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.

100 Million Sharks - The Question

Editors Note: Unfortunately this blog post was the result of an online scam by a group of questionable filmmakers pushing a new film called "The Shark Con." Blog reader "Ethan" also contacted other Blue Bloggers with this film clip. He is not an actual blog reader but part of the effort to get free promotion for the film.

The premise of the film is to feature a few marginal and discredited anti shark people in a documentary to enrage the shark conservation movement so people will buy your film. In essence "manufacturing dissent" to sell a film.

This blog does not buy into callous attempts to promote and sell manufactured shark conservation films. We're in the business of real and lasting conservation change. If you want manufactured eco dissent there's always Whale Wars on Animal Planet, and if we say so, they do a much better job.

Original Post

Thanks to blog reader Ethan for sending this in. The conservation question of 100 million sharks killed each year is a lingering one. The number 100 million appeared at least five years ago and is taken for granted as the defacto number of dead shark each and every year.

This number is the backbone to the entire shark conservation movement - 100 million.

But what if science does not back up the numbers?

What if only 25 million sharks are killed each year?

Some have questioned the actual number, others are now making videos:

Australia's "Shark Stone Age"

After months of public pressure authorities in Australia have decided to leave shark nets in place citing safety concerns yet again.

Shark nets and drum lines kill sharks indiscriminately along the Gold Coast and there are viable and alternate solutions:

Shark nets along the Gold Coast will not be removed, despite yet another young whale being caught in a net off Burleigh Heads on Tuesday - the fifth so far this migration season.

It took just an hour to free the seven-metre juvenile, which shark control program manager Tony Ham said was probably one of last year's calves.

"This animal was calm and quiet, even though it was windy and conditions were difficult, so that helped the release," he said.

"Happily the mother was there to keep an eye on the young whale, and that usually gives them an opportunity to calm down... so that's usually a good thing for us."Mr Ham said despite the number of young whales being tangled up this season, the shark nets will not be removed.

In fact the damaged net off Burleigh will be replaced before the end of the day.

Mr Ham denied the shark nets are being maintained simply because of political pressure and said their value in stopping shark attacks is well documented.

"The program has been in place since 1962 and in that time we've had one fatal attack on a protected beach, at North Stradbroke island in 2006," he said."There were a number of attacks prior to the program going in - some of those were pretty horrific and fatal.

"We believe the program does work."It does catch sharks and it does catch dangerous sharks (so) to remove the nets even for the whale migration season is not an option."Mr Ham said the argument that not many people swam in the surf during the migration season was simply wrong.

"We have people bathing on Gold Coast beaches year round," he said.

"People come to Queensland for the very reason that we have safe swimming beaches.
"He said it was "unacceptable" to remove the safety equipment, particularly with school holidays coming up.

Complete Story

Simply Amazing-Whale Shark Rescue?

Not sure what to make of this video. You're alternately cheering on the fishermen to save this critter and then...anger: