Hideous Shark Monster Pulled from Sea of Cortez?

File this under "Montauk Monster," and we predict that this single image will soon become the summer shark freak-out image of 2011.

Hat Hip to Peter Thomas Outdoors for the find - actually we kinda wished he didn't find it.

What you are looking at is a "one-eyed bull shark fetus," pulled from a pregnant animal somewhere off La Paz Mexico.

The eye is the freaky part and we might have called "Faux Shark" on this one until word that renown shark scientist Dr.Felipe Galvan had seen, studied, and produced an initial paper on this otherworldly animal.

Dr.Galvan in tandem with Dr.Mauricio Hoyos are the lead shark researchers at Isla Guadalupe studying white sharks with CICIMAR.

Seal Predation Video at Isla Guadalupe 2010

Filmed with CICIMAR shark researcher Dr.Mauricio Hoyos at Isla Guadalupe in 2010 and featuring an Elephant seal (M. angustirostris) with grievous wounds sustained by resident white sharks.

Welcome to the cycle of life.

Rare Basking shark netted by fishermen off Baja California

Peter Thomas has the scoop on a rare Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) caught by gill netters off the coast of Baja last week.

The last recorded Basking shark in Mexico was in 2003 creating quite a stir within the shark research community.

We contacted Dr. Oscar Sosa-Nishizaki of the Laboratorio de Ecología Pesquera
Departamento de Oceanografía Biológica CICESE and he confirmed, "technicians are taking measurements and details of this animal."

Peter Thomas Blog

Now comes word of a giant basking shark killed, presumably, in the same manner just north of Ensenada off Rosarito Beach. The gruesome photo is courtesy of Cesar Rivera, who shared what little information he had with 976-TUNA. Rivera estimated the basking shark to measure 26 feet, making it a full-sized adult.

Basking sharks, which are filter-feeding plankton-eaters, were once hunted globally for their fins, oil, meat and vitamin-rich livers, and they're classified as either vulnerable or endangered, depending on the region.

Complete coverage here.

Submarines and CICIMAR Guadalupe Island

Interesting video of submarine explorations at Isla Guadalupe with Expedition Jaytay
and CICIMAR's ongoing white shark study at this site:

SharkDiver.com - International Lifestyle Magazine

This month the uber cool International Lifestyle Magazine covered Isla Guadalupe and SharkDiver.com.

The article, by author, writer and adventure persona Jim Cornfield features the world of big animal shark diving with stunning images by Juanmi Alamany who shot with our crews back in 2008.

Shark Diver was the first commercial shark diving company to initiate and support full scale shark research efforts in tandem with Mexico's CICIMAR, and U.C Davis, California at Isla Guadalupe.

As a proof of concept this ongoing shark research effort has now been adopted and is supported by 90% of the operators that use this pristine site. Divers can now donate to research efforts via the Isla Guadalupe Conservation Fund and media sources like Televisa, Mexico are now producing programs that feature this collaborative effort.

See magazine online here.