Australia. Sabotaging Eco Tourism?

I hate to say it, but Australia is at it again. After hunting down a tagged shark for simply being too close to shore, they now have declared their intention to "opt out of protections for 5 shark species".

The guardian writes that The government is submitting a “reservation” against three species of thresher shark and two species of hammerhead shark listed as protected migratory species under the UN-administered convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals.
  
The five types of shark were among 31 species granted new protection status at a convention summit in November. A record 21 species of shark and ray, including sawfish, were put on the list along with polar bears, whales and gazelles.

Although Australia did not object to the listings in November, it is now seeking to opt out of the commitment to cooperate with other countries to ensure the five migratory shark species do not become extinct. The expanded list is due to come into effect on 8 February.

Since sharks are a vital part of a healthy ocean environment it seems that the government is not too concerned about losing all the tourists who visit Australia to dive and enjoy the incredible reefs they have. The only ones they care about is the fishermen. The article quotes Alexia Wellbelove, senior program manager at Humane Society International "the opt-out was to appease commercial and recreational fishers, some of whom catch threshers and hammerhead sharks as primary catch or as bycatch for other species. “This is a political decision, it has nothing to do with conservation, which is pretty pathetic really,” she said. “Australia has always spoken out against other countries making reservations under these kinds of treaties, so this move is really concerning.

The article states "A spokesman for the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, said the government’s move was to avoid “unintended consequences” for fishers in Australia, who would risk being fined up to $170,000 and face two years in jail even if they obeyed their permits.  

So they say that their laws are too harsh for the fishermen who kill these sharks and instead of changing the punishment for the killing, they just kill the protection for these sharks. Sound reasoning indeed. (sharkasm intended)

Read the entire article here 

Dashark's reaction here 

I recommend that you send your opinion to the Australian tourism website here and click on the feedback link.  You can also visit their Facebook page and leave a comment there.

If the politicians won't listen to us, maybe their tourist board is more receptive.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver
 
About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

Shark Attack in Australia?

Sky news reports that a teenager was attacked by a shark off Australia's east coast.
The article states that Sam Smith was spearfishing off Mollymook beach, 140 miles (230km) south of Sydney, when a shark bit his hand. The 17-year-old's friend Luke Sisinni said they were both filming when they spotted the shark, with Sam swimming down to get footage. Luke told the Ulladulla Times: "He said it spun around and started coming for him, so he stabbed it with his spear to try and scare it off, but it just went ballistic and bit him."

So these kids are spearfishing and when a shark comes to investigate, one swims down to film it. When the shark turns and swims towards him, he stabs him with his spear and is surprised that the shark went ballistic on him.

I think a headline saying "Teen attacks shark, shark fights back" would be more appropriate. This another typical media hype. Anytime a shark bites a human, they call it a shark attack.

You can read the whole article here

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

Shark Strikes in Australia, a Sheepish Connection?

While the conservation and commercial shark diving worlds mobilize to counter Western Australia's plans for a reversal in white shark protections and a series of limited culls of these magnificent animals in response to several deaths in the region, we came across another interesting sheep/shark connection to this story.

For those who follow this blog we also looked at the sheep/shark connection in Egypt during a series of unprecedented shark strikes last year.

Of course right about now Da Shark, located at his Blogger Bunker somewhere in Fiji, is screaming bloody murder at the very thought of dead sheep thrown into the ocean leading to sharks strikes on humans.

But wait, there's more.

In fact the notion that several hundred dead sheep suddenly dropped into any region might elicit a higher surface predatory response from local sharks is not out of the realm of possibility at all, and even the Humae Society of Australia seems to think this is an issue:

 A spokesperson for the animal protection society, Alexia Wellbelove, said  "thousands of dead sheep ... either whole or minced" were being thrown overboard as ships departed ports for the Middle East "without care or consideration for the consequences".


"It is highly likely that the disposal of animal remains in this way will attract large sharks over a wide distance," Ms Wellbelove said.

So there you have it. All joking aside the real issue as everyone knows are local politicians who will use these unfortunate events to justify more shark nets, a cull structure, and perhaps even a roll back of hard won protections for white sharks in the region.

Kudos to the many hundreds of voices that have jumped on this issue over the past week to say "hell no" and to keep Western Australia white sharks where they belong. In the ocean.

If you want to get involved you can do so here, here and here. 

The sharks thank you.


About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Worlds Largest Marine Reserve? Yes!

Great news for all of us who love the Great White Sharks and all the other creatures that live in the Ocean! The New York Times reports that  Australia Plans World’s Largest Marine Reserve.

According to the report:

Australia plans to create the world’s largest network of marine reserves, encompassing a 3.1 million square kilometer patchwork of coastal waters, the government announced Thursday. The move is aimed at balancing protection for the country’s delicate reefs and marine life, which are facing growing environmental pressures, with the demands of its booming resource-driven economy.

Shredder, swimming at Guadalupe Island

It's great to see that Australia takes a major step to protect the marine environment. The article further states; fishing and oil and gas exploration would be restricted in nearly one-third of Australia’s territorial waters, an area of 1.2 million square miles that includes the pristine Coral Sea off the country’s northeastern coast and the iconic Great Barrier Reef.

Read the complete article

We at Shark Diver  are applauding  Australia for this action and hope that it will encourage other countries to follow suit.

Cheers,


Martin Graf
Dive Operations Manager
Shark Diver/Horizon
Isla Guadalupe, Mexico

“Now we know that while white sharks across Australia can mix, the intriguing thing is that they seem to return to either east or western regions to breed,” Bruce said.

Source: redOrbit (http://s.tt/1durs)

“Now we know that while white sharks across Australia can mix, the intriguing thing is that they seem to return to either east or western regions to breed,” Bruce said.

Source: redOrbit (http://s.tt/1d

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Disturbing Great White Shark Video?

"Shredder" picture by Cary Humphries

An article in the Herald Sun (Australia) described a video that shows a Great White Shark, eating a blue shark hooked by a fisherman,as:

"A Disturbing Video"

What I find disturbing  is the fact that a newspaper describes the natural behavior of a wild animal in this manner.

Of course a shark will not refuse an easy meal but there is hardly anything disturbing about it.

In 10 years of observing Great White Sharks at Isla Guadalupe, I have learned that sharks are actually more attracted to a hooked fish than any chum that cage diving operators are using. One day in 2005 there was a time we had great difficulty attracting the sharks, while a tuna fishing boat, less than 1/2 mile away, complained that most the tuna they were catching, were being eaten by the very sharks we were waiting to see.

Sharks will be sharks. The mainstream media will describe incidents like this as “disturbing” and will try to get you to buy into it. You can believe the unsubstantiated nonsense or you can be amazed by the truth about sharks. If you are truly interested in sharks and their behavior and/or if you are an enthusiastic shark observer as I am, take time to find reliable sources and get to know the facts.

Cheers,

Martin Graf
Dive Operations Manager
Shark Diver/Horizon
Isla Guadalupe, Mexico


About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

From the land of "Holy Crap Kayak Fishing"

Marlin vs kayak in Australia, where else?

Once in a while we come across videos and stories that make you wonder about those who pursue fish with the kind of, "Old Man and the Sea" fervor.

It's a bloody good book by the way, you should read it some time.

This week the tales of lone kayak fishermen Jeff Sheppeard, located 7 kilometers off the coast, take the cake.

''About five or ten seconds later, it's jumped out to the right of my kayak. It's a marlin. I held on for grim life and squealed like a girl. It's jumped out again right in front of me … it's pulling me through the water … it jumped out of the water again and done about five [consecutive] aerials. I thought, 'I hope the camera's recording.' 

Want to see the video?

Of course you want to see the video, here it is.

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.

“It’s like playing cricket with hand grenades”

With that memorable quote one of the most remarkable announcements in fisheries conservation was broadcast the planet this week, as maverick tuna baron Hagen Stehr told the world his team had Bluefin Tuna breeding in captivity.

Worldwide tuna stocks are down 70-80% as massive netting operations capture the last remaining tuna, netting in some cases 100% of the school.

The 60 million dollar Australian gamble to raise this valuable species in captivity has seen its share of set backs and disappointments with many "tuna pundits" saying it could not be done.

You can always bet on an Australian to come up with a solution to almost any problem.

Kudos.

Full Story

Wild Ride - Bitter, Broken, Filmmaker?

We read with some interest about a new shark doco in the Daily Telegraph today.

David Ireland, the Original Wildlife Man, is promoting a new shark film having just returned from Bora Bora in French Polynesia where he was filmed "shark wrangling" as part of his next project - a movie which combines fictional drama and wildlife documentary:

The story revolves around a bitter, broken documentary maker, living as a recluse, who is convinced to make another wildlife film to fund an operation to save a sick little girl.

Editors Note: Show us one serious documentary filmmaker who is not living as a recluse, and very bitter to boot. Apologies in advance the many filmmakers we know and love;)

Editors Other Note: Seriously, who read THAT show pitch and decided to fund it?

Australia - What is IMOS?

IMOS stands for Intergrated Marine Observing System. Last week we blogged about Professor Iain Suthers first rate op ed countering shark hype in Australia with common sense.

Dr Suthers sent us a link this week to the IMOS Project and we spent the next two hours "geeking out" on this amazing program:

IMOS is a distributed set of equipment and data-information services which collectively contribute to meeting the needs of marine climate research in Australia . The observing system provides data in the open oceans around Australia out to a few thousand kilometres as well as the coastal oceans. The IMOS Office coordinates the deployment of a wide range of equipment and assembles the data through 11 Facilities distributed around the country. The data are made available to researchers through the electronic Marine Information Infrastructure (eMII) located at the University of Tasmania . The IMOS infrastructure also contributes to Australia 's role in international programs of ocean observing.

IMOS was planned through extensive consultation with the Australian marine research community through Nodes, including a bluewater open ocean node and five regional nodes around the country. IMOS is coordinated and managed nationally by staff at the University of Tasmania supported by CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research . IMOS is an NCRIS funded project.

Australia's Shark Fishery - Grasping at Straws

From the RTSea blog this morning a look at the shark wolves in Australia and efforts to leverage recent shark attack media for broader shark harvest quotas:

Always on the hunt to increase their annual shark catch to satisfy the growing Asian demand, Australian fishery industry officials are continuing in their strategy to link three recent shark-human interactions with the need to expand on shark catch limits.

In an online article in The Australian, it was reported that in North South Wales, Australia's southeast territory and home to the three recent attacks, an increase in prey fish and Sydney Harbor's improved water quality may be a contributing factor to the number of attacks.

"NSW has worked very hard for the last couple of decades to try and ensure the sustainability of its fisheries. There is less fishing and the fishing is more controlled -- there is more abundant prey in Sydney Harbour and maybe more sharks because of this," said Rik Buckworth of the Northern Territories Fisheries Department. He also said other factors could be climatic changes and more swimmers at Sydney beaches."The number of shark attacks doesn't mean there are more sharks around, per se, but they're localized on the feeding schools," said Taronga Zoo shark expert John West.

So, you improve the marine ecosystem by improving water quality and control fishing, which increases fish populations (ie: getting back to normal) . . . and that's a bad thing?

Well, according to fishery industry spokesman Duncan Gay, it is as he is blaming conservation-friendly policies for increases in predatory sharks in NSW waters - once again, the fear factor. He said high shark numbers could be linked to "bad government policy in closing up large amounts of the fishery and changing fishing habits."

In another related article, Dr. Gilly Llewellyn of the World Wildlife Fund says, "The calls for an increase to the shark fishing quota in NSW are driven by this opportunism. Some fishers are using the current media feeding frenzy around sharks to call for an increase in shark hunting levels and are making claims that have no scientific basis. They should be ignored." And other Australian fisheries department officials say there is no evidence that fishing restrictions have led to more shark attacks.

Could improved marine environments lead to a higher number of sharks? It's possible. Could the three recent shark-human interactions be simply a statistical anomaly? It's possible. Could the fishing industry be on a witch hunt, drumming up excuses so as to increase profits? Most definitely.

The Tasman Question - Stranding Whales

Rescuers are once again frantically at work trying to save stranded whales in Tasmania. This year over 400 whales have stranded. While not uncommon in the region local rescuers are beginning to say this years standing levels are much higher than normal. These are also cross species stranding events involving sperm whales, pilot whales and even dolphins.

Being a shark blog we rarely cover whales - over 400 animals in five months seems like a lot of animals to us making this noteworthy. For more information about Tasman whale stranding and local efforts to help them go to WILDCARE Inc.

Nicole, Ripley, Linda, Adam, Lola, Stacy, Brooby

This is the sat tagging and tracking map (click for full size) of several Tiger sharks tagged and tracked in Australia courtesy of The Undersea Explorer Shark Research Program.

From their website:

This project has been funded and conducted by Undersea Explorer through adventure diving tourism. Public awareness of shark conservation needs have been highlighted through the involvement of recreational divers and the production of international film documentaries and articles.

The experience of divers on these liveaboard diving adventures has been heightened by interaction with the scientists, quality interpretive presentations and exciting and unique shark diving.

Editors Note: Shark research and tourism work.

Spectacular Discovery 27 Great Whites Y.O.Y

One of the things about the ocean you come to love, the very real chance for discovery.

Unlike 90% of our terrestrial environment almost every month we discover new things about our ocean environment that challenge perceptions, and make you excited to be part of the planet.

Today was one of those days:

WHAT could be the world's largest concentration of juvenile great white sharks has been discovered swimming within metres of the sand on the state's Mid-North Coast.Twenty-seven great white sharks were spotted in one day by a boat team videoing for a fishing DVD last week near Port Stephens.

Editors Note: Similar aggregations of Y.O.Y (young of the year) are seen off the coast of So Cal each spring during the annual grunion run.

Stinkin' Dead Shark Award October 2008

At the end of this month we would like to present the SDS Award to those within the global community whose abjectly abhorrent behavior towards sharks and sustainable fisheries or shark conservation warrants a big black eye.

This months award winner is:

Tourism Queensland who along with the Queensland Shark Control Program are keeping the fine white powdery beaches of the Gold Coast free of annoying Great White Sharks by killing them with professional grade shark killing drum lines.

The Queensland Shark Control Program has been in operation since 1962. If you would like to register your displeasure (we have) at the recent deaths of two white sharks killed by this outdated system here's who you email and call:

Queensland Shark Control Center

Email: callweb@dpi.qld.gov.au
Fax: +61 7 3404 6900

Tourism Queensland

30 Makerston Street
Tourism Queensland House
Brisbane
Queensland
4000
GPO Box 328
Brisbane
4001
Tel + 61 7 3535 3535
Fax + 61 7 3535 5438
Email

Editors Note: Please make that call or send that email today. It's 5 minutes of your time, and for the sharks could mean everything. In today's oceans there's no place for publically funded shark killing systems anymore.

Sharks Australia-'Hypocritical' over great whites

Image:Luke Sorensen

As we reported yesterday a 2.3 meter great white washed up on Mermaid Beach, Australia attached to some serious shark killing gear. What we had hoped was a "rouge fishing event" turned out to be a longstanding government planned policy to eradicate predatory sharks along the coastline. That effort killed two animals at this site this week (click for images):

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has accused the Queensland Government of being hypocritical for protecting great white sharks and also setting drum lines for them.

Two juvenile great whites - both more than two metres long - were killed on baited drum lines off Gold Coast beaches last week. The AMCS's Craig Bohm says great whites are endangered, but 12 have been killed on the coast in five years.

Editors Note: As a commercial shark diving company we're outraged at this senseless slaughter off the coasts of Queensland, Australia. In the coming days we will supply you with the email and phone numbers of the agencies involved with the shark eradication drumlines in the region. Don't bother sending in another shark petition, they are not effective. Direct and personal emails and phone calls are effective, and we'll be on this one for a while now. Policies from the 1970's in regards to shark eradication have no place in today's oceans.

White Sharks in Australia-Killing Gear

This just came in. What's disturbing about this image is the tackle that is attached to the shark.

What you are looking at is professional shark killing gear:

A 2.3m great white shark washed ashore at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast. October 16, 2008.

Photographer : Luke Sorensen

Editors Note: We're pretty sure there's more to this story than meets the eye and we'll keep you updated.

Sharks and the Media-It's about selling papers

Woke up this morning to the following headline:

New shark terror off local beaches

If you're reading a headline like that you know it's early summer in Australia...again.

Sharks inhabit a mythic place with the media, words like terror, and killer, are bandied about with storylines so weak that it's amazing people read them. This weeks white shark flyby of a couple of boaters notwithstanding.

Unless these guys were in a vessel made of plastic bags they were never in harms way, but that does to stop the media from hyping the encounter to sell some more papers:

"I think it could be a horrific summer, it doesn't look good I've never seen them that close." As the shark held the boat captive by bumping the boat, the savvy passengers decided to pull up the anchor and allow the boat to slowly drift before making their quick get-a-way.

Editors Note: We could use some shark reality with the media these days.

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."

White Shark? Dolphin? White Shark?

For our money this is a dolphin, here's why:

1. No tail, white sharks tails are vertical, if you can see the dorsal on this critter you should be able to see the tail.

2. This story was brought to you by a U.K paper-home to the guys who brought you last month's White shark in Wales.

For those of you who subscribe to Occam's Razor...yeah you're looking at it.

"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate"