Dog Bites Shark

Only in Australia, seriously, only in Australia:

"Big Ian's" Rhina Ancylostoma

The last time one of these critters was caught was off Bangladesh April 10, 2007. Of course that didn't stop two locals in Australia from trying.

This week a rare ray shark (one of our personal favorites) was caught and thankfully released. The ray shark is listed in the International Red List Book of IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) as a vulnerable species.

Note to Conservationists: This image strikes us as worthy for conservation messaging - if you switched the two subjects.

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World Wildlife Fund and Shark Tourism

Interesting news from the WWF this morning. Conservation NGO's are beginning to subscribe to the concept that shark tourism acts as a bridge to shark conservation:

WWF flags shark watching expeditions to protect species

Conservation group WWF says some of Queensland's shark species are on the verge of being listed as endangered.

Spokesman Nick Heath says there are concerns for tiger sharks which he believes are being wiped out by the State Government's shark safety program and many reef species that are targeted by fishers.

He says if tourism operators charged people to see them in the wild like whale watching expeditions, more of an effort would be made to protect them. "The more we learn the more we realise how vulnerable they are to overfishing," he said.

"We should actually be protecting them because more and more people around the world are becoming interested in seeing sharks and I think that all over the world they're becoming so endangered we should make sure that people can pay big money to come from all over the world to see them."