Holiday Cheer-From RTSea

Let the Bloody Mary's begin...it's the drink of choice for all shark divers far and near.

"Happy Holidays" backatcha RTSea!

Editors Note: Did Shredder grow horns?

Theater of the Grotesque-A Family Shark Kill?

We're still trying to drill down the "when and where" of this Tiger Shark kill and the images keep getting worse. We had seen some of these but not all. Kudo's to Trules Jemtland for finding this full image suite online. Nice bit of detective work.

If this is the Bahamas-which is likely, these images could still serve a media purpose leading the way for fisheries changes in the Bahamas. These,sadly, are the kind of images that do effect change and garner "sympathy for the devil".

On a personal note, this is a crime, made worse by the fact this was a gravid female. The pile of bloody shark pups is something we hope we never see online again.

Warning:These images are graphic.



TIGER SHARK MARCH 2008

Bahamas? Mystery or not this image is out

This image is part of a series we looked at a while ago. It is reportedly a dead Tiger in the Bahamas, obviously gravid.

Like other images such as the Great White in the Bahamas this spring, we waited until we had confirmation to post the image and back story. This Tiger image "pedigree" has eluded us thus far. No one knows anything, not the marinas, not the commercial docks, not the fisheries department.

Unlike the imageless story of another dead Tiger at Old Bahama Bay Resort this spring-we confirmed with the staff at the resort and the dock master that indeed a female, and once again gravid, Tiger shark was taken and killed there.

Helmut Nickel from the Shark-l has post two of the images online with the question we're sure everyone wants to know...is this the Bahamas?

Time it seems, for even "well known sharks", is not a given or even a luxury. This mystery remains if you know anything about this image let us know.

Anderson Cooper's Stunt Journalism

From the Washington Times this morning a "news industry" look at Anderson Cooper's Planet In Peril. For the record we're going to depart from our CV and jump to Anderson's defense, that entire series was great conservation television:

Anderson Cooper is a fine journalist, which is all the more reason for CNN to stop trying to feed him to sharks.

Last night CNN ran its program "Planet in Peril: Battle Lines," which careened from continent to continent, crisis to crisis, anxiety to anxiety, in what can only be called porn for paranoiacs. Some of it was very well done, but the overall product, I fear, felt like stunt journalism, ranging from Lisa Ling braving the Nigerian backwaters to meet with gun-blazing militants to, most prominently, Cooper swimming with great white sharks.

First he swam inside a shark cage. Then -- Cooper in peril!!! -- he swam without the cage, among those mindless monsters, clinging to a rock at the sea bottom while they circled hungrily. You could almost hear Sean Hannity in the distance screaming "EAT HIM! EAT HIM!"

I found myself impressed more than anything by the CNN expense account. Cooper, Sanjay Gupta and Lisa Ling were zooming all over the planet, to remote deserts, an island in the Pacific, deepest jungle, the Andes, and so on, and documenting all manner of horrors and injustices. But it felt scatterbrained, showy and entirely driven by the visuals. Yes, it's neat to look at great white sharks up close, and to wonder if they'll devour the anchorman (to a cry of "Anchor away!!!), but what does that have to do with anything?

Here's the CNN Planet in Peril website.

And here's an exhaustive summary of all the amazing things that Cooper & Co. did to document the planet in peril.

RTSea on the Undersea Voyager Project

From RTSea Blog today:

I had the pleasure of attending a press event for the Undersea Voyager Project that was held at one of my regular stomping grounds, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. It's great to attend these events as you get to meet new people with similar interests, concerns, and passions for marine conservation.

The Undersea Voyager Project is headed up by Scott Cassell, who has done considerable study and research on the Humboldt Squid - a particularly voracious predator typically found in deeper water but makes more local appearances from time to time. The primary thrust of the Project is an ambitious program involving submersibles and a variety of different marine science projects, culminating in the development of a larger submersible that will act as an undersea classroom bringing science to the general public in a very real and as-it-happens way.

I find this very exciting because throughout my involvement in marine conservation as a filmmaker and giving screenings and lectures, I have found that there is a tremendous amount of scientific data that does not get effectively translated into issues, implications and solutions for the general public to understand and appreciate. As an example, we have decades of data documenting climate change - and yet there are still many people who refuse to accept it.

Organizations like the Undersea Voyager Project can be of tremendous benefit in enlightening the public, young and old, to important issues regarding our oceans. Marine conservation must not be obscure or vague; it must be made real and tangible to all people: to the general public, to the decision-makers, and to the future generations of scientists-in-the-making.

Check out the Undersea Voyager Project web site and give it your support.

Editors Note: We would also like to lend our weight to Scott Cassel. He's one of the genuine articles.

Hey Lucy...I'm Hooooome!

THIS is what you look like after spending 10 months at sea...in a rowboat...in the vast and unforgiving Pacific.

Did we mention this was intentional!?

The eyes tell the story here. Kudo's to the crazy Italian who went for gold, and god help this guys girlfriend when he comes home. A mere week at sea turns all of our crews into sex starved loons...cannot even imagine what this guys thinking right now:

It was a rather ignominious end to a grand adventure. After 10 months of rowing alone across the vast Pacific Ocean, eating only dried food and with nothing but emails from fans for company, Alex Bellini was rescued by a tugboat, just 65 nautical miles from his destination.

Mr Bellini, 30, set off on his solo crossing from Lima, Peru, in February, and had planned to next set foot on land in Sydney on Saturday. His plan was to row across the great ocean in his 25-foot boat. For 99 per cent of the gruelling journey, success seemed to be within his grasp.

ABC news with Luke Tipple: Great White Shark cage accident at Guadalupe Island

From Luke Tipple's Blog this week. A look into the firestorm of media surrounding Isla Guadalupes best documented and unnecessary cage breach. We happen to agree with Luke's position and while unpopular to some of the smaller minded in our community "who just see personal gain" what was needed to be said about this sad event, was said, and that takes leadership.

What neither the shooter of this video, who last week could be seen tastelessly trotting around signed pieces of shattered cage on national television, nor the operator seem to comprehend is the blow back from this event in Mexico.

This cage breach video and subsequent posting on You Tube directly resulted in a ban on all chumming at the island in 2008.

Unfortunately it does not end here as the national media in Mexico now has this story and you can rest assured there will be much more in terms of anti-shark diving sentiment from Mexico in the coming weeks and months:

Recently I was asked to give my comments on the “Great White Shark Accident”, a viral video that gained worldwide attention after heavy YouTube exposure. The video depicts a large (around 14-15 feet) White Shark ‘breaching’ a the cage of a well known and respected cage diving operator at Isla Guadalupe. My comments were picked up by ABC news as you can see in the following video:

The response was overwhelming and rather interesting. It is the opinion of some people in the shark diving industry that nothing should have been said about ‘operator error’, effectively the strategy was to simply hope that the issue would go away. I find that a rather difficult plan to follow when the divers in question have since appeared on the nationally aired ‘Today Show’ and their video has hit ever major news desk in the world. That includes the front page of Australian and British newspapers not to mention many morning and evening talk/news shows.

It is my opinion that a video such as this, released without due care to follow up PR, can only be detrimental to the shark diving industry. Major news websites and blogs have gone so far as to suggest that shark (cage) diving is “dangerous and terrifying”, “training sharks to eat people”, even claiming that accidents like this occur with regularity.

As an industry professional and passionate supporter of sustainable eco-tourism (in this case shark diving) I cannot abide these comments. Our industry regularly takes abuse from people who do not understand what it is we do. The shark diving industry is worth 200 million dollars annually worldwide and in many cases is responsible for helping police and protect dive sites and endangered animals from damage while channeling much needed money into research and conservation. There are certainly operators who could manage their businesses in a safer or more ethical way, but that is a subject for another discussion.

As far as Guadalupe goes the fact remains, in 2008 the Mexican government sent their Navy to enforce their new ‘no baiting’ guidelines. This was partly influenced by videos such as the ‘cage accident’. This decision is a threat to our industry and tourism operations, all of which help support local research and contribute funds to the Mexican economy and Guadalupe’s conservation.

The accident was an isolated incident that is extremely unlikely to happen again. Claims that the animal was at fault have no relevance whatsoever… the explanation is simply this:

This predator reacted to a stimulus which was placed too close to an obstruction giving it little to no time to react or turn to avoid collision. That’s it.

With a little care about the message we put out our industry could avoid a lot of the drama that it perpetuates. I stand by my comments on air as in the end I’d rather see an endangered and beautiful species of animal get off the proverbial hook for a change, if that means someone admits a one off mistake, so be it.

Our Very Own Shark Attack Playset

Must be the holidays again because the parade of shark related gifts from ex shark divers and friends are pouring in. Ahhh, we loves our holiday season.

This nifty present we opened today-thanks Tony, Sheri and Andreas!

As you can see Discovery Channel's "other wing" Animal Planet is behind this interesting and very sharky creation. We'll try and explain what you cannot see in this image. In no particular order:

Animal Planet Shark Attack Playset

"press dorsal fin to move jaws" (huge chomping action white shark)

"I floss everyday" (image of great white mouth open)

"includes diver with accessories, diving cage, great white shark with moving jaws, and smaller tiger shark" (way cool cage design, with diver in rebreather set up)

"say cheese"(another great white mouth open)

"try me!" (reach in and chomp the shark at the diver, hours of fun)

In short we'll rate this almost as cool as one of last years gifts the ever popular "Shark With Frickn' Lazer Beam" still in it's original packaging.

What is this saying to kids 5 and up? Take it up with Discovery Channel if you have a beef. For us we'll just sit back and enjoy the sharky holiday glow of it all. Now with 40% more chomping action!

Massive Mako Mother Makes Good Science

So....we missed the flight to NZ but the story remains one of predatory fascination. Turns out this female had recently given birth. More than 800 onlookers showed up:

The 3.6-metre, 460-kilogram shark died in the Mapua channel last month.

Conservation Department shark expert Clinton Duffy, who carried out the dissection, found an empty stomach and that the mako gave birth recently. The autopsy indicated it may have been killed by an encounter with a boat.

There was massive bruising behind its jaws, Touch the Sea aquarium marine educator Richard de Hamel said. "So it may have been feeling a bit sick, then got a bump on the head, and that's really put her on the downhill slide."

The condition of the shark's uterus showed it had given birth within the past few months.

A sample of its spine was taken and its growth rings will be used to determine its age, which was probably about 30. Video here.

The "Imperial Presidency"...Ends With A Shoe

Good by and farewell Mr.President:

What To Do With The Cricket Two?

With the death of Frank Mundus-shark killer extraordinaire-the fate of his vessel remains undecided as it goes up for auction next year.

We have seen some amusing posts suggesting a great fire, or explosion to render this notorious vessel to the cold hellish depths of Davy Jones...perhaps so old Frank could enjoy himself killing sharks once again. But we digress.

There's one solid answer to the fate of the Cricket Two, and that is to make her a commercial shark diving and research vessel. As a media tool few vessels carry the instant recognition factor of the Cricket Two. As a way of pushing the shark conservation message forward to later generations of commercial grade shark killers-we know of no better vessel or platform.

Imagine for a moment having the Cricket Two "blockade" the ongoing Martha's Vineyard Monster Shark Tournament?

It will take a smart media team, cool messaging, and of course about 300k to pry this vessel away from those who would use her to either hunt for sharks or send her to the bottom. If this vessel ends up in the hands of a savvy pro shark hunter the balance of media attention would go there...and it's a real a possibility as you could imagine.

Editors Note: For a production company this vessel could be, with the right show concept,the next Shark Week vehicle. Anyone interested should give us a call we have a *few* ideas.

Smart Conservation-Minus the Viral Factor

The guys over at BAD posted an excellent shark conservation video teaser today. Had to say we liked it too...except the most important factor posting any video on You Tube-the viral factor.

Having a first rate conservation message that perhaps 30,000 people see is like pouring a "cup of salt" on an Antarctic Ice Shelf. We need more videos like these and we need to open them up to a wider audience. Kudo's to Leslie Rochat for this effort. Cannot wait to see the completed doco:

Maybe it's the legacy of decennia of successful terrestrial Conservation - but South Africa seems to be a fertile breeding ground for efficient and intelligent Shark Conservationists, which of course is great!

Case in point: Lesley Rochat who has posted this video on YouTube.
Shame that she has de-activated the embedding feature and thus limited its circulation.

I like it because despite being chillingly graphic, it nevertheless manages to remain pragmatic and doesn't gratuitously vilify and demonize the perpetrators and the Authorities.

That's smart Conservation.

Those are the very same people one will eventually have to meet in order to flesh out what cannot be but a compromise. Ultimately, it is them who will have to sign , and then do (or stop doing) something and that requires that one continues to talk. Yes, certainly assertively but never impolitely.

How not to do it is amply demonstrated by the recent Whale hunting fiasco - and I'll leave it at that.

Magnapinna Squid-Perhaps, Perhaps

We got the following email this morning about that face hugger critter found at 7800 feet back in November of 2007. We had an ident of Magnapinna perhaps the scariest looking critter you would ever not want to meet free diving at night. The email is from the ROV company who caught this on tape.

Now we're not so sure about the ident, here's the email, anyone out there know what this is?

Gentlemen,

I work as Senior Project Engineer for DOF Subsea Australia. I am on secondment to one of our companies in as you can see from my email signature below. We're an engineering and offshore services contractor to the oil and gas industry. We also perform all kinds of offshore work and recently you may have seen our team and one of our survey vessels was responsible for the locating of the HMAS Sydney. A long lost battleship of the Australian Navy that was sunk in battle in WW2.

We design and fabricate and install all manner of equipment and systems in all corners of the oceans. We have dedicated vessels from which we perform all our work and on these vessels we carry a full survey crew, an ROV crew for each onboard ROV, Saturation Diving crews, marine crew, deck crew and engineering staff. Within the travels we have collected large amounts of digital footage recorded from at least one of the 7 onboard cameras of the ROV(s) (some vessels have two) and share them amongst ourselves. I have attached the footage of the squid????? as described.

You can see from the title that the ROV boys have named it “Creature” you’ll see why. From the video overlay you can see the Eastings and Northings for the location in the Gulf from the onboard survey systems and the depth as recorded by the onboard ROV instruments.

Anyway if you can indent this let me know.

Company website

The Ethics of Shark Diving

The following video aptly highlights a post from earlier this year. We suggested that the ongoing rule of thumb within our industry was actually working against it. That would be "Out do the other guy".

At some shark dive sites the headlong rush to offer more adrenaline fueled encounters and the abandonment of nearly all safety protocols will eventually lead to disaster.

The site in this video is Tiger Beach, Bahamas.

At one time there was only one operation here. That operation with the help of photographers and hundreds of videos on You Tube and elsewhere set the bar for the current operations who are growing by the year.

The question with this video is about ethics and sustainability in our industry and once again the power of You Tube and viral media to portray our industry in a less than positive light:

Master Shark Diver-Great Idea

We got sent over to the Shark Life conservation site today and "discovered" another great shark conservation idea.

Obviously someone put a lot of time and effort into creating a conservation based shark diving program that works.

Why is this not front page industry news?

The commercial shark diving industry generates a lot of "great ideas" put forth by some very bright people. Most go by the wayside or end up as regional efforts that few others get exposed to.

This Master Shark Diver Program is one of the better conservation ideas we have seen in a while. Kudo's.

Your Chance To Get Up Close To A Massive Mako

Count us in-we're scrambling for frequent flyer miles. Spring in New Zealand with a 12 foot Mako?

Priceless:

11 December 2008 - A mako shark collected as it died in the Mapua estuary, near Nelson, recently will be dissected at an open viewing this Saturday.

The dissection will be lead by Department of Conservation shark expert, Clinton Duffy, one of the country's leading shark researchers.The huge female shark presents an exciting and sought after research opportunity - only one pregnant female mako has even been recorded in New Zealand waters before.

Clinton will examine the shark's reproductive tract to uncover crucial evidence that will help researchers answer questions about the lifecycle of mako sharks. If the shark is pregnant, DNA samples will be collected from the embryos to investigate the possibility of multiple paternity occurring in this species.

The massive size of the shark - over 3.3m long and weighing in at 460kg - means the shark could be close to being as old as makos get. Vertebrae samples could provide much needed clues to help determine the age of the shark. This can then be used to estimate natural mortality, how many pups a female mako can produce in her life time and allows researchers to better estimate growth rates of large sharks.

Members of the public are welcome to view the dissection. The dissection will take place on the car park area near Mapua Wharf (near Nelson), on Saturday 13 December, rain or shine. The dissection will begin around 12.30pm and is expected to take 2 - 3 hours. There is no charge.

CNN-Wild Aid-Conservation Home Run

After months of bad news about sharks, along comes this mornings in-depth and quite frankly astonishing coverage of Taiwans sharks fin trade by CNN's-Lisa Ling and Peter Knights of WildAid

The "Planet in Peril" crew traveled with Knights to Taiwan's southern port city of Kaohsiung, which is considered one of the world's main hubs for shark fins. We watched as the fishermen unloaded their catch. Thousands of fins were thrown from one of the ships that had spent months fishing the international waters of the Pacific.

Real and lasting conservation media starts with credible sources and ends with in depth reporting like this. Kudo's to the entire team who put this together, from the video crew to the line producers, this is first rate NGO work and first rate television/media.

When Disaster Videos Go Viral-Tracking The Spread

We have been tracking the spread of one of the worst cage breach videos ever to be caught on tape. The event happened at Isla Guadalupe, Mexico in 2007 and was posted on You Tube shortly after waiting for an editor or producer to take it mainstream.

That happened on Monday when the Times Online covered the video. What happened next is a classic case of viral negative media.

Today we'll be looking through the media lens on this event to highlight how far this video has spread-estimating the number of people who have been impacted.

Negative operational events (NOE's) affect the entire shark diving industry and ripple through the global media like wildfire. This is one example of how poor media handling immediately after an event has lead to the current negative media storm. Sadly, in the end, the sharks are the real victims here once again portrayed as 70's iconic, vicious killers.

Today is Wednesday December 10.2008-72 hours after the initial story broke in the U.K

International Newspapers

1. Times Online readership 618,160
2. Telegraph U.K readership 882,413
3. The Sun readership 7,900,000
4. Courier Mail Au 224,689

US Coverage

1. Today Show NBC-USA viewers 4,910,000
2. Today Show NBC-USA viewers 4,910,000 (second show Dec 11)
3. CBS Evening News-USA viewers n/a
4. ABC Good Morning America viewers 5,656,000

Major Viral Video Sites

1. You Tube 1 views 683,140
2. You Tube 2 views 149,541
3. You Tube 3 views 15,419
4. Break.com views 291,877
5. Travelistic.com views 27,160

Blogs

A quick blog search shows this video on well over 400 blogs and video posts at this time. Estimated numbers of viewers is hard to count.

Summary

The coverage of this video by the mainstream media will burn out by the end of this week. The driving force behind this video's success has been CNN's Planet in Peril and a recent expose on cage diving in South Africa. The story will not end here. This video will now sit on literally thousands of servers across the planet with absolutely no chance of it being taken down.

"Post spin" after a negative operational event (NOE) is not effective. Viewers of this video make up their own minds based on the negative media in front of them and will continue to carry that view. The real tragedy here is the animal which was put into an "artificial situation" driving both the anti shark diving agenda, and the negative image of sharks.

Operators have a small window immediately after an event like this to control media should they choose to exercise this option. Failing to do so, as we have seen this week, damages everyone.

Holy "Old School"

From the guys over at the Squid Force Blog. They find the most amazing videos. This one's got pretty much everything:

1. Tuna
2. Fishing
3. Sharks
4. Guns

"Take more than a stinkin' shark to make you back off now". Who wrote this stuff?

David McGuire-Shark Talk

David McGuire, conservation filmmaker, a field associate of the California Academy of Sciences and a shark advocate recently took part in a round table discussion with Global Commons radio about sharks and shark conservation.

His film "Sharks Stewards of the Reef" remains one of the best looks at the fate of modern sharks with a strong conservation message. To quote David "It's a bad time to be a shark".

Listen here.

Two escape as great white shark tears apart cage

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about the 200 million dollar shark diving industry and how the actions of local operations ripple across the globe to eventually effect us all.

For the second day in a row a major newspaper in the U.K has acquired a You Tube video shot by a diver at Isla Guadalupe in 2007.

The video details one of the worst cage breaches ever caught in the history of cage diving.

The operation in question has had several cage breaches going back to 2004 at the same dive site with the same sharks.

By way of disclosure we also operate at the same site and before anyone proffers the idea this post about "slamming a competitor" we would like to put that to rest-now.

This post is about media, responsibility, and leadership within an industry. It is about our responsibility to the animals we make a living from, it is about treating the resource as a renewable one and not as a Biological ATM Machine.

This video, for the anti shark diving lobby, who would like to see an end to shark diving in places like South Africa, Australia, the Bahamas, remains the perfect visual media tool. It is the Golden Key.

For example this video is one of the primary reason the Mexican Navy enacted a ban on chumming at Isla Guadalupe in 2008. This ban affected an entire fleet of operators and shark divers from all over the planet. All due to a video and the complete lack of any media control exercised by a commercial shark diving company.

The abject irresponsibility of allowing this video to remain on the Internet where it continues to portray great whites in a 70's mindset, continues to harm other operations at this dive site, and continues to provide a platform for those who want to end shark diving-cannot be understated.

Leadership within an industry begins with the sharks and it ends with the realization that everything we do on a local level will eventually affect those on the other side of the planet either positively or negatively. The next steps are up the the company responsible for this event.

It is high time they took full responsibility for this sad affair and "retired" this video for the sake of the industry and for the ongoing perception of sharks worldwide. These animals deserve better, you know it, the industry knows it, and no amount of post event website spin will change that.

When Animals Attack-DARPA

According to a recent article the days of "Sharks with Frick'n Laser Beams" is closer than you think.

Apparently DARPA, our military's mad science wing has been exploring implants in the brains of sharks that "steer them" from a remote location like, sorry for the pun, Predator Drones.

Seriously.

Darpa military research is currently exploring ways to use electronic stimulus to control shark behavior and movement. In fact, scientists at Boston University have already developed brain implants that can influence the movements of dogfish (members of the shark family) by "steering" them using a phantom odor.

The military objective of controlling the movement of sharks is outlined in the New Scientist Magazine as follows; "By remotely guiding sharks' movements, the military hopes to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted. The Pentagon hopes to exploit the ability of sharks to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails.”

Nicole, Ripley, Linda, Adam, Lola, Stacy, Brooby

This is the sat tagging and tracking map (click for full size) of several Tiger sharks tagged and tracked in Australia courtesy of The Undersea Explorer Shark Research Program.

From their website:

This project has been funded and conducted by Undersea Explorer through adventure diving tourism. Public awareness of shark conservation needs have been highlighted through the involvement of recreational divers and the production of international film documentaries and articles.

The experience of divers on these liveaboard diving adventures has been heightened by interaction with the scientists, quality interpretive presentations and exciting and unique shark diving.

Editors Note: Shark research and tourism work.

Nais Aquarium in Guatemala-Lip Smacking Good

When we covered the future of shark diving and commercial aquariums a few months ago this is not what we had in mind. Let's hope on some far off planet there's no alien equivalent to "eating sauteed red snapper in the middle of an aquarium"...then again an estimated 7 million people "vanish" from the planet each year, we may be there already:

GUATEMALA - Grupo Nais announces the December 3 opening of the Nais Aquarium, the First Restaurant-Aquarium in Latin America, in Guatemala City. A gastronomical and technological gem that astonishes with its complexity and beauty, the Nais Aquarium includes a group of 15 aquariums in the Restaurant, Lounge and family area. Measuring 12 x 6 meters and containing 30 thousand gallons of salt water, the main Aquarium is the largest Mobile Aquarium in the world, with 450 fish from 38 exotic species, including sharks, manta rays and eels.

Salmon Shark Mystery or Media Push?

Salmon Shark young of the year have been washing up along the coasts of both California and Oregon over the past three years with increasing frequency. At least one "marine expert" thinks there's something fishy going on...we're not so sure:

First came the fang-toothed lancetfish, washing up on Oregon beaches last spring and summer.

Then came the young salmon sharks -- which resemble baby great whites -- turning up on the sand through October.

Now Bill Hanshumaker, a marine education specialist at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, wants to figure out why at least 10 or more of each species beached up on Oregon shores in the past several months. It's not unusual to find a few each summer, but this year's high numbers remain a mystery.

Sharks and Media 101

This mornings Times Online highlights the ongoing need for both control of media within a shark site and safety protocols with macro sharks. Back in 2007 this company had another full cage breach at Isla Guadalupe. This time the shark took off the entire front of the cage system dumping a fully weighted diver into 500 feet of water.

At the time the event was written off and to this day the operation publicly looks at this event as "par for the course" when dealing with Great Whites. Meanwhile the video of the cage breach continues to grow on You Tube (500,000) garnering interest far and wide from not just the media, but government agencies in Mexico tasked with this sites enforcement, members of the Mexican Parliament, and a few NGO's whose agenda is clearly anti shark diving.

The lessons here are simple and two fold. Design and adhere to safer protocols for macro species encounters that do not rely on cage systems for "entertainment". Having white sharks bump, ram, or hit shark cages is both a disservice to the animals and inherently dangerous. Always control your media. When events like these happen there is a small window in which the operator may ask for the video or images. Videos such as these damage the credibility of all shark diving operations worldwide.

As an industry we live in a world where negative operations events (NOE's) are transmitted at light speed around the planet. These events will also sit on servers until the end of time reinforcing the image of sharks as deadly killers and no amount of post event spin will change that. As an industry whose livelihood depends on these animals, we can do better. Let's start by taking this video down and replacing it with a pro shark PSA, while at the same time ensuring these kind of events never happen again. The Times Online readership is 349,000 a day.

Editors Note: We just noticed the Sun also ran with the same story with a "Divers survive shark attack" headline. Good for sharks? Probably not.

Sharks-Taking a Leadership Position

This morning we read an astonishing post by a shark diving operation in Fiji. As we have come to learn "the hard way" the commercial shark diving world has a similar unsaid credo to that once uttered by Ronald Reagan-"Speak no ill of fellow shark diving operations". Or put less succinctly by those still in the 80's mindset to our industry,"Mind your own goddamn business".

Commercial shark diving has evolved from a few maverick shark divers, who showed the way back in the late 70's, to an actual $200 million dollar global industry. It's a hard fact few within our industry fully comprehend the magnitude of.

Unfortunately, our industry is also at point in time where our actions are inspiring an entire generation of up and coming operators and underwater photographers. In many cases they are being inspired to attempt animal encounters that will inevitably lead to spectacular and unfortunate events.

It has happened already and the perception of sharks when this happens dumps them back into stone age erasing years of positive shark messaging and pro shark efforts. It's a classic Catch 22. The desire by some for closer encounters with top predators to educate the public these animals are not killers, which inevitably leads to an accident or outright attack on a diver, which then destroys the animals reputation once again.

The two burning issues that most commercial shark diving operations fail to realize are the following:

1. Due to the nature of what we do we are high value targets for the media and for misguided wildlife advocates.

2. Regardless of where you have a shark operation your actions ripple through a global industry. This is a fact.

I have to hand it to Beqa Adventure Divers for taking the stance they have taken. We have been strong advocates for industry standard protocols with macro sharks like Tigers, Bulls and Great Whites. On the flip side the imagery taken by Amanda Cotton was stunning and one might argue several of her images will do great things to change peoples perception of sharks.

As we have said in the past there's a "line in the sand" between what we do as commercial shark diving operators with the general public and needs of commercial underwater photography. We covered this same issue last month.

What we do with sharks should be based first and foremost on long term sustainability not a "run of good luck".

South Africa-Sharks-Nets-Conservation?

From the folks over at Beqa Adventure Divers blog this morning this is a serious issue. As with all shark conservation issues this one has many actors. The fact remains that shark protection nets and drum lines are an antiquated 60's solution to a modern ocean and to shark conservation.

It is using an indescriminate "anvil" to squash a "mosquito", we can do better. In the end it will be up to South Africans to ensure their own sharks survival and for the local shark diving operations to show leadership by addressing this head on. They are not alone, this is an issue facing commercial shark diving operations worldwide-loss of sharks:

The English version of Jérôme's shark film carries the following dedication:

To Ella and Mathilda
victims of man's madness

This is in reference to a recent spate of Tiger Shark fatalities in Aliwal Shoal.

Very tragic and very stupid, too, as South Africa benefits from a thriving Shark Diving Industry and has much to loose indeed in terms of reputation as an Ecotourism destination but also, in terms of tourism revenues and related employment opportunities.

The incidents have caused much uproar among Shark aficionados - but I fear, not much beyond that. I hope I'm wrong. In that respect, the comment by one "Anonymous" on a South African blog may have been prophetic. The author is clearly an insider and probably someone with a pedigree of getting things done (I got my suspicions...). He evidently also knows of the harmonious, dispassionate, un-opinionated, pragmatic and never controversial world of Shark Conservation, as witnessed by his choice to remain unrecognized - and by the ensuing comments!

This is what he wrote.

"Look guys,this is what? 3-5-6-7-8 dead Tigers this year alone?

If you cannot figure it out let me suggest the following things that can be done by YOU today to get some traction on this as neither you nor Julie-let's saver some sharks-really have a clue.

• Start a damn website, go after the sharks board by highlighting who's on the damn board and why they are there in the first place. Any dirt on those folks? Find out!
• Get some help from a qualified NGO like say, PEW Trusts, not Shark Savers as that whole message on a pizza box thing plus blog posts equals shark hopelessness 101.
• Start making some real noise. You guys have hosted some of the top UW photographers over the past 5 years, leverage those guys to make some damn noise. Are they just in it for the image and money? If so shame on them, get them to start some action.
• No shark petitions, they are as useless as third teats.
• Local media, hit them up for action. Surely, in all of the media you have, there has to be a friendly shark voice. Find it!
• Create and post at least 10-2 min PSA's on You Tube, yes 10, and get your dive buddies to spread the word and that means all those photographers you know as well.

If you cannot get some action from your own home waters then stop posting this crap. DO something better than this. These are YOUR damn animals and YOU have to make changes not the rest of the planet. Good luck."

Good Point!

Question is: what has happened since?

Is everybody over there (as in local dive operators, NGOs, etc.) working together and has dialogue been sought with the Authorities? As in, finding solutions?

Madagascar:Running Short On Sharks

More bad shark news this morning:

TOLIARA, December 2008 (IRIN) - Coastal communities in southwestern Madagascar, who risk their lives travelling long distances in dugout canoes to supply a lucrative demand for shark fins, face an uncertain future as unsustainable fishing practices threaten the survival of the marine resources on which they depend.

People in villages along the southwestern coast are reporting a dramatic decrease in all marine resources. "Around 2000 the decline really started here. The octopus catch fell and sea cucumbers disappeared. Some fish species also disappeared," Roger Samba, in the village of Andavadoaka, in Toliara Province, told IRIN.

"It is difficult to catch enough fish to sell. People go far away, fishing from early in the morning until late at night, to catch not even 10kg or 20kg of fish - just 5kg."

When shark fisherman Zoffe loads his nets into his pirogue (a dugout canoe, often with a sail) in the morning and sets out from his home in the coastal town of Morombe into the deep waters of the Mozambique Channel, he knows that he will be lucky if he catches anything.

Island of the Great White Shark Screening

For those of you in the Southern California area, two terrific aquarium organizations are holding screening/lecture events for Island of the Great White Shark. After the screening of the documentary, filmmaker Richard Theiss will be on hand to field questions about the film, and discuss the current state of affairs at Isla Guadalupe and shark conservation in general. This film draws a crowd so call early and coax a friend along who might be convinced that all sharks are really demons-your opinion will change.

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institute of Oceanography
La Jolla, CA
When: Tues., Jan. 6, 2009, 6:00-8:00pm
For RSVP/tickets, call: 858-534-4109

Heal the Bay (Santa Monica Pier Aquarium)
Santa Monica, CA
When: Wed., Jan. 21, 2009, 7:00-8:30pm
For information, call: 310-393-6149

While we're here how about a shameless plug for those of you shopping for the holidays: The Island of the Great White Shark DVD is available online through Amazon, currently at a reduced price for holiday season. This award-winning documentary is a great stocking stuffer for shark lovers and those who could benefit from seeing the magnificent great white shark in a different light.

Giant Squid vs ROV 0-1

Huzzah! More Giant Squid news this week. Well, unless the ROV in this video is 60 feet across, perhaps not a Giant Squid but squiddy video news none the less...and we'll take it.

A huge squid was caught on underwater camera attacking a ROV at around 1650 ft water depth in the Gulf of Mexico. The ROV hydraulic arm made an attempt to nudge the squid away but it held on firmly to its target until it gave up and left:

Iconic Shark Image 2009-Amanda Cotton

Recently Wolfgang Leander introduced us to Amanda Cotton. We have been big fans of Wolfgang's honesty and pure love of sharks. Wolf has quietly been the voice of conscience within the shark community for a number of years now. He's got a rare and unique talent with these animals in water that is "organic".

Amanda shot what we believe is the "Iconic Shark Image" of 2009 featuring Wolfgang and a female Tiger with a hook in her mouth. As a stand alone image the story telling is terrific and as an ambassador image to the plight of sharks worldwide there are few that compare.

We have always been partial to black and white underwater images of sharks. It is much harder to shoot in black and white because you are "compelled to tell a story" with the image-and that takes talent. As talented as Old Wolf is with his shark interactions so is Amanda with her seemingly organic ability to "be there for the image".

Shark Fin Du Jour-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc

Our weekly feature at Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks is the "Shark Fin Du Jour".

It's a look at Alibaba.com the NYSE of shark fin products on the Internet-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc.

We will take you into the individual sellers listed on that site and introduce the top companies, what species they sell, and how many thousands of pounds of shark fins they have for sale on the global market.

Today our Shark Fin Du Jour is Stavcorp Australia Pty Ltd who can source a stunning 10 tons of sharks fins a month and who have a minimum order of shark fin via Alibaba.com of 3000 kilograms or 6500 pounds-per order.

To put this into perspective 10 tons of sharks fin equals roughly 11,000 dead sharks-per order.

Frederic Buyle-Well and Recovering

Got a quick email this morning from Frederic Buyle who we heard had had an accident while filming his stunning documentary Ocean Quest. Rumors of Freds demise have been greatly exaggerated-we wish him and his project a speedy recovery:

Hi Guys,

I'm back earlier in Europe than expected, I had an accident in Polynesia, a boat hit me during the shooting. All well now, I'm resting at home and I'll be back in the ocean by end of January.

Check this link as well, the new video with footage from Polynesia is online, we had some good times with a humpback calf and an oceanic white tip a few days later, enjoy!

Fred

Editors Note: We see a lot of underwater film projects each year and none are as captivating and visually stunning as this one. If you have not already clicked the link do so now go to full screen and enjoy.

Shark Swarm-Daryl Hannah-Politics of Whales

Hunting in Packs...Killing Without Mercy.

That's the headline of Shark Swarm perhaps one of, if not the worst 3 hour anti shark film, ever to grace the silver screen...actually this film was so bad it went straight to television by passing the silver screen and silver tongued film critics along the way.

Shark Swarm with it's 40+ shredded body count, stars Daryl Hannah. Ms Hannah who claims to be an eco activist is currently on board the Steve Irwin with Sea Shepherd adding some eco credibility to her resume "saving whales".

Strangely, and we're sure this has nothing to do with her current involvement with Sea Shepherd, a film crew from Animal Planet will also be on board Wagging the Conservation Dog for the second year in a row.

Disclaimer: We think whaling should end and are no fans of Japans hunt-unfortunately Sea Shepherd is a bad actor whose overall damage to the global eco movement and flow of much needed funds to legitimate eco orgs has caused lasting and serious harm.

As we have been blogging Sea Shepherd has lost it's way in terms of eco messaging and being effective. In fact if recent events are concluded in Canada one might argue they have even lost their way financially.

The Romans had a saying for both Sea Shepherd's antics and Ms Hanna's latest foray into the eco movement "Ad Captandum Vulgus". We think she could have made a better statement by passing on the Shark Swarm project and highlighting the global slaughter of sharks instead. At least her credibility as an "eco activist" would still be intact.

End of era for Florida Sawfish?

As Florida continues to disregard sharks as little more than raw product a new alarm has been sounded at the state of Florida's Sawfish population.

Once, one of the worlds healthiest populations, back in the 1920's and 30's today this rare and unique critter is all but vanishing from the coasts:

"Sawfish are disappearing all over the world for basically the same reason, which is that their big saws snag very easily in fishing nets, they have become despised as net wreckers because obviously a fisherman doesn't like getting one in his net. So over the years most sawfish that were captured were killed."

Editors Note: As we have mentioned Florida's continued ban on shark diving activities changes the value of sharks and rays in Florida's waters. Without safe commercial shark diving operations who see sharks as a sustainable and valuable resource-the value of sharks and rays is degraded to fishermen and one time use of these species.

CNN's Planet in Peril

Richard Theiss at RTSea is on the pulse of eco tourism, media, and sharks with his latest posting today:

In early October, I posted information about CNN's Planet in Peril series (Oct. 10 posting). They will be covering several important shark issues, among other important environmental topics. The show will air on December 11 (check your local listings for exact times).

It appears that the show will cover shark finning/shark conservation and shark ecotourism. The video previews available on the shark finning segment cover familiar ground for those of you familiar with shark conservation issues. Hopefully it will enlighten some of the less informed. Of course, the biggest issue in saving sharks is finding effective ways to change the cultural midset regarding shark fin soup and other related products. Much like the criticisms hurled against the ineffectiveness of the "drug wars", we must wrestle with the demand for the product with equal attention and force.



The other shark issue that CNN touches on is shark ecotourism. They look at a South African operation and then touch on whether baiting white sharks is teaching them to attack surfers and swimmers (it makes for an exciting story). It's an argument often used by opponents, but in my experience and from what I have learned from respected scientists who have studied these animals for a lot longer than I have spent filming them, it just doesn't hold water. These sharks are more discriminating than most uninformed people give them credit for. Attracted to fish chum and chasing/biting hangbait consisting of tuna, bonito, or something similiar, does not make a white shark suddenly develop a taste for human flesh and begin seeking out surfers or swimmers as their next prey. Surfers have been and probably will always be subject to mistaken identity for the large pinnipeds (seals, sea lions) that white sharks feed on.



I did find it noteworthy that the South African shark diving operation CNN chose to film had an incredibly small cage that fit the divers in like slices of bread in a toaster (a cameraman could barely fit a decent video housing in there) and they dragged the hangbait right up to the cage, causing the shark to bang up against the cage - dramatic fun for the tourists but potential harm for both the shark and the divers. This is not responsible shark ecotourism.

Thomas Peschak-Good Idea

One of the more creative ways of pushing shark conservation from the Save Our Seas Foundation and one of our favorite photographers Thomas Paschak this week.

What happens when you pull shark conservation messaging from disparate sources? Great things apparently:

A new kind of shark board
If you say shark board in KZN, you’d be referring to the guys who man the shark nets off the province’s beaches. However, a national art exhibition that aims to bring together two sworn enemies — sharks and surfers — all in the name of conservation has changed that.

Eleven top South African artists — including four KZN ones in Ross Turpin, Trevor Paul, Kim Longhurst and Scott Robertson — will use surfboards as canvases to highlight the predicament of one of Africa’s most endangered predators. They will be accompanied by 40 haunting photographs of sharks by award-winning photographer Tom Peschak from the Save Our Seas Foundation, a non-profit marine conservation group.

Editors Note: Hopefully these boards will go on auction, and when they do count us in for one...or three.

Shark Hating Voyeuristic Parasite?!

Kevin Harris. You either agree what he has to say, or hate what he has to say. Either way you are obligated to have an opinion-because that's how he's set himself up.

One of our favourite shark blogs penned by the folks over at Beqa Adventure Divers all but detonated on Kevin Harris this morning. It's interesting reading.

For the record we're on the fence with Kevin. He skates a fine line between 70's conventional wisdom about sharks that often fail to take into account recent data trends and shark research. The difference, for example, between chumming for pelagic shark species vs reef sharks and a host of other salient points when lumping together "opines" on everything from shark attacks to site closures.

On the plus side Kevin has gone where no one has gone before taking a deeper look into industry shark attacks and poking about in places where our industry does not typically want anyone poking about. This is the blogger equivalent of the 400,000 soldiers who marched straight line into machine gun nests during the battle of Ypres in 1916...when you come out into this industry with opinions there's no where to hide.

One thing is for sure Mr.Harris is not the mindless WOW playing shut in behind the Cyber Diver Network whose anti-shark diving crusade is nothing short of pathological. We would humbly submit to you in the realm of "Shark Hating Voyeuristic Parasites" this fellow gets the award post dated to 2000.

Mr.Harris, his website and opinions, are more nuanced than that. As we said back in September:

"An industry is only an industry when people discuss views, organize, and debate topics affecting that them. Kevin Harris provides the starting point for many of those debates for the commercial shark diving industry".

He also has managed to raise the ire of many along the way, which we suppose, was part of the game plan from day one.

Wild Aid-"Goodwill Hunting"

This morning blog reader Dennis sent in this Wild Aid shark conservation video. It's an older video but it's also has a nice balance between the gorgeous and the horrific. Whale sharks are on the agenda:

White Shark Mystery-Carolinas

Off all the white sharks we covered this year washed up on remote shores nothing compares with the one that washed up in the Bahamas this summer.

Except, perhaps, this 13 foot female in the Carolinas this week:

The body of a great white shark, one of the ocean's rarest and most powerful apex predators, was discovered last week washed ashore on Morris Island.

What killed the 13-foot, 2-inch female shark remains a mystery, though biologists are hoping that examination of tissue samples might shed some light on how the animal wound up dead on the beach, said Bryan Frazier, biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

The shark did not appear to have suffered any fishing-related wounds, nor had it suffered any obvious forms of trauma, Frazier said. And though enormous by most standards, the fish actually was still quite young, at an estimated 10 to 13 years old, Frazier said.

Happy Thanksgiving...Or "Whale Shark Day" India

While the rest of America scarfed down an estimated 200 million turkeys yesterday a small but growing festival in India "Whale Shark Day" gathered crowds again for the 4th year in a row.

As part of an ongoing effort to protect Whale Sharks in India and build on shark tourism as a bridge solution to sustainable shark management and preservation-this program bears watching by the international community.

As far as we are aware this is one of the first programs we have seen that is successfully attempting to transform a local economy away from fishing and into sustainable tourism with sharks. In 1972 the Whale Shark was placed in the Indian Wildlife Protection Act.

Editors Note: Our heartfelt condolence the people of Mumbai at this time.