Two Sides To A Fin - KOP Productions - Good Stuff

Great little documentary about sharks and shark fin by KOP Productions. 

The issues are not as cut and dry as one might imagine (no pun intended...well yes, there's some pun, about 20%). It is very easy to stand on a Facebook soapbox and cry foul when it comes to sharks.

Lord knows there's millions of petition folks about, but like any complex animal trade issue involving cultures, countries, and economic scales balance and nuance must play into viable solutions.

Of course we just used about six words your average shark conservationist, who fervently believe that blonde swimsuit models or head gear challenged divers, the ones who egregiously molest sharks for their own Facebook "like' number count, have no idea of their meaning. For example the words "viable" and "solution,"...pressing on, there are a few who actually think about these things and write about them too.

Da Shark has some thoughts on this and we'll let him play the Judas Conservationist with this issue because he's waaay ahead of the curve with his solutions and we find ourselves agreeing with them because they contain balance and nuance. Two additional words sadly left out of the Big Book of Shark Conservation these days while folks run off on moronic tangents trying to shoe horn the concept of an upside down Tonic Tiger Shark into some kind of broader conservation meaning.

Without videos like these the conservation movement for sharks would devolve into crudely drawn images on bathroom stalls and shit smeared bumper stickers slogans, wait, that has already happened, thanks to a small group of absolute twits who happen to exhibit a modicum of media savvy - oh and you know who you are, unfortunately we all do.

Sharks these days are running a gauntlet, at sea it's hooks and we can all agree that's bad news, in shore it's idiots with Kardashian sized egos, cameras, and a compliant media who lionize stupid pet tricks with sharks.

Anyway, this is the mainline to good conservation messaging, enjoy:




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.

Controversy Kick Off - Kudos Dorsal Fin Blog!

The shark bloggers are most often the first to uncover hot button topics and videos that appear on the Internet, delving into issues that effect our industry.

One of these is the Dorsal Fin Blog who, a few months ago, uncovered home video of Floridian shark fishermen armed with guns, shooting sharks with a certain robust glee that defied good taste and comprehension.

That post was picked up by other shark bloggers and re-posted on Facebook, from there a small explosion of outrage and action lead to this weeks media expose on the fine line between shark conservation and commercial shark fishing interests in Florida.

Da Shark has some words on the media hit today, but we would like to congratulate the Dorsal Fin Blog for the initial video discovery and kick off.

Keep up with the fine discoveries.

You never know what shark related story, when opened to the full light of inquiry, delivers solid discussions on the nature of sharks and how we interact with them.

Of Shrimps and Sharks - Gulf video

If you want to know what's going on in the oceans - ask a commercial fisherman. Apparently shrimp boat captains are reporting a "plague of sharks" ripping up nets and taking catches away from boats along the gulf coast.

While this is not news to some, for those in the shark community this news is interesting.

Wouldn't suggest you go diving in this shark soup anytime soon though:

Grim News for the Grey Nurse Sharks?

Over in Fiji and elsewhere folks are raising the fighting flag for sharks.

This time the Grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) in Australia where a recent change in fisheries policy is taking this species off the protected list and open to fishing pressure.

What makes this particular case actionable is the fact this is a reversal of set conservation policy introducing an open fishing zone where these animals are known to aggregate and breed.

If this sounds like politics once again creeping into shark conservation, you have a good ear for bad conservation policy.

You can get the full scoop and send a well timed email to Fisheries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson this week at the Grey Nurse Blog.

Note: The image is from Montague Island circa 1964, when sharks were considered the enemy and images like these served to prove that point. We have come a long way since then, let's not let fisheries policy in Australia slide back at the hands of a few misinformed policy makers.

Shark Tournament Change - One Clinic at a Time

We have been supporters of changes coming to shark tournaments in the USA for a while. After close to a decade of failed zero sum policy by many within the conservation community seeking to have all shark tournaments "shut down," the realization that we must inhabit a middle ground for successful conservation is dawning on many.

The middle ground is a two pronged approach by members of the tournament fishing community and forward thinking conservation members to embrace circle hooks, and catch, tag and release tournament models.

It's a conservation strategy that works with the fishing community instead of marginalizing them, embracing a multi million dollar sportfishing community by allowing leadership to make important and long ranging conservation decisions based on science and best fishing practices.

This week that conservation strategy is spreading to Ocean City and only good things can come of it.

The big news this year is that the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation has signed on as a major sponsor of the OC Shark Tournament Release Division. Through his foundation's involvement, Harvey hopes to provide an increased level of shark conservation while demonstrating to the fishing industry that release tournaments with large cash payouts can be both successful as well as a wise alternative to traditional events that result in dead fish to being brought back to the scales.

OCEAN CITY -- For a long time, most tournament directors relied solely on the weight of dead fish at the dock to determine the winners of their event. But today, as more fishermen recognize the need for catch-and-release fishing, many tournament directors are responding by increasing the emphasis on release categories in their events. But properly running a release tournament, or even just a release division, is no easy task.

For a release division in which no physical evidence of the fish will be brought in, there must be rules and procedures to ensure the validity of each catch. Winners need to be properly verified just as losers need to be assured that they lost fairly.

Equally important is the need for anglers who engage in catch-and-release fishing, tournament or not, to do so with due regard to the survivability of their catch.

There's not much point in releasing a fish that's going to die anyway. This is particularly true in tournaments that result in a sudden increase in the amount of fishermen targeting species of fish that might already be pressured from other sources.

Since tournament anglers will likely be fishing at the top of their game, the average catch-and-release rates per angler go up during tournaments and, therefore, the need for proper release techniques is important.

With all this in mind, on Saturday, May 21, myself and the other the directors of the 31st Annual Ocean City Shark Tournament will be conducting a shark release clinic on the docks at the Ocean City Fishing Center from 4-7 p.m.

Complete story.

Shark Cage Diving - From the Shameless Commerce Division

The original Shark Diver Shark Crew T-Shirt.

Battle tested over the past decade by our crews against weather, white sharks, tigers, whale sharks, deep water critters and the odd hammerhead in remote places.

This is the 100% cotton crew t-shirt and we now have a new shipment in. Our last shipment was sold out in three weeks thanks to the guys at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton!

We have them in large and XL with a few smalls kicking about the offices as well.

Perfect for your next shark expedition with Shark Diver, or that next shark themed backyard BBQ this summer, or the shark fan in your life.

The left front breast says Shark Crew in big letters.

Cost $25.00 with shipping.

To get one - or twenty - email us at sharkcrew@gmail.com

Let's go shark diving!

Fijian divers urge for stop of shark finning - Well done!

When Mike, aka Da Shark, dives into the news he doesn't not bother with "small things," he swims right into the middle of "epic issues."

Case in point an article that made nationwide news in China this week, taking the message to the people:

Fijian Divers have called for stopping shark finning in the island nation to save the reefs, local media FijiLive website reported here Tuesday.

Mike Neuman, Director of the Beqa Adventures Divers made the call after conservationists found that local fishermen are engaging in the illegal practice of shark finning, says the report.

"Like our mangroves, the reefs protect our coastline and their demise will lead to coastal erosion and flooding, especially during cyclones but also as the sea level rises due to Global warming," Neuman was quoted as saying.

Neuman said sharks play important roles in local marine ecosystems and were worth more alive than dead. "As an example, it has been observed that where there are reef sharks, the parrot fish that feed on coral cannot stay in one location for long but need to remain on the move. This prevents them from over- exploiting the corals."

The principal reason why tourists visit Fiji is because of Fiji's intact marine habitats, Neuman further explained, adding "be it for simply enjoying our beaches or for engaging in a plethora of water activities. If we destroy our oceans we risk loosing countless jobs and 55 percent of our GDP."

"This is simply not a risk the country can afford" and there have been instances in which local fishermen had targeted sharks specifically for their fins, he stressed. "Finning is just a particular harvesting technique that consists in cutting off the fins, often while the shark is still alive, and discarding the carcasses."

According to Neuman, fish stocks can recover if the reefs are being subsequently protected but sharks are very slow breeders and stocks will very likely not recover once they have been wiped out.

"As to the value of sharks for dive tourism, we have calculated that a single shark on our shark dive contributes 30,000 Fiji dollars (16,600 U.S. dollars) to the local economy annually, or 600,000 Fiji dollars (330,000 U.S. dollars) during its lifetime this compares to a few hundred dollars for its value when dead," he said.

A report by Pacific Scoop in 2009 stated that shark fins in Fiji can only fetch 50 U.S. dollars for 500 grams, while elsewhere the shark fins can cost 400 to 800 U.S. dollars a kilo depending on the size and species of the shark.

Article here.

Isla Guadalupe White Shark Sub/Cage Diving?

Occasionally newly developed technology offers us the ultimate application for commercial white shark diving - and this is it.

It's built by South Korean company, which plans to sell fleets of these Ego Semi-Submarines to resorts, and single units to individuals and yacht owners.

The company offers to build custom moorings for the craft, as well as hoists for yachts.

Who needs a shark cage anymore?

If you wanted the closest and driest encounter with a white shark that you could possibly get this would be it...and our company logo would look great on the side as well.

Now, where's that South Korean phone book?

B.C's Orcas Snack on Sharks - Study

The research team of Graeme Ellis and Michael Wetklo of the Pacific Biological Station, Lance Barrett-Lennard of the Vancouver Aquarium, and Craig Matkin of the Alaska's North Gulf Oceanic Society have made an interesting discovery.

Orcas routinely snack on regional sharks, with Pacific sleeper sharks (Somniosus pacificus) being the main prey item.

The team have been focusing on tooth wear found on dead animals, a wear pattern that suggested a rough skinned prey. Unfortunately the wear pattern is causing enamel loss and tooth infection found in many animals.

"This represents the first confirmed prey species of offshore killer whales based on field observations of foraging and the first record" of Pacific sleeper sharks as the prey of killer whales anywhere, the study said.

1935 and Sharks - We have come a long way

Digging up rare clips like these really reminds you how far we have come in terms of the understanding of sharks.

This is one of those videos you just shake your head at, but in its day this was all that was known of Tigers in the Gulf of Mexico.

White Sharks and Snickers - Good Combo

From time to time commercial interests enlist sharks to sell their products. This week Snickers launched it's new brand using the white shark.

Great stuff, very funny, and terrific graphic rendering of a white shark, with details on individual animals right down to scar and spot patterns. This is not your average Nicorette commercial.

Did we see the spot patterns of Isla Guadalupe's Bruce on the first shark?

Hat Tip: Dorsal Fin Blog

Honolulu fire investigators say arson was cause of shark tour boat blaze

We have been following the increasingly ugly, partisan, and mis-informed anti-shark diving movement in Hawaii.

A movement that started two years ago and this week culminated in an arson attack on a local commercial shark diving vessel.

Just when you thought things in Hawaii could not get any worse for two first rate commercial shark diving operations - they just did:

Honolulu Fire Department investigators have determined that arson is to blame for a blaze that destroyed a shark tour boat in Haleiwa Harbor early Friday.

The case has now been turned over to the Honolulu Police Department, which has opened an arson case, said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

The fire on board the 30-foot North Shore Shark Adventures boat was reported at 12:40 a.m. Flames burned the bridge and cabin of the boat and the heat from the fire damaged a nearby vessel, said fire Capt. Terry Seelig.

Damage was estimated at $225,000.

North Shore Shark Adventures is one of two shark-tour operators operating out of Haleiwa that have been the source of constant debate in recent years.

Officials with the company could not be reached for comment.

Update Here.

Shark Shot of the Week - Bahamas

Isa Baquerizo was recently on a commercial shark diving adventure off Freeport, Bahamas and came back with "The Shot of the Week."

You gotta love the look on this reef shark as he passes close by.

Curiosity has a face.

"So we arrived to Unexso the 2nd day of the trip. We first did the shark dive which was not incredible... it was AWESOME!!! Probably the best shark dive available today.. even better than stuart's cove because these incredible guys let you interact with the sharks within cm of distance. That's why I love so much the dive."

Dorsal Fin Blog and CBS News?

The Dorsal Fin Blog has arrived.

One of the true marks of any blue blogs ascendancy is recognition by the main stream media.

In this case CBS news.

This week CBS covered a non event with a local white shark in Australia, and used an image to set up their news piece with an image shot by George Probst at Isla Guadalupe several years ago.

George is the man behind The Dorsal Fin Blog.

Does this mean someone at CBS is following The Dorsal Fin Blog?

As long time shark bloggers ourselves, we can say with almost 100% certainty, yes, yes they are.

Now if they would only give him the blog credit for the image.

Shark-Safe Beaches: testing aerial spotters and dismissing electro-magnetics

Starting 2011 out right with this report from RTSea Productions.

If you want concise industry thought and analysis this is your go to daily blog.

From RTSea:

When people enter the ocean - to swim, surf, dive, or just frolic about at the water's edge - they are entering a different wilderness. In doing so, they expose themselves to a measure of risk from interaction with other animals, from a sea jelly sting or an urchin spine all the way up to an interaction with a larger animal like a shark.

To protect people from unwanted shark interactions, several methods of prevention have been tried over the decades. In Australia, there is an extensive network of netted beaches. The steel mesh nets are designed with openings small enough to ward off large sharks but large enough to allow smaller fish to pass through. The nets have been used for many years and, in combination with lifeguards acting as shark spotters, the process has been fairly successful. But not infallible.

Sharks can get through the nets on occasion due to the nets being moved about from currents or storm action, so to maintain a big picture overview, spotter planes are being deployed in New South Wales (south eastern Australia) as part of a test program during peak months of swimming activity. And the NSW government in Australia has deployed a novel method to keep their spotter pilots' skill sharp. Decoy or replica sharks will be placed in the water to check the effectiveness of the surveillance program. Lifeguards will be made aware of the days and times for the placement of the replica sharks, but not the pilots. Results of the tests will be included in the final evaluation as to the aerial surveillance program future.

Far to the west, following a recent series of shark attacks in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, a variety of safety measures are being considered. Nothing has been confirmed as yet because the government is weighing an appropriate response that also recognizes the probable causes for the attacks - reportedly everything from unregulated chumming to overfishing of the shark's usual preying to the dumping of dead sheep from a passing freighter.

One approach that apparently will not be used is something akin to electrified fencing. An organization, the Shark Academy, has proposed installing an electro-magnetic shield along the Egyptian coastline of Sharm El-Sheikh in the Red Sea, but the idea has been totally dismissed by the Governor of South Sinai, General Abdel Fadeel Sousha.

"He (the company's owner) showed us a video in a meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh on devices used to protect beaches from sharks and made verbal and purely theoretical proposals that didn't persuade me on a personal level," said General Sousha. "I asked him for a practical demonstration in front of a committee of experts so we could be sure the devices work effectively. This still hasn't happened."

A pretty far-fetched notion when you think about it. I have worked with divers who have used a protective device called a Shark Shield which emits a strong electro-magnetic pulse when needed and seems to be quite effective with medium-size sharks like lemon or blacktip sharks. But I've been told it also "rattles the teeth" of the diver when its discharged. So the idea of having something that strong running constantly across a beach seems rather unlikely.

Apparently, previous attempts at using electro-magnetic fields along beaches in Natal, South Africa and in Australia have been a dismal failure, not preventing the sharks from entering enclosed swimming areas but giving bathers a nice little shock instead.

Rather than rely on Rube Goldberg devices, common sense should prevail. Non-life threatening measures - such as nets and shark spotters - along with a better understanding and acceptance of the wild world we are venturing into is what's called for. While many of us hear the call to return to the sea, we must remember that we enter it as interlopers and strangers on someone else's turf.

Meeting the Media: Be Prepared!

Recently the Voice of Russia posted a story "Meeting a Shark: Be Prepared!"

In the annals of sideways media reportage on sharks this particular article got the attention of one Doc Gruber. His article comments serves as a smart, fact filled template, on effective pro-shark media response.

Hattip:Mike over in Fiji.

Doc Gruber on Sharks

Dear Voice of Russia: Thank you for allowing me to comment on your article Meeting a Shark: Be Prepared. In all my 50 years of professionally studying sharks I do not think I have ever read an article so full of clichés and downright misinformation than reporter Yelena Kovachich has produced. Russia is a nation with many experts on shark biology (for example Dr. Feodor Litvanov flit@atlant.baltnet.ru) so it is clear to me that Yelena did not do her homework.

I will give a few examples but one concern is the swindle that the Sochi Aquarium seems to be running. Training divers on how to respond to sharks is just a scam. The explanation given by your reporter shows that the Sochi program directors know noting about swimming with sharks or shark behavior. They seem to be just pandering to the fears caused by such mythical stories as Jaws which irrationally frighten the public. Then they have the nerve to charge them to play right into the fears that they themselves created. Just one more point: thousands of divers spend tens of millions of rubles annually to swim with sharks and they mainly prepare with cameras!!

Ok—on to some of the misinformation: Yelana states that Divers show people how to hide from them among coral reefs—do you think someone could actually hide from a shark? They can sense you sounds and even the electrical signals from you metallic dive gear!! Why would someone need to hide from a shark?

Your chances to survive if attacked by these creatures are slim to none-- Patently untrue. You chances of surviving an attack are better than 100:1 as the three Russian shark attack survivors learned. On the other hand your chances of being attacked while in the water are about 5,000,000:1.

Sharks can sense tiny amounts of blood - even a single drop - in the water up to 5 kilometers away and trace them back to their source. Again patently untrue. Shark can not detect blood at all. They do sense amino acids present in some kinds of blood but do not seem that interested in human blood. In any case sharks detect dilutions of around 1 part amino acid to 1,000,000 parts of water. This means that if you dilute a drop of blood in 1000 liters of seawater a shark could barely detect it. Can you imagine the amount of water in 5 km of ocean? Pure nonsense.

Three people will be enough to scare a shark away. Where did this number come from? There were more than three people in the water when the unfortunate Russians—all three were bitten.

The largest sharks known - the great whites - dwell along the east coast of the USA. They regularly attack people, confusing them with their top menu selection - sea lions and seals. Here is a sentence with four pieces of misinformation. 1 The larger shark is the whale shark Rincodon typus; 2. White sharks being warm blooded dwell pretty much where they want—inshore to open sea, topical or temperate seas. 3. Great whites do not regularly attack people and even considering the tiny number of attacks, are not even in first place. That dishonor belongs to the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas. 4. Great whites are not confused by people nor is their main food sea lions which incidentally are only found off the west coast of the US, not the east coast. And while they do eat seals and sea lions during the pupping season they also eat many varieties of fish and other sharks.

Need I go on? Here is my thought on the subject: How many citizens of Russia and the Ukraine have enjoyed holidays in Egypt’s Sharm area? Of those how many have been bitten by sharks? Nearly all of them have been exposed to sharks while swimming in the Red Sea with no negative experiences. However when humans enter the sea they enter the realm of the shark as well as myriads of other potentially dangerous species. You take a chance albeit infinitely small when swimming in the ocean. You main concern should be drowning or getting hit by a boat. Enjoy the ocean! Live to the fullest!!

Dr. Samuel H. Gruber
Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
University of Miami 33149-1098
And
Bimini Biological Field Station
9300 SW 99 St
Miami FL 33176-2050
305 274 0628 fax or phone

Industry News - Commercial Shark Diving Study

Scientists and South Australian cage-diving operators are collaborating in a world-first project to ensure the State’s eco-tourism activities take good care of Australia’s protected white sharks.

The research, led by Flinders University and SARDI shark ecologist, Dr Charlie Huveneers, will provide important information to help the State Government manage the growing industry which relies on the survival of the threatened species. Its outcomes will also help inform similar cage diving operations around the world in places such as New Zealand, South Africa and Mexico.

Dr Huveneers’ team and cage operators are working together over the next year to tag ten white sharks which inhabit the area around Australia’s main cage-diving operations off the remote Neptune Islands, 75 kilometres from Port Lincoln. Two 3.5 metre white sharks have been tagged to date.

“Berleying activities at the Neptune Islands have recently been increasing. However, the impacts of such activities are still poorly understood, and there is a need to investigate how berleying might affect white shark behaviour and movements” Dr Huveneers said.

“Previous studies in South Africa indicated that white sharks became ‘habituated’ to berleying rather than ‘conditioned’. As a result, sharks might become less attracted to berley,” he said.

“The white shark cage-diving industry at the Neptune Islands attracts a large amount of tourism to South Australia and Port Lincoln. It is important to ensure that this industry is sustainable and that it does not negatively impact on the white shark population frequenting the Neptune Islands.

“Sharks also play an important role in the ecosystem with the removal of top predators having shown to cause cascading effects down the food web.”

“Our research will hopefully provide crucial data which will help the Department for Environment and Heritage and PIRSA Fisheries to assess if the current level of berleying undertaken by the white shark cage-diving industry around the Neptune Islands is impacting on shark behaviour.”

Dr Huveneers says the team is using fine-scale positioning technology accurate to within one metre to track the sharks. Sharks are tagged with an acoustic tag as they swim past the boat allowing researchers to record their positions in relation to the cage-diving boats for a period of up to 45 days.

Hawaii - Shark Conservation Moving Ahead

After the disasters of Doha, where the world's top NGO's were left stymied by big commercial fishing interests and sharks were not protected, it is refreshing to see local conservation efforts working in places like Hawaii.

We have long been advocates, along with a few other forward thinking industry members, of regional shark conservation as a way of getting sharks protected by invested parties.

Stefanie Brindle owner of Hawaii Shark Encounters is leading a remarkable charge in Oahu to change a loop hole that allows tons of sharks fin to be landed and dried in the state for transshipment all over the world. Her effort is a classic regional effort with a hand from thousands of shark people all over the globe jumping in with letters and phone calls when needed to keep politico's on target.

This is the same Stefanie Brindle whose company is also under assault by anti-shark diving forces on the island seeking to shut a decades long commercial enterprise down for reasons that belong in the 1970's and the movie JAWS.

Her ups and downs have been instructive to watch, and her non profit Shark Allies looks to be a new breed of shark conservation org leveraging media and conservation in a nice little package.

Congratulations to all who are working to get the job done in Hawaii and thanks to the many who responded to Stefanie's latest call for letters and phone calls. Thanks.

Deep-Sea News Scoop "Chimaera Country"

Deep-Sea News usually get's the goods on all things cool underwater. This week was no exception.

Tigers, Dead Whales, and Aussies, Oh My!

One thing is for certain, wherever you have sharks you'll always have those who want to interact with them.

Recently folks in Australia decided to get into the interaction game and shot some amazing video. You cannot miss the sequence starting at 1.20 - it is pretty stuff.

Unfortunately the broader world does not seem to share the joys of these interactions (see You Tube comments). Perhaps when framed by the media as this clip was recently, the natural comment blow back is to be expected.