less then satisfactory, in fact the sharks took no notice of the magnets and proceeded to devour presented hang baits.

So much for the concept and white sharks at least.

Companies that promote shark repelling devices should be bound by industry set testing with multiple species prior to making claims about repelling sharks.

Magnets are no replacement for site knowledge, local conditions, and decisions to remove yourself from the water when sharks are present.

Deep-Sea News Scoop "Chimaera Country"

Deep-Sea News usually get's the goods on all things cool underwater. This week was no exception.

MV Horizon at Isla Guadalupe - Film Production

For the next 20 days the MV Horizon will be at Isla Guadalupe with a film crew from Japan.

They are there to discover and document the "islands inhabitants."

Like the 30 day expedition with the BBC they did last year, the crew are sending back regular updates.

This week the film crew with the help of Captain Spencer witnessed something never before seen at Isla Guadalupe, changing the way we view the wildlife here once again.

Captain Spencers Log Day 4

Again we are off the boat before the sun even has a chance to wake up for the day. Away we go off to capture some more footage of the female elephant seal ready to give birth. Or so we thought... after hours of watching, looking and waiting we come to a sad realization that she is gone. Maybe she moved to another beach or maybe she gave birth over night. Nobody knows all we do know is that she is gone. As we wrap up the morning at the beach we get a rare look into the world of wild animals at their finest.

On the way back to the Horizon we spotted a baby Elephant Seal swimming on the surface, so we headed over to take a look and could immediately tell there was something wrong. Maybe he was sick, or injured, all we knew was that it wasn't looking good for this baby out in shark infested waters. As we followed behind the pup, four dolphins joined in on our curiosity. We thought they might try to take advantage of the wounded seal, but fortunately we were mistaken, the dolphin were actually helping the seal back to shore. As the pup struggled for air the dolphin repeatedly dove and lifted the young pup to the surface to breath. It was AMAZING! The dolphins actually were guiding the seal back to shore.

Never in my life would I think a dolphin had such compassion. After the seal made it to shore the dolphin gave a tail slap on the water, as if to say, "high five!" Then off they went into the wild blue. After lunch we spent time on the boat catching up on some editing and interviews. Then out of no where a 12 foot white shark decided it was sick of being cooped up in the ocean and breached 200 yards from the boat. It was awesome. To see such a large shark launch itself out of the water like that.

Now we know for sure the sharks are here. Maybe tomorrow we will put the cage in and see what is swimming below.

Adios
Captain Spencer

White Sharks - Isla Guadalupe - Video Snack

Over at the Dorsal Fin Blog a very nice video expose on the perils of fishing at white shark hot spot Isla Guadalupe.

Catching a 100lb tuna at this site is exciting, having said tuna "whomped on" by a 15 foot great white? Priceless.

"Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus"

One of the highlights of 2009 was the introduction of the Dorsal Fin Blog to the world of sharks, conservation and media.

It would seem that 2010 will be as informative and amusing under their "seasoned media eye."

Kudos for this weeks media find, Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus. A film that has plenty of cheese for everyone:

Shark Conservation Coverage - Al Jazeera

Surprising and in depth front line coverage of the shark situation in Palau, recently declared a shark sanctuary. As we have said many times in the past shark tourism is a viable bridge solution to sustianable fisheries. When local and regional fishermen have the financial incentive to save sharks they are more than likely to push back against outside fisheries.

Shark Free Marinas - Sport Fishing Magazine

Sustainable shark conservation efforts begin with "One". All it takes is one person with one idea to begin an entire conservation movement.

We would like to salute Doug Olander from Sportfishing Magazine this month for being that "One".

The sport fishing industry in the USA has many industry leaders, those few visionaries that are not afraid to take on serious conservation issues and talk about them.

Doug is one of those leaders and this month wrote full page editorial in Sport Fishing Magazine about the Shark Free Marinas Initiative and others who are working to protect and promote sharks as a sustainable resource.

Unfortunately for Destin Florida they are too late to hear the industry news and act on it. But we have next year and hopefully they will eventually come around to realize that sharks are worth more if we manage them sustainably and not as one time takes for jaws, images and fins.

Kudos to all those who have been the "One" this year from Fiji to the Bahamas and Massachusetts.

Fine Shark Television - BAD

South Pacific is a simply gorgeous piece of underwater film making, shot by the BBC and producer Jonathan Clay.

Naturally you do not shoot the entirety of the South Pacific without a visit with sharks - and the good folks over at Beqa Adventure Divers provided the site, animals, and adventure for this crew.

South Pacific is currently airing in the U.K in an 8 part series to rave reviews.

Keep your eyes open for this glorious piece of underwater eye candy as it makes the rounds to a high definition, 80 inch flat screen, with surround sound, near you.

If you have been waiting to acquire an 80 inch flat screen consider this fair warning. Kudos again to BAD for being involved in this shoot.

Shark Free Marinas - Empowering Change

Shark conservation has been described as a million ants taking down an Elephant. Regular folks taking on the responsibility to lift their phones and make a call for change, or send an email for change to enact shark conservation policy.

It works.

In so many cases from Alibaba.com to the recent House Bill in the US Senate thousands of shark lovers reached out to effect those changes - the million ants taking down an Elephant.

At it's heart that is the power behind the Shark Free Marinas Initiative, you.

The Initiative gives you the tools you need to make lasting and immediate shark conservation change in your region. Not a petition, but actual online tools to send to your local marinas, local news outlets and local government agencies.

Change begins when you see something you feel compelled to act on - a dead shark strung up at a local marina is what got this initiative started in the Bahamas and two locals took up the banner - Duncan Brake and Jillian Morris. Through them and their remarkable efforts the Bimini Sands Marina became the first in the region to go "shark free" and this was while the SFMI website was still in development.

Join us. Shark Conservation starts locally, you make those changes to save sharks - the initiative will give you the tools you need to be successful and actually start saving sharks this week.

Change begins with you. Now and forever. Welcome to the Shark Free Marinas Initiative.

Sharks - Market Demand

Back in 2001 the state of Florida banned chumming for sharks and ended a nascent statewide commercial shark diving industry. Tourists and shark divers then flooded the Bahamas which enjoys a robust commercial shark diving footprint and enhanced revenue stream for local hotels and restaurants.

Back in Florida demand for safe shark encounters did not go away. Enter land based shark tourism, the future of shark encounters worldwide, as more aquariums and theme parks open their enclosures to the public:

Shark Diving Industry - Crossroads Convo

Felix Leander and Wolf Leander are two of the most passionate shark divers our industry have right now. There are few shark conservation efforts they do not push or support. They also free dive with tiger sharks.

Yesterday Felix asked the industry question - How do you segregate sharks from divers without cages?

Here's our response:

Felix,

You bring up a good point. I think there's a place for cageless encounters with tigers, it has precedent all over the world and it works - when hard and fast protocols are in place.

The problems I see are three fold:

1. What happens at one site cannot be taken ad hoc to another. Each site is specific and should be developed with set protocols as stand alone sites. You can take elements from other dives and apply them - but build your own site.

2. Host countries. You have to pay attention to their desires and perceptions of "cageless dives". At the end of the day these are their sharks not ours. Build a program that works with the host country and asks for input.

3. Cageless free diving protocols and mixed use sites. I am all for development of a set aside free diving site in the Bahamas if points 1 and 2 are worked with.

In fact that is the only way it can be done, otherwise it's just an "on the fly experiment" with sharks that gets copied by folks who do not have the talent you and your dad have in the water with these critters.

The passion you two have for tigers is undisputed. The images also. Unfortunately there are also images and videos of a few 20 year old girls in bikini's floating around out there hand feeding and riding tigers - for no apparent reason.

Those images negatively charge the debate, as we have seen recently in Hawaii, and cause the great majority of people who are not as pro shark to once again look at our sport with less than admiration.

Don't forget, as far as the general public, lawmakers and media is concerned we're a bunch of shark yahoos, and that's starting with cages. You add some bikini gal with a tiger and now the conversation ends and the anti-shark diving folks start screaming.

Oh, I know the argument all to well for these encounters, "I do this to prove they are misunderstood".

Yeah. That argument coupled with a very young woman in a string bikini just serves to cement you into the "shark crazies" category. We as an industry have to pay heed to the total perception of the industry.

For too long all we see and hear as industry members are the minority who love shark diving. Being an ambassador for sharks is a good thing.

Let's start being ambassadors for an entire industry. We start losing our ability to interact with sharks at sites shut down via the perception we put forth, we also lose the ability to speak for the animals as well.

Florida is a prime example. After the ban on shark diving we now have guys targeting pregnant hammerheads for world records. Imagine if there had been 8 years of commercial shark diving in Florida with the thousands of divers run through safe programs that we might have leveraged to stop this slaughter?

The silence of that recent kill is deafening. We as an industry failed the sharks in Florida back in 2000 by losing our ability to dive with these animals and speak on their behalf. Are we going to fail them again at Isla Guadalupe, Bahamas, and Hawaii as well?

Convo starts here

The Underwater Channel - Sharky

We have been watching the evolution of the Underwater Channel for a while now. Launched at the same time time as a few other online underwater sites, for a while there we were unsure of this online ventures future.

Oh, how a few months can change things.

For the past year we have been kvetching about the lack of pro shark, pro industry PSA's on the Internet. As it turns out they are on the Underwater Channel this month.

It would look like U.C has found it's stride and now has the content, and the direction, missing from other underwater media sites out there, Kudos.

Double Kudos for the cornucopia of shark conservation content this month.

Editors Note: An idea you guys you might want to take to heart. Make all your video content "link and embed" ready. A conservation video is only as good as the viewing numbers behind it.

YellowPages.com - Shark Media 101

One of the highest trafficked web sites on the Internet, besides porn, is the good old Yellow Pages Online.

So, how do you get your company on the homepage of this website and why would you want to?

For the answers to those questions and more, sign up for our six week course in Commercial Shark Diving Marketing 101.

Or if you are a friend of Shark Diver all you need to do is ask. We're pretty good at this stuff and yes, we always share.

Kudos to Jenna Rose Robbins for the set up!

Rodney Fox - Industry Leadership

This week The Age newspaper in Australia featured an outstanding article on white sharks and commercial shark diving operator Rodney Fox.

Along with son Andrew, the Foxes have remained stand alone industry leaders to shark conservation efforts and the perception of sharks in general. Their operation remains a template for doing things right with big predatory animals.

Some excerpts from the article:

When people come out with us, we make an effort to calm it down to a sort of spiritual, eco-tourism experience. Everybody wants to see sharks jumping up in the air, smashing into the cages, biting the platform, breaking teeth.

So we have to tell people: You're not allowed to touch the sharks. We're not allowed to make them jump out of the water. If we do, the sharks bash themselves up and go away, and it's a lack of respect for such a majestic animal.

Complete Article.

Media Disasters - Elvis Has Left The Building

Last night along with some 4.7 million viewers we watched in horror as actor Joaquin Phoenix imploded on the David Letterman Show. Clearly suffering from metal illness and or chemical abuse Phoenix stumbled through his interview like a homeless person. Letterman, sensing blood in the water, parried with quips about his unkempt appearance and the Unibomber. Letterman is a skillful master of the game and kept this "dead man walking" three ring circus going for as long as he could.

So, what does this have to do with shark diving? As a commercial shark diving operation your brand, your identity, and your credibility is tied into the media, like it or not. Yesterdays debacle by Phoenix serves as a reminder to the dangers of failing to pay attention to every aspect of your media output.

For Phoenix his star power will inevitably lead to a "come back". For shark diving operations that follow the same path, the "come back" is not so easy: