White Sharks San Francisco Bay?

Recent white shark tagging data has delivered a bombshell, white sharks visit San Francisco Bay.

From 2000-8 a team of researchers from U.C Davis and Stanford have been tagging white sharks in and around the Farallons and Point Reyes Seashore.

The very in depth story was covered today in the Mercury News and for white shark folks is a must read.

The other bombshell, not mentioned in this article was additional data showing Farallons white sharks off the coasts of Oahu's North Shore.

Confirmation of one of the commercial shark diving industries greatest white shark encounters back in 2007.

Not Quite a "Pandemic" - Mexico

"Pandemic" - a word not used in the major media since WW1 when a swine flu raged around the planet drowning it's victims in less than 72 hours.

The World Health Organization stopped short today of calling Mexico's recent outbreak as a "Pandemic" even though this strain kills and kills fast. While Mexico City is in shutdown mode with children's parties cancelled and bars closed, you may want to consider hand washing protocols for the next few months.

Kansas has four known cases already.

The last great pandemic in 1918 killed an estimated 30 million people.

Research "Out of the Box"

The fine folks over at Mexico's CICIMAR have come up with a completely novel way of sampling a Sperm Whales breath, it's called "out of the box research". It should also be noted:

1. CICIMAR's team members are also tagging and tracking white sharks at Isla Guadalupe

2. A whales breath can and will drop a Rhino from 60 feet-so this is a novel approach

Gases and mucus blown out are collected in sterile Petri dishes attached to the 3.5 feet-long helicopter which are then examined to discover the health of the animal whether it is carrying any disease.

Ensenada Fish Market, Mexico Y.O.Y

We blogged about this a few months ago apparent white shark young of the year being sold at the Ensenada Fish Market as "swordfish and marlin".

This month we ventured back down to the Ensenada Fish Market looking for evidence of more pups on sale. While we did not find any pups for the first time in three years, we did discover a series of shark carcass without skins being sold as "swordfish and marlin".

Perhaps we made a difference, but we think not.

Our contact in Ensenda who works with the local shark fishing co-op tells us he's still catching many Y.O.Y and they are still being sold up and down the coast.

The irony here is within 15 minutes of this market are agencies tasked with protecting Mexico's Bio-Spheres and local universities that do serious work with oceans and marine life in and around Mexico.

As a first step we would like to see DNA sampling of all shark species at this market and a solid program of education with the local fishermen and sellers about sharks especially white shark pups.

The path to change is through education and we have enough preliminary data out there to show white shark pups migrating past Ensenada on their way to the Sea of Cortez. With such a vulnerable population at stake the timing could not be better.

Ensenada Fish Market, Mexico Y.O.Y

We have been keeping track of the Ensenada Fish Market for the past three years.

The issue here is the sale of white shark pups as "swordfish". We have been documenting each and every trip we take down to this market with images of the animals we find on site.

Typically we are seeing a minimum of up to 3 animals for sale at any given time. We also enjoy the local Baja Fish Tacos (non white shark) while we're here...if you have not yet had a Baja Fish Taco in Ensenada, go here first.

Over the years we have uncovered one family who are the prime shark fishery here. These are hard working folks who know where to find sharks and how to fish them. For them it's a tough livelihood-they barely make a living.

Where some people see a travesty, we see an opportunity. Very little is known about young of the year in Mexican waters. Monterey Bay Aquarium is leading the charge along with TOPP's and a small group from Mexico working the Sea of Cortez.

One of the primary goals for this fish market should be DNA sampling of these sharks. As a ready made sampling site this fish market is more than the final destination for white sharks, it could also be useful to research.

La Nina might be causing shark attacks-Bah!

One of the biggest media events to hit Mexico in the past 3 years has not been narco trafficking or political zoo.

It has been the sudden rash of shark attacks in and around the coastal town of Zihuatanejo.

A host of experts are "divining a cause" for these unprecedented Man vs Shark encounters. The latest in a string of theories-La Nina.

The only thing wrong with this particular theory, is that there have been 3-5 recorded La Nina events since the last rash of attacks in 1972-3 off the coastlines of Zihuatanejo. Of course with a deadline to find a cause and media literally camping on beaches...anything sounds good right about now:

By Mariano Castillo in Zihuatanejo, Mexico

COOLER than normal sea-surface temperatures due to the La Nina phenomenon may be partly responsible for a spate of fatal shark attacks off Mexico's Pacific coast, a US shark expert said.

At least two people - a surfer and a US tourist - have been killed by sharks in the last few weeks around the coastal town of Zihuatanejo in the state of Guerrero.

La Nina, which usually results in cooler than normal water in the Pacific, has moved the boundary between cold and warm water closer to the shore, and along with it, fish and their shark predators, George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research told Reuters.

The last time Mexico's Pacific coast suffered a series of fatal shark attacks was in 1972-1973, when four people were killed.

Cage diving doesn't make sharks aggressive

In a landmark study South African researchers have come to some startling conclusions about cage diving, bio attractant and great whites.

As a shark diving company who's crews spend hundreds of hours observing these animals on site each season-the conclusions from South Africa are what we have come to suspect for a few years now...white sharks and cage diving do not equal "killer sharks".

This study also backs up a 4-5 year study done by Rodney Fox in Australia to answer similar bio attractant questions at his white shark site.

The white shark tagging and tracking efforts of CICIMAR's Mauricio Hoyos at Isla Guadalupe has uncovered similar data-although his project was not directed specifically at the chumming issue.