Hong Kong's Sharkfin and Marine Products Association

Hong Kong's Sharkfin and Marine Products Association says there are no whale shark fins on display in Hong Kong (Rhincodon typus).

But Brad Norman says otherwise using images from a recent expedition to capture the imagination and the bandwidth of the media.

Herald Sun

The fins of the gentle giants, the same species that delights snorkellers off Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef every autumn, are sold for $300 each and used as window displays in shark fin shops in Hong Kong's Sheung Wan market district.

The Sunday Herald Sun last week joined an expedition to the Chinese territory to expose the trade in the world's biggest fish, which is listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union.

Full story here.

Shark Diver New Zealand Announces New Great White Shark Location – “Open For Conservation”

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SharkDiverNZ.com -- Press Release Distribution 2/15/2010
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Shark Diver New Zealand is currently on hold while parent company Shark Diver makes necessary changes to websites and working partnerships in the region. Please stand by.

The revelation that one of the operations on site has a second commercial vessel that engages in commercial shark finning was a non starter for us. We'll keep you updated as new, conservation minded operations start here.

Law of Attraction - Baited Cams

Currently being passed around the blue blogs some interesting research video from Australia:

Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS) have been developed by AIMS scientists in order to monitor the vast areas of deeper inter-reef and shelf habitats inaccessible to research divers so that important bioregions there can be included in marine protected areas.

BRUVS consist of tourist-grade “HandiCam” video cameras in simple underwater housings made of PVC sewer pipe and acrylic, with a canister of minced pilchards on the end of a bait arm in the field of view. The housings are held in steel frames, and are deployed in strings of four to six under separate ropes and floats, to be picked up after one or two hours filming at the seabed.

Baited videos record species attracted to the bait plume or camera station, species attracted to the commotion caused by feeding and aggregation at the station, species occupying territories within the field of view of the camera, and species indifferent to the station but present in or passing through the field of view during the deployment.

The range of fish, sharks, rays, sea snakes and other animals sighted on BRUVS tapes has been remarkable – over 300 species to date, from 3cm leatherjackets to 3m hammerhead sharks.

Guadalupe Island - Research Critter Cam

The multi-year CICIMAR research effort at Isla Guadalupe studying movement patterns of regional white shark populations employed some interesting technology in 2009:

2009 - CNN INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE SHARK ENDS

As this decade closes CNN has a nice wrap up story on shark conservation and some of the highlights of the 2009 "International Year of the Shark."

We could not have summed up a year in shark conservation any better.

Kudos to all who participated with unique shark conservation efforts that effected real and lasting conservation changes.

Your passion, dedication, and conservation successes are what keep sharks from extinction.

Farewell to the "Decade of shark awareness" and hello to the "Decade of shark action."

CNN shark conservation wrap here.

1000m White Shark - Shark Geek Cool

Let's channel our "inner shark geeks" for a moment and savor the news coming out a small and dedicated group of White shark researchers off Stewart Island, NZ this month.

Data coming back from a series of shark tags are showing these remarkable animals diving to 1000m or 3280 feet:

Up to 70 per cent of the time they are near the surface but this winter one of the whites dived. "We've got what we think is a world record of 1000 metres for a white shark."

They believe it would have gone after a giant squid or phosphorescent fish. At that depth it would be pitch black and the white would have been guided in by the fish glow. A tag on a white shark popped up off Mana Island but its data was partly corrupted. The shark had been north to the tropics for winter and had come back in summer.

Three of six sharks tagged at the Chathams were found to have swum 3000km north to Tongatapu, the main Tongan island.

And you wonder why we love shark science so much?

Complete Story.

Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund 2009

Two years ago Shark Diver launched, with the help of a few forward thinking dive operations, the Isla Guadalupe Conservation Fund website.

Our goal as a commercial shark diving operation has always been the integration of science and tourism. Redirecting funds back into worthy shark site projects.

The funds original objective was to provide much needed dollars for ongoing and Mexican based shark research.

Additionally, we were interested in the continuing mechanics of a web based fund roll out combined with a video push created by RTSea Productions on You Tube and elsewhere. After two years we can report this effort has been a great success both in terms of dollars generated and information about the Bio Sphere to the public 24/7.

As a template for other commercial shark diving operations worldwide-this works. It was a cost effective project and to date has been viewed by well over 400K interested parties.

The funds original brainchild and most ardent financial supporter has been Mike Lever owner/operator of the Nautilus Explorer. His constant selling of the fund has raised thousands of dollars for Isla Guadalupe projects.

Since the websites debut a lot of changes in policy and direction have happened at I.G and the website is becoming outdated. In 2009 we will be updating this site to reflect the current situations and needs at the island with updates on current research and more.

Please check back with us in the near future for web updates.

Isla Guadalupe Research-Mauricio Hoyos

We just got off the phone with white shark researcher Maurico Hoyos who's looking forward to his final tagging and tracking season at Isla Guadalupe, Mexico.

This project has been an exciting adventure for us and for Maurico-simply put this was the first time any cross border shark eco tour/research effort has ever been attempted in Mexico.

It has been the standing policy of Shark Diver to include shark research with operations wherever we could. 8 years ago this policy was considered by many within the community to be a lost leader, or at worst a complete waste of time.

Time, it seems, was all it took to show proof of concept. In the end we are obligated as eco tour operations to know more about the animals we make a living from. Research knowledge is key- with that comes our credibility.

As commercial shark diving operators we do not have "any rights" to make a living from white sharks. It's a gift, and payback comes in the form of adding to the understanding of these animals. You have to support the resource with realistic and yearly efforts. Otherwise these animals become little more than Biological ATM Machines.

If you're interested in providing material support for Maurico's 2008 field season contact him directly at:

Mauricio Hoyos <amuakua@gmail.com