And now for something completely different - Video

No explanation needed. Just keep your head down:

Dr.Erich Ritter, Holistic Shark Nutter? - Video

Dr.Erich Ritters Shark School?

It's run by a guy who almost lost his leg to a shark attack, not a shark accident.

The actual accident was Dr. Ritter himself, standing in water, waist deep, surrounded by feeding bull sharks in a free baited shark soup with absolutely no controls. The video remains one of the best examples of idiot shark handling ever shot.

Ritters one time stunt work with sharks has never been repeated.

The end result was one of the worst shark attacks caught on tape and the beginning of Dr.Ritters "career" as an industry laughingstock and another example of failed shark handling ego vs wild animals.

Dr.Ritter has gone on to promote his own branded Shark School in a manner that PT Barnum would have been proud of. Along with Shark School video PSA's that are factually incorrect, moronic in their simplistic assumptions, and dangerous in their conclusions.

Sharks are predators. That makes them inherently dangerous, those who work with sharks and lose that understanding, like Dr.Ritter, end up discovering the predator first hand. Dr.Ritters own shark attack is an example of ill informed human/shark interaction that has played itself out over and over.

Dr. Ritter has proven without a doubt, and sadly with the loss of his calf that his whacked out, sideways, new age, holistic shark views are simply bunk science at best, at worst a serious and dangerous disinformation campaign for those seeking real interactions with sharks.

Ritters latest Shark School PSA is complete and utter garbage. The PSA not only wants the viewer to believe that 200 million sharks are being killed each year, a number double that of worst estimates, but if sharks get harvested, the oceans will die.

Bullshit.

In a time of profound shark crises, facts, not Ritter inflated hyperbole are needed, and in a time when the global shark diving industry is moving towards safe interactions with sharks, this PSA stands as a complete throwback to an earlier time when shark "accidents" happened only when divers failed to treat sharks with the respect they deserve. As predators.

Will Dr.Ritter stop this nonsense?

As PT.Barnum once said, "there's a sucker born every minute," and this is Dr.Ritters Shark School marketing plan, because no one in our industry is buying it.

More from Da Shark.

Standing with Japan - Disaster

As word comes in of the worst natural disaster to hit Japan in it's entire history, 400,000 homes washed away, refineries on fire, and a nuclear power station on the brink at Fukushima Daiichi, it's time to reach out to Japan.

Every once in a while we are all called upon to rise above partisan agendas and be - human. That statement is directed at the conservation community, whose online network, media, and boots on the ground could really help Japan right now.

Let's see who's got what it takes.

Our best wishes for Japanese people, you can donate to the Red Cross this week to help the folks on the ground.

Isla de Guadalupe - Buceo con tiburones blancos 2010

Cuando Drew Grgich nos llamó hace muchos meses para reservar una aventura de buceo de tiburones que sabíamos que había una incipiente Diver tiburón en la línea.

Su entusiasmo por los tiburones se puede "sentir" todo el camino desde Arizona.

También fue un buzo certificado no, uno de los muchos que "entrenar" a convertirse en tiburón buzos cada una y cada temporada.

Hoy Drew puede llamarse a sí mismo un juego oficial de Shark Diver haber encontrado las especies de tiburones superior en el mejor sitio para ellos en todo el planeta.

Este es su informe de 2010 viaje con la imagen de Christy Fisher:

Día uno (y medio)

Hemos venido de todas partes - - Michigan, Nueva Jersey, Nebraska, el Área de la Bahía, Vancouver, Maryland, y Arizona - - y todos nosotros había un objetivo en mente ... nadar con Tiburones Blancos. Eso sí, ninguno de nosotros tenía deseos de muerte por lo que nuestro objetivo era hacerlo nadando cuidadosamente instalado en una jaula de acero. Sin embargo, queremos estar en el agua con ellos y, por tanto, estarían en el agua con nosotros! Nuestro viaje comenzó en San Diego a cabo de H & M de aterrizaje. Nuestro barco era el horizonte MW, un 88 pies. buceo en barco.

Subimos a las 10:30 pm y se marcha justo después de la medianoche. La primera noche la pasó en sueño irregular al tratar de detectar si o no la sensación de náuseas en el estómago fue el comienzo de los nervios o simplemente el mareo. Llegamos a Ensenada a la mañana siguiente en torno a las 9am. Una revisión rápida de los funcionarios de aduanas de México nos ha enviado en el camino a Isla Guadalupe, la casa de la caída de algunas grandes tiburones blancos + 100. El viaje transcurrió sin problemas, si a largo - - 18 horas para ser exactos. Se nos dijo que el viaje fue uno de los más suaves nuestro capitán había experimentado. Algunos de nosotros sucumbió al mareo, pero en su mayor parte, todo estaba bien. Vimos algunos monumentos notables - una ballena azul, la ballena delgada, vainas de movimiento rápido y de alta delfines saltando.

Lo que más recuerdo de ese día es de lo emocionada que estaba.

Pocas personas en la vida son bendecidos con el conocimiento seguro de saber exactamente lo que más desean en la vida y menos aún llegan a experimentar ese deseo. Para mí, mi deseo más ferviente que iba a ocurrir en cuestión de horas. Eso es algo bastante fuerte!

Segundo día

Alrededor de las 3 am, el motor apagado cuando llegamos a nuestro destino. Subí arriba un par de horas más tarde y no se sorprendió al ver a otros madrugadores. Hemos tratado de luchar nuestras cámaras a tomar fotos decentes - - no una tarea fácil a las 5 am antes de que el sol se había hecho aún un aspecto simbólico - - e imaginó que las aguas turbias que nos rodea se llena de tiburones, cada uno con hambre para el primer turno de los buzos .

El cambio que me pasó son!

Nuestro divemaster, Martin Graf, me llevó a la jaula y me hizo probar un regulador por primera vez. Lo hice bien con el regulador, pero antes de que Martin me declaro en picado digna, tuve que inundan mi máscara y clara a través de mi nariz. Me dio un buen esfuerzo, pero lamentablemente, me entró el pánico cuando mi primer intento resultó en una nariz llena de agua salada. Me tiro a la superficie y por un breve instante, se preguntó si yo iba a ser capaz de tener éxito. Martin fue muy paciente y sabía exactamente cuánto espacio para darme a superar mis miedos. Mi segundo intento fue exitoso. El secreto era conseguir un ritmo constante para respirar por la boca para ganar confianza, cerrar los ojos, y exhala por la nariz, mientras que el depósito de la máscara.

No tuvimos que esperar mucho tiempo. La primera gran blanco apareció a los pocos minutos, alrededor de la jaula de unos metros debajo de nosotros en su forma elegante. Ese tiburón fue seguido de otro poco por detrás. Tanto los tiburones se cernía abajo y hacía viajes perezosa alrededor de las jaulas y muy pronto, la rotación de nuestra primera hora había terminado. Todos nosotros tuvimos la suerte en este viaje. Dos personas tuvieron que cancelar por lo que esto significaba que había 10 buceadores en lugar de 12. Las jaulas en forma cuatro personas cada uno. Esto significa que efectivamente podría tener como tiempo de inmersión de lo que queríamos.

Me tomó un turno extra que el primer día, así que tuve cinco horas en las jaulas. Vimos siete tiburones diferentes el primer día. La mayoría de mantenerse a una distancia respetable de la jaula, pero algunos se aventuraron cerca de alcance de la mano si realmente estaban dispuestos a hacerlo. No había nadie:). Sabíamos que eran tiburones diferentes como los patrones de las marcas alrededor de sus branquias y aletas de servir como una especie de huella digital. Estos tiburones son a su vez nombrado por la gente que las vea. Los científicos hacer esto para que puedan identificar a las poblaciones y puntos de datos medida como el número de años que han estado viniendo a la isla, la cantidad de los tiburones están creciendo, y cómo muchos tiburones son residentes temporales.

Algunos vienen todos los años mientras que algunos visita más irregular. Para el registro, los tiburones que vimos el primer día fueron Jacques, mordida la cara, la Federación de Rusia, Johnny, Cristina Cruz, y un hombre sin nombre nuevo. No sabemos quién va a nombre de ese tiburón. . . el suspenso es delicioso blancos.:) Lo más destacado del primer día - aparte del hecho de que yo estaba buceando con gran! - Fue una rotación donde Jacques círculo de la jaula durante toda la hora. Tuve la oportunidad de disparar cuarenta minutos de video va de un lado de la jaula a la otra. Algunos pases fueron a centímetros de mi cámara de vídeo - - Tengo algunos grandes tiros!

Tercer día

A la mañana siguiente, tomé el primer turno del día, junto con dos almas valientes otros. Hemos visto algunos tiburones, pero que estaban muy por debajo. Hemos probado una gran variedad de trucos para atraer la atención del tiburón - - pisando nuestros pies, golpeando la escalera jaula con algunos de los pesos de plomo, cantando melodías de espectáculos - - pero no atrajo a los tiburones más que el primer turno.

A raíz de los cambios eran mucho más productivos. Pasé las tres primeras horas del día en las jaulas y disparó más de vídeo. Cogí otro tres turnos después del almuerzo para un total de seis horas en las jaulas. Había dos puntos culminantes en el segundo día. La primera era que me encontraba mirando en la dirección exacta es necesario ser testigo de una violación por completo. Esto es cuando el tiburón se impulsa completamente fuera del agua mientras que en la búsqueda de presas. La presa resultó ser una gaviota y se salió del camino justo a tiempo para escapar de los tiburones saltando. Yo era uno de dos personas a bordo que vio la infracción y fue verdaderamente un espectáculo magnífico.

Era un tiburón más pequeño - - tal vez 6-8 pies - - pero era una violación completa! Lo más destacado segundo fue más ignominiosa. Vimos un tiburón nueva - Gunther - quien tuvo la amabilidad de - - - bueno, caca - - - directamente en frente de la jaula al lado de nosotros. Fue divertido ver a los niños contentos y 10 años de edad dentro de mi compañero de jaula y yo. . . hasta que la corriente nos llevó directamente a él. De esta manera puedo decir que tengo la suerte suficiente como para ser rendidos por un gran blanco.

Día Cuatro

Yo sólo tomó la mitad del turno sharkwatch. Que estaba bien - - Nada realmente en comparación con el primer par de días. Me tomó dos turnos más para el día antes de que tuvo que abandonar. Hemos hecho llegar un par de pases muy cerca de la cara mordida y Jacques. Esto fue especialmente memorable para mí como la cara fue mordida de un tiburón que figuran en la expedición, Great White, un espectáculo sobre los científicos de etiquetado de los Grandes Blancos en la Isla Guadalupe. Fue divertido ver las marcas por satélite que se ha atribuido a morder la cara de seguirle la pista. También es bueno saber que si muestran su progreso en un programa de futuro, una de las líneas se cruzan cuando lo vi:).

Salimos de casa después de las unidades por la mañana y tienen una mala racha de aguas picadas que esperar. Estoy escribiendo esto mientras nos abrimos camino hacia el norte lenta a través del Pacífico. Honestamente puedo decir que hay cuatro eventos en mi vida que la parte superior de mi lista. La primera sería mi boda con la realidad, uno empatado dos y tres que son los nacimientos de mis hijos. De cerca se este viaje. Yo estaba un poco preocupado de que yo estaría petrificado de entrar en el agua con los tiburones, pero yo no tenía ni una pizca de temor. Los tiburones son, evidentemente, curiosidad por saber que la gente de mono en la jaula - por qué habrían de quedarse si no?

Desde luego, no hizo ningún intento de hacernos daño y no dudó en colgar los brazos fuera de la jaula para sostener mi cámara para una mejor imagen. Dicho esto, yo no era estúpido - - - sin piernas colgando por el lado de la jaula, por ejemplo.

Final de Tally en cuántas horas me zambullí - - 15,5 horas!

Mi favorito Martin citan Graf - Los tiburones son como bebés. Sólo hay dos tipos de elementos a un tiburón - las cosas que caben en la boca y las cosas que pueden.

Dorsal Fin Scoop - White Sharks SC

As always the good folks over at the Dorsal Fin Blog go the scoop on another white shark sighting in South Carolina:

Change in China? Lawmaker Urges Shark Fin Ban

A Chinese lawmaker has proposed that the country's top legislature ban the trade of shark fin, a high-end delicacy consumed by wealthy people in China and East Asia.

Shark-fin trading generates enormous profits, but encourages overfishing and brutal slaughter of sharks, of which some 30 species are near extinction, said Ding Liguo, deputy to the National People's Congress, the top legislature.

He has filed a formal written proposal to the legislature, together with a dozen of other lawmakers.

China is now the biggest market of shark fin, consuming 95 percent of the world's total with Taiwan, Hong Kong counted, said Ding Wednesday, a billionaire and executive chairman of Delong Holdings Limited, at a panel discussion of the ongoing parliament session.

Shark fin soup has become an essential part of any respectable banquet in China over the years. And there are no laws in China banning shark fin trading, he said, adding publicity campaign against shark fin consumption has had limited impact.

"Only legislation can stop shark fin trading and reduce the killings of sharks," Ding said, adding China should take the lead in banning the trade.

Fin trade encourages shark-finning, a practice in which the fins are typically cut off while the shark is still alive. The shark then dies a slow death.

Shark fins are used to make a soup that is a high-end staple on the menu of most upscale restaurants. Many of them make the delicacy a signiture dish to lure customers, as Chinese culture has lauded shark fins to boost virility and enhance skin quality.

Further, shark fin soup represents wealth, prestige and honor as the gourment food was coveted by emperors in China's Ming Dynasty because it was rare, delicious and required elaborate preparation.

With both culinary and symbolic significance, the dish is popular at important occasions such as weddings, banquets and important business deals.

Treat with this Chinese cuisine is a show of respect, honor and appreciation to the guests. Ordinary people normally can't afford to have the dish.

Price of shark fins is up to 4,000 yuan (about 600 U.S. dollars) per kilogram, said Huang Liming, duty manager at the medium-level Hongxing Seafood Restaurant in southern Guangzhou city. Shark fins could be sold up to 10,000 yuan per kilogram in upscale restaurants, Huang said.

But sales of shark fins have declined 30 percent recently from a year earlier to at most 0.5 kilogram each day as people prefer healthier and environmental-friendly food, Huang said, adding most of the delicacy is consumed by businessmen.

"People are mistaken by the supposed nutritional value of shark fin," Ding said.

"Research shows the nutritional value of shark fin is similar to that of poultry, fish skin, meat and eggs. It is tasteless and its low level nutritional value is hard to absorb by the body." He said.

Further, it contains high levels of lead and mercury, which most people know little about, he said, adding he neither eats shark fins nor treats guests with the dish.

Ding proposed that governmental officials take the lead in stopping the consumption of shark fin, and that state-owned hotels and restaurants stop serving shark fin.

Zhang Xingsheng, managing director of North Asia Region of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), started an online poll on microblog website of Sina.com since Jan. 8, calling on the country's legislature to ban overall shark fin trading.

As of Wednesday, 27,370 people have voted for the ban, and 440 voted against the ban.

Ken Okaniwa Throws Down - Shark Conservation Goes Crazy

Ken Okaniwa is a minister at the embassy of Japan in London and ­director of the Japan Information and Cultural Centre.

He also just penned "It is wrong to claim that the global shark population is declining," an op ed for the Guardian newspapers in London.

The electronic ink had not even dried on that article before howls of discontent and gnashing of teeth could be heard across the shark conservation spectrum.

It is wrong to claim that the global shark population is declining

Your article reports the assertion by conservation groups that "growing demand for shark fins, coupled with modern fishing methods, has caused a rapid decline in shark populations around the world" (A bloody business: Japanese town feeding appetite for shark fin soup, 12 February).

But there is no clear evidence for a global decline in shark stocks. Reduced catches can reflect various factors such as the intensity of fishing methods and variations in demand, in addition to the actual level of stocks.

In particular, the article refers to the blue shark as having been designated "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The fact is that an assessment of the blue shark population since 1971, published by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (an organisation of 25 nations and regions including Japan, the US, Australia, New Zealand and the EU), demonstrated that stocks declined in the 1980s but later recovered to exceed the 1971 figure, and remained stable thereafter.

It is also notable that "near threatened" is the second least serious of the seven categories employed by the IUCN – which itself declares that the blue shark does not qualify for "threatened" status.

You report: "Several countries, including the US, have taken steps to conserve shark populations, but [the shark conservationist Mayumi Takeda] holds out little hope that Japan will follow suit." However, Japan is in fact one of the few countries to have prepared its own action plan based on the UN's International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks.

In addition, Japan has not only been providing data on shark stock assessment to the relevant international bodies but has also been encouraging the promotion of appropriate stock management methods.

Japan has been at the forefront of international efforts to protect threatened species. For example, at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) conference in 2009, Japan supported a proposal to ban the retention of thresher sharks in the Atlantic Ocean (the proposal would mean that the sharks have to be released immediately after capture). At the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission in 2010, Japan supported the EU bid to prohibit the retention of three types of thresher shark.

At the ICCAT in 2010, Japan proposed banning the retention of oceanic whitetip sharks, which was adopted. Japan also supported the EU proposals to ban the retention of hammerhead sharks and porbeagle sharks, though the latter was not adopted due to opposition from other countries.

Every country has its own dietary practices based on its particular historical and cultural background, and such matters should be discussed in a respectful way. Protecting sharks and other species requires a factual, science-based approach. This is how Japan will continue its efforts.

Fiji on Predation - Great Stuff

Recently Da Shark was filming his favorite subjects - sharks, when an offscreen actor snuck in and displayed some canny predation moves on a tiny ramora.

The critter in question was a GT or Giant trevally, according to Da Shark these animals are quite the predators in their own right.

Kudos to Da Shark for this Nat Geo quality underwater series.

If you want to shoot something similar you're in luck, Da Shark is one of the owners behind Beqa Adventure Divers and this is his back yard, filled with sharks;)

More here.

Deserving of some Major Credit - Stefanie Brendl

For the past three years Stefanie Brendl has been in the "eye of the hurricane" for sharks.

As a shark conservationist who began her voyage to save sharks having owned a shark tourism operation on Oahu, she's become the embodiment of determination, grit, and political conservation savvy.

Haven't heard of her yet? Watch this video:

Direct Action Failure? Sea Shepherds Next Act

While Sea Shepherd congratulates it's self on an eco win this year, the second act of it's direct action policy is playing out in Japan.

There's always a second act.

As was the case last year, Japan is considering moving whaling operations to fragile coastal waters targeting whale and dolphin populations within Japans territorial limits.

"Jun Morikawa, an academic at Rakuno Gakuen University and the author of a book about Japanese whaling, says he is concerned that because fewer whales were killed in the Southern Ocean, Japan may want to hunt more whales and dolphins in its own waters."

This is Japans ultimate trump card, regional whaling pressure on a scale not seen since the end of WW2, and a disaster for coastal whale populations.

Does Sea Shepherd have a plan for this outcome?

Probably not, as their thin veneer of legitimacy and argument against scientific whaling would all but disappear in the face of Japans navy and coast guard vessels. A similar Catch 22 to Sea Shepherds now completely failed 30 year anti-sealing effort in Canada, which culminated in the loss of a two million dollar vessel, impounded and then sold off by the Canadian Coast Guard in 2008.

Canada has recently signed a multi-million dollar trade agreement for seal products with China, the largest trade agreement of it's kind for seals, and a complete repudiation of 30 years worth of direct action policy on the part of Sea Shepherd.

Whaling must end, but is direct action the method in which long term success can be achieved, or like a water balloon, are Sea Shepherds actions just putting pressure on other animals that, until now, have enjoyed relative safety and security off the coast of Japan?

Story here.

"It's like a fishbowl full of whale sharks"

ISLA MUJERES, MEXICO - U.S. and Mexican scientists believe they are close to solving one of the shark world's great mysteries.

They want to know why whale sharks, the largest shark species, gather each year by the hundreds in the teal-blue waters off this Yucatan Peninsula barrier island.

"It's like a fishbowl full of whale sharks," said Robert Hueter, director of the shark research center at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla. "We are witnessing a spectacle of nature down there that we don't fully understand."

Hueter, Mexican biologist Rafael de la Parra and a group of other marine scientists are trying to make sense of the big shark reunion, an event dubbed the "afuera." The word means "outside" in Spanish, and it was the name de la Parra initially used to describe to the phenomenon.

"They are showing up in an area outside the area the Mexican government set up for their protection and outside the area we had normally studied them," de la Parra said.

Complete Story.

Dr. Richard B. Hoover - Media Fail 101

Scientists, academia, and wackos who have found Bigfoot, let us try and help you with your media!

We can start with this simple rule:

"Never release your ground breaking news on a Friday."

Which is exactly what Dr. Richard B. Hoover did last week with his stunning assertion that he had found evidence of extra terrestrial life.

Yes, alien life forms!

Unfortunately the good Dr.Hoover released his data and press release on a Friday, in the middle of a mid east revolution and oil crisis at home.

Seriously Doc, did you hope that anyone would even pay attention to this, on a Friday? This is the kind of media drop disgraced Senators and Enron does when they want to slide by the news cycle - we're talking alien life here!

Fortunately we found your press release along with a few others who troll the Internets for tasty tid bits o' science to pass on to their readers. Dr.Hoover still has to go through the rather unfortunate vetting process and already many within the carbonaceous chondrites community are calling foul.

Frankly, we're more interested in the spectacularly bad timing of it all, but that's science for you, and a lesson learned.

Sharky things that go bump in the dark

The M/V Gonzacove 1 retrieved a rare Mitsukurina owstoni last month and researchers are thrilled.

So are we, as this critter, also known as the Goblin Shark is one of our favorites. A real throwback to the Paleozoic era when the oceans were filled with critters that, cage or no cage, you did not want to be in the water with.

This specimen was a male 161 cm in length and was caught around 400 meters deep.

The full story is in Spanish here.

Requin blanc Carnet de voyage de plongée - SharkDiver.com

Quand Drew Grgich nous a appelés il ya plusieurs mois pour réserver une aventure de plongée de requin, nous savions que nous avions en herbe Shark Diver sur la ligne.

Son enthousiasme pour les requins, vous pouvez "sentir" tout le chemin de l'Arizona.

Il était aussi un plongeur certifié non, l'un des nombreux que nous "train" de devenir Shark Divers chaque saison.

Aujourd'hui Drew pouvez appeler lui-même un officiel Shark Diver avoir rencontré les espèces de requins supérieure au meilleur site pour eux sur toute la planète.

Il s'agit de son rapport de 2010 voyage avec l'image par Christy Fisher:

Day One (et demi)

Nous sommes venus de partout - - Michigan, New Jersey, dans le Nebraska, la Bay Area, de Vancouver, dans le Maryland, et de l'Arizona - - et nous avions tous un objectif en tête ... nager avec des requins blancs. Rappelez-vous, aucun de nous n'avait souhaite la mort si notre objectif était de faire nager soigneusement installé dans une cage en acier. Néanmoins, nous serions dans l'eau avec eux et donc, ils seraient dans l'eau avec nous! Notre voyage a commencé à San Diego sur H & M Landing. Notre navire a été l'Horizon MW, un 88-pieds. plongée en bateau.

Nous sommes montés à environ 22 heures 30 et étaient en cours peu après minuit. La première nuit a été passé en sommeil agité tout en essayant de détecter si oui ou non la sensation de nausée dans nos estomacs a été le début de nerfs mal de mer ou simplement. Nous sommes arrivés à Ensenada le lendemain matin, vers 9 heures. Une rapide vérification auprès des fonctionnaires des douanes mexicaines nous ont envoyés sur la voie d'Isla Guadalupe, la maison chute de quelques requins blanc 100 + Grande. Le voyage s'est déroulé sans incident, si long - - 18 longues heures pour être exact. On nous a dit que le vol était parmi les plus lisses notre capitaine avait éprouvé. Quelques-uns d'entre nous ont succombé au mal de mer, mais la plupart du temps, tout allait bien. Nous avons vu quelques sites remarquables - une baleine bleue, une baleine minces, les gousses de déplacement rapide et de haute dauphins sautant.

Je me souviens surtout de cette journée est de savoir comment j'étais excité.

Peu de gens dans la vie la chance d'avoir la certitude de savoir exactement ce qu'ils veulent dans la vie et encore moins de faire l'expérience que le désir. Pour moi, mon souhait le plus cher qui allait se passer en quelques heures. C'est trucs assez grisant!

Deuxième journée

Aux alentours de trois heures, le moteur à l'arrêt quand nous sommes arrivés à notre destination. Je suis allé là-haut deux ou trois heures plus tard et n'a pas été surpris de voir d'autres lève-tôt. Nous avons tenté de battre nos caméras en prenant des photos décentes - - pas un exploit facile à 5h du matin avant que le soleil avait même fait une apparition symbolique - - et imaginer que les eaux troubles qui nous entourent ont été grouillant de requins, chaque faim pour le premier quart de plongeurs .

Le changement est arrivé à me comprennent!

Notre divemaster, Martin Graf, me fit entrer dans la cage et me fit essayer un régulateur pour la première fois. Je n'ai d'accord avec la réglementation, mais avant que Martin me déclarer plongée digne, j'ai eu à inonder mon masque et clairement par le nez. Je lui ai donné un bon effort, mais malheureusement, j'ai paniqué quand ma première tentative a entraîné un nez plein d'eau salée. J'ai tiré à la surface et pour un bref instant, me demandais si j'allais être capable de réussir. Martin a été très patient et savait exactement combien d'espace pour me donner pour obtenir plus de mes craintes. Ma deuxième tentative a été couronnée de succès. Le secret était d'avoir un rythme régulier de respiration par la bouche de gagner la confiance, fermer les yeux, et expirez par le nez tout en inclinant le masque.

Nous n'avons pas eu à attendre longtemps. Le premier Great White semble en quelques minutes, le tour de la cage de quelques mètres en dessous de nous dans sa manière gracieuse. Le requin a été suivie par un autre peu de temps derrière. Les deux requins plané ci-dessous et fait des voyages paresseux autour des cages et trop vite, la rotation de notre première heure a été de plus. Chacun d'entre nous ont eu la chance lors de ce voyage. Deux personnes ont dû annuler si cela signifiait que nous avions 10 plongeurs au lieu de 12. Les cages loger quatre personnes chacune. Cela signifiait que nous pourrions effectivement avoir le temps de plongée autant que nous voulions.

J'ai pris un poste supplémentaire de ce premier jour j'ai donc dû cinq heures dans les cages. Nous avons vu sept requins différents le premier jour. La plupart maintenus à une distance respectable de la cage, mais certains proches osé suffit de toucher si nous étions vraiment enclins à le faire. Personne n'a été. :) Nous savions qu'ils étaient différents des requins comme les modèles de marques autour de leurs branchies et des nageoires servir comme une sorte d'empreinte digitale. Ces requins sont à leur tour nommé par le peuple qui le premier a les voir. Les scientifiques ne présente afin qu'ils puissent identifier les populations et les données de mesure des points tels que le nombre d'années qu'ils sont venus à l'île, à quel point les requins sont de plus en plus, et combien de requins sont des résidents saisonniers.

Certains viennent chaque année alors que certains de plus amples irrégulière. Pour mémoire, les requins, nous avons vu sur la première journée ont été Jacques, Bite visage, la Russie, Johnny, Cris de la Croix, et un nouveau mâle sans nom. Nous ne savons pas qui pour ne citer que le requin. . . le suspense est délicieux. :) Le point culminant de la première journée - à part le fait que je faisais de la plongée avec les Blancs Grand! - A été une rotation où Jacques le tour de la cage pour l'heure entière. J'ai été en mesure de tirer quarante minutes de la vidéo va d'un côté de la cage à l'autre. Certains passages étaient à quelques centimètres de ma caméra vidéo - - j'ai eu de belles photos!

Troisième journée

Le lendemain matin, j'ai pris la première rotation de la journée avec deux autres braves. Nous avons vu des requins, mais ils étaient loin ci-dessous. Nous avons essayé une quantité d'astuces pour attirer l'attention du requin - - piétiner nos pieds, frapper l'échelle cage avec certains de nos masses de plomb, chantant des airs show - - mais rien ne séduit plus que les requins premier quart.

À la suite de changements ont été beaucoup plus productive. J'ai passé les trois premières heures de la journée dans les cages et a tiré plus de vidéo. J'ai attrapé un autre trois quarts de travail après le déjeuner pour un total de six heures dans les cages. Il y avait deux points forts de la deuxième journée. La première est que je me trouvais en regardant dans la direction exacte nécessaire pour assister à une violation complète. C'est alors que le requin se propulse complètement hors de l'eau tout en poursuivant des proies. La proie se trouvait être une mouette et il est sorti de la voie juste à temps pour échapper à la requins sautant. J'ai été l'une des deux personnes à bord qui ont vu la brèche et c'était vraiment un spectacle magnifique.

Il était un petit requin - - peut-être 6-8 pieds - - mais c'était une violation complète! Le deuxième temps fort a été plus ignominieuse. Nous avons vu un requin de nouvelles - Gunther - qui a eu la gentillesse - - - bien, merde - - - directement en face de la cage à côté de nous. Il était amusant de voir le plaisir et les enfants de 10 ans à l'intérieur de mon compagnon de cage et je. . . jusqu'à ce que le courant nous tiré directement dedans. Je peux donc dire que j'ai eu la chance d'être assez caca par un grand blanc.

Quatrième journée

Je n'ai pris que la moitié du transfert sharkwatch. Il était correct - - rien de vraiment par rapport au premier couple de jours. J'ai pris deux quarts de travail pour la journée avant que nous devions partir. Nous avons eu un beau couple de passe près de Bite visage et Jacques. Ce fut particulièrement mémorable pour moi que Bite visage était un requin présenté sur Expedition Great White, un spectacle sur la Grande-Blancs scientifiques marquage à Isla Guadalupe. Il est amusant de voir les balises par satellite qu'ils avaient attaché à Bite Face à retrouver sa trace. Il est aussi cool de savoir que si elles montrent ses progrès dans une émission à venir, l'une des lignes se croiseront, où je l'ai vu. :)

Nous sommes partis pour la maison après les entraînements du matin et ont une mauvaise passe de l'eau agitée à espérer. J'écris ce que nous faisons notre route vers le nord lente à travers le Pacifique. Je peux honnêtement dire qu'il ya quatre événements de ma vie que mon top liste. La première serait de mon mariage avec vraiment, un attaché deux et trois étant la naissance de mes enfants. Juste derrière serait ce voyage. J'étais un peu inquiet que je serais pétrifié d'aller dans l'eau avec les requins, mais je n'avais pas même un coup de langue de la peur. Les requins sont évidemment curieux de nous les gens de singe dans la cage - pourquoi auraient-ils rester si elles l'étaient pas?

Ils n'ont certainement pas tenter de nous faire du mal et je n'ai pas hésité à accrocher mes bras hors de la cage de tenir mon appareil photo pour une meilleure image. Cela dit, je n'étais pas stupide - - - sans les jambes pendantes sur le côté de la cage, par exemple.

Final Tally sur combien d'heures je me suis plongé - - 15,5 heures!

Mon préféré Martin Graf cite - Les requins sont comme des bébés. Il ya seulement deux types d'éléments à un requin - des choses qui tiennent dans leur bouche et les choses qui pourraient.

Government Shark Cull in Cancun? 70 Animals on the Block

In response to February's unfortunate shark attack in Cancun involving a Canadian tourist, the Cancun Port Authority has reportedly authorized a wide scale shark cull. It was reported that 70 sharks have been taken so far.

The story can be found in Spanish on the Expediente Quinta Roo website along with a video purporting to be a pile of the first sharks to be taken by local fishermen:

Eric Benacek Shark Image - Awesome

Who is Eric Benacek?

Just a regular Joe who happened to be at the right place at the right time to snap this amazing feeding event with some feisty Carcharhinus melanopterus in French Polynesia.

You have to click on this image to get the full effect of light, motion, and life.

Eric spends the rest of his time, when not shooting sharks, as an art student and you can see his work here.

Protect Bahamas Sharks Now - Warning Graphic Images

Back in 2008 we posted these images and a call to action (see below). The images featured two Tiger sharks caught by sport fishermen. The animals were reduced to a set of jaws and some devastating pictures of decks littered with dead Tiger pups.

Three years later, Guy Harvey, the Bahamas National Trust and Pew Trust are mounting a terrific effort to get all of the Bahamas declared a shark sanctuary.

If you needed a reason for added shark protections these images should highlight that need now.

Please support this effort in any way you can and let's make these images the last of their kind:



TIGER SHARK MARCH 2008

Mote Marine Labs Spearheads Gulf Shark Effort

SARASOTA, Fla. – For months the Deepwater Horizon oil spill shut down tourism and commercial fishing along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Along with killing 11 people, the disaster cost billions of dollars and the full environmental impact may not yet fully be known. But groundbreaking research happening in Southwest Florida could give us a better idea of the long term effects of the spill on the ecosystem.

Hundreds of millions of gallons of crude oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

“Once you have oil, that massive amount of oil spilled into the environment, you already got severe problems,” Dr. Richard Pierce, director of Mote Marine’s Center for Ecotoxicology told WINK.

The spill would eventually become the largest accidental marine oil spill in history. Mote Marine scientists jumped into action last summer to examine the immediate impacts. But the long term effects are the biggest concern. Mote’s Senior Vice President of research, Dr. Michael crosby explains the concept of trophic cascading, a way to refer to major changes in the food chain that could occur as a result of oil contamination.

“If any of those species are negatively impacted over the longer term following the oil spill, it has cascading impacts throughout the entire ecosystem; the entire seascape,” he said.

It’s easy to imagine that all forms of marine life, up and down the food chain, could be impacted in some way by the oil spill. At Mote Marine they are already conducting a study, starting at the very top.

Groundbreaking research is happening right now at Mote Marine involving sharks. Dr. Robert Hueter says when he started looking for other studies on the impacts of oil on sharks, what he found surprised him.

“Incredibly, we discovered there was only one paper in the entire world on oil contaminants. There are lots of other papers on other types of contaminants. But on oil (or hydrocarbons) and sharks — one paper in the whole world. So we’re really dealing with a vacuum of information and we realize this study that we’re doing now is not only going to tell us what’s happened, perhaps, with the Deepwater Horizon incident, but also lay the groundwork for understanding what the effects of oil worldwide could be on these shark populations,” he said. “We are looking at fertility and if the animal’s reproductive systems have been affected by the chemical pollution they may have been exposed to.”

Dr. Robert Hueter is leading a study to see how oil affects the top predators in the gulf, sharks! The team will take four, week-long cruises to the area around the well over a two-year period. They catch the sharks, collect blood and tissue samples, and in some cases tag them for future study.

“It’s a health assessment of the entire gulf. The Gulf of Mexico is a huge place. You don’t just figure these things out in months or even a year two,” Dr. Hueter said. “I’ve heard people say we dodged a bullet… I say we took a bullet. We didn’t dodge a bullet, but we took a bullet and we’re now assessing how bad the wound is and how much blood we’ve lost.”

Funding for Mote’s shark study is coming from a grant by the Florida Institute of Technology. The grant is paid for by money from BP. It even led to the purchase of new equipment to help analyze the data collected in the field. They take their next cruise into the spill zone next month.

Update: Special lecture series Dr. Robert Hueter's talk "Tracking the World's Largest Shark." tonight information here.

Tiger Beach Expeditions 2011 - New Fall Dates

With the surprising interest in our spring 2011 expedition dates to Tiger Beach this year aboard the M/V Kate we have decided to offer even more.

Announcing our fall 2011 line up with Tigers in the Bahamas. Departures are from Freeport and the maximum number of divers will remain at just six, which means extra days diving, and ultimate expedition flexibility:

September 24-01

October 3-10
October 13-20
October 22-29

November 01-08

Join us this season. If you thought spring Tiger sharks were fun wait until you meet "The Big Ladies of the Fall".

Shark Diver Tiger Beach information here.

Image Wolfgang Leander - who else could have made this shot?

Marine biodiversity, sharks and tourism – which is the aggressor?

Press Release ITB Berlin March 2011

Adventure tours and eco-tourism are among the fastest growing markets in the tourism sector, a trend accurately mirrored by events at ITB Berlin this spring.

In the Trends & Events Hall a total of 123 tour operators, tourism boards and organisations representing 31 countries are presenting their latest Adventure Eco, Youth Travel and Economy Accommodation products, with information on expeditions, diving holidays and nature tours, as well as sustainable tourism. Numerous international exhibitors can be found in the Adventure Eco section in particular, among them Tourism for Peace Jenin & Gilboa, a tourism project from Israel and the Palestinian territories.

On 11 March, for the first time at the world’s leading travel trade show, a Shark Day organised by SHARKPROJECT will be taking place at ITB Berlin 2011, sponsored by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. According to a survey by the North Atlantic Dalhousie University in Halifax, over the past six years the number of deep sea sharks has fallen by 80 per cent. At a podium discussion representatives of international tourism organisations as well as the celebrity figure and actor Hannes Jaenicke, who for years has been championing wildlife conservation, will discuss ”Marine biodiversity, sharks and tourism – which is the aggressor?“

Next weekend at ITB, visitors will also be able to see the MS Haitanic exhibition and the film entitled “Hannes Jaenicke im Einsatz für Haie“.

Mobbing a Whale Shark - For the Right Reasons

After a whale shark (Rhincodon typus) beached itself at Nayarit, Mexico, last month locals got together and tried for several hours to free it.

There's no news on the final outcome, but we like to see folks helping sharks when they can, great video:

White Shark Photography - Just the Best Please

As a commercial shark diving company we have been very fortunate to work with some of the most gracious underwater photographers in the business.

Some of them are not "industry names" but the work they do is nothing short of stunning.

One of these is Juanmi Alemany from Spain and you may have seen his work with white sharks here on this blog and on our website.

Juanmi went from shark photographer to shark conservationists with a public gallery exhibit in Spain of his work attempting to demystify the white shark for the general public by taking them several thousand miles away to a small island off the coast of Mexico for some quality time with Carcharodon carcharias.

For more on his work please visit him here.

Study - Shark Navigation, Amazing

A new study released in the Journal of Animal Ecology this week from the Florida Museum of Natural History reveals that some shark species can pinpoint navigate long distances.

US ecologists analysed data from eight tiger sharks, nine blacktip reef sharks and 15 threshers which had been tagged with trackers and released off Hawaii, Palmyra atoll in the Pacific or southern California before being followed for between seven and 72 hours.

The research team featured some well known names in the shark research field:

1. Yannis P. Papastamatiou
2. Daniel P. Cartamil
3. Christopher G. Lowe
4. Carl G. Meyer
5. Brad M. Wetherbee
6. Kim N. Holland

Summary

1. Animal search patterns reflect sensory perception ranges combined with memory and knowledge of the surrounding environment.

2.  Random walks are used when the locations of resources are unknown, whereas directed walks should be optimal when the location of favourable habitats is known. However, directed walks have been quantified for very few species.

3. We re-analysed tracking data from three shark species to determine whether they were using directed walks, and if so, over which spatial scales. Fractal analysis was used to quantify how movement structure varied with spatial scale and determine whether the sharks were using patches.

4.  Tiger sharks performed directed walks at large spatial scales (at least 6–8 km). Thresher sharks also showed directed movement (at scales of 400–1900 m), and adult threshers were able to orient at greater scales than juveniles, which may suggest that learning improves the ability to perform directed walks. Blacktip reef sharks had small home ranges, high site fidelity and showed no evidence of oriented movements at large scales.

5. There were inter- and intraspecific differences in path structure and patch size, although most individuals showed scale-dependent movements. Furthermore, some individuals of each species performed movements similar to a correlated random walk.

6. Sharks can perform directed walks over large spatial scales, with scales of movements reflecting site fidelity and home range size. Understanding when and where directed walks occur is crucial for developing more accurate population-level dispersal models.

More here.

At Auction - The World's Largest Sharks Jaw

June 2011 the "World's Largest Sharks Jaw" will go up for bid in Dallas at the Heritage Auction Galleries.

With a $625,000 asking price, the question is, where would you put it?

Megaladon Jaw Auction

The ferocious Megalodon was the largest predaceous shark ever to have swum the oceans of our planet; completely dominating the marine food chain for almost twenty million years. That it could reach the length of two city buses is immediately apparent from this tremendous, astonishing jaw, containing 182 first-class fossil teeth, each with superb enamel coverage, coloring, serrations, and measuring up to 7 5/8 inches along the diagonal, amongst the largest Megalodon teeth ever discovered.

Whilst the teeth of the Megalodon have been found on continents across the world, the finest examples are found along the coastal plains of the Mid-Atlantic States. The majority of the specimens here were personally collected by the late Vito Bertucci in the rivers of South Carolina; esteemed for his dedication and success in seeking out the finest Meg teeth. It took him over sixteen years to recover enough specimens of the appropriate size and shape to complete this collection, the largest jaw set in the world, measuring 11 feet across and 8¾ feet high. Positioned with scrupulous scientific accuracy in a pair of jaws modeled in resin and scaled up from a Great White jaw set, the teeth are accurately arrayed in four rows; each row at a different angle for maximum efficiency in rending the flesh of the great fish's victims. The jaws contain four teeth that each measure over 7 inches along the diagonal, although this is not immediately obvious because part of the roots are embedded in the jaw.

The first description of Megalodon teeth occurs during the Renaissance in Europe, where their distinctive triangular shape led to their being identified as the tongues of dragons. In 1667, however, Danish naturalist Nicolaus Steno recognized them as shark's teeth, and published a description and engraving in his The Head of a Shark Dissected. It was only in 1835 that they were assigned to a definite species, as Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz coined the species Charcharodon megalodon. Charcharodon is the genus of today's Great White Shark (Charcharadon carcharias), but the precise relation between the species has been much disputed; today it is considered that Megalodon belongs to its own, separate Carcharocles genus. No wonder the confusion: like that of today's sharks, the Megalodon's skeleton was composed entirely of cartilage rather than bone, a substance almost impossible to preserve in the fossil record; indeed only very few fragments of the Meg's vertebrae have ever been uncovered. As a result, even the size of the prehistoric fish has been a continual cause for debate, with estimates for a maximum full-grown size varying from just over 40 to a terrifying 98 feet in length.

Nonetheless, the teeth on their own can tell us a certain amount about the Megalodon's physique and hunting methods; near-complete sets of dentition found in the US and Japan allow comparatively accurate reconstruction of the jaw arrangement. Bite marks on contemporaneous victims indicate a vicious, efficient hunter, who rather than the opportunistic method employed by today's large sharks, was an active hunter who probably rammed its prey heavily from below in order to stun them, before going in for the kill. It may even have employed a disabling tactic of biting off the fins and flippers of the whales and other large marine fauna upon which it preyed, in order to immobilize them.

Vito Bertucci - "Megalodon Man"

Vito Bertucci dedicated over twenty years of his life to aquatic fossil hunting. Originally a jeweler and goldsmith, as an avid scuba diver he began underwater fossil collecting in the early 1980's, and soon became captivated with the teeth of the Megalodon. From his discovery of the very first specimen measuring over 7 inches in length, he undertook years of research into the relative lengths and arrangement of these teeth, visualizing the day when he could reconstruct an entire jaw. His first attempt comprised teeth up to 6 inches in length, the larger specimens being considerably harder to find, and that 5½ foot example now hangs in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, whilst another, measuring 6½ feet high, is on display at the Baltimore Aquarium. He opened and operated a Shark Museum in Port Royal, South Carolina, and his life and work was featured by National Geographic both on its television channel and in its print publication. After 16 years of collecting, Vito finally had enough 7+ inch teeth to recreate his greatest jaw yet, the one on offer here, which took over a year and a half to construct with the meticulous scientific accuracy demanded of such an important project. And sadly, it was to be his last, for Vito Bertucci passed away in October 2004 doing what he loved best, diving for fossils in the cold dark waters of the Ossabaw Sound in Chatham County, South Carolina.

Estimate: $700,000 - up.

Gulf of Mexico - Fetal Dolphin Syndrome?

Just months after America's worst oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico a much higher than normal seasonal appearance of newborn and still born dolphins are washing ashore in at least four states.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared the recent dolphin deaths "an unusual mortality event," with today's numbers topping 80 animals discovered so far.

Is this a byproduct of heightened regional monitoring after a major ecological disaster, or a harbinger of things to come for the Gulf?

As top order predators regional dolphin populations are the quintessential "canary in the coal mine," the first to signal accumulated toxins in the food chain. Dolphins may have gorged on weakened fish and shrimp last summer, or may have become immune compromised passing through sub sea plumes of oil and Corexit.

Or this may just "an unusual mortality event," with no causal effect at all.

Unfortunately there is very little hard data on seasonal fetal dolphin deaths in the region. Most dolphin census data or studies look at population groups and mass strandings see example.

Hopefully the cause of fetal and calf dolphin deaths in the region can be uncovered by researchers, but as we read over at the Deep Sea News Blog from Dr.Bik last week:

Then there’s the money. Or rather, there isn’t the money. Only $50 million of BP’s promised $500 million in research money has been doled out; a scientific board has been set up to distribute the remaining $450 million, but it seems like they’re still writing ethical guidelines and drafting up an application process. Which means, probably another year before any scientists will be able to use money from this pot.

Niche Tourism - Whale Sharks in Mozambique worth $50 million?

Great article today in the Boston Globe on sustainable whale shark tourism in Mozambique at Praia do Tofo.

What we were unaware of was the regional tourism valuation of $50 million. That's an impressive number and one much higher than traditional artisanal fisheries which breakdown a whale shark into a few dollars locally compounded with declining stocks.

PRAIA DO TOFO — Eyes stinging with the wonder of it, my head breaks the surface and a rippling swell sloshes about my ears. Up here all is hysteria, hyper-adrenalized euphoria: 16 goggle-eyed tourists treading water, yelling astonishment through surf and snorkels. Bubble, splash, gurgle . . . “ . . . mazing’’ . . . “ . . . did you see?’’ It’s an understandable reaction when you have just been for a paddle alongside a shark the length of a bus.

In recent years, their docility has spawned a mini-industry of companies offering people the chance to swim with one, a niche tourism market worth more than $50 million a year. Many specialists claim that interactions between whale sharks and humans, when carefully managed, have little negative impact on the animals’ behavior, with some advocating responsible tourism as a key means to safeguard them down the line.

Complete story.

Impacts of climate change on tuna?

Interesting reading over at the SPC Ocean Fisheries Programme website this week on the effects of climate change on a regional fishery worth 4 billion.

Background

The tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has undergone continuous expansion over the past 30 years, with the catch of skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye and albacore tunas reaching 2.4 million tonnes in 2007. The landed value of the catch in 2007 was approximately USD 4 billion, with considerable economic benefits accruing to Pacific Island Countries and Territories through direct participation in the fishery, employment, onshore processing, provision of fleet services and support, and foreign access licence fees.

With the increases in catch that have occurred, tuna resources in the WCPO are coming under increasing pressure. Skipjack tuna, which makes up 75% of the total catch and is responsible for nearly half the catch value, is currently in healthy condition, although exploitation rates continue to increase and may reach sustainable limits within the next decade. On the other hand, catches of yellowfin and bigeye tuna are estimated to be close to, or possibly exceed, their sustainable limits. Albacore tuna in the South Pacific is currently exploited within sustainable limits, but overfishing is believed to be occurring in the North Pacific.

In addition to the pressure from fisheries, the physical and biological oceanic environment is known to profoundly affect the distribution, abundance and catchability of tuna stocks. The effects of El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability in particular have been well documented, with El Niño events tending to result in eastwards displacement of tuna resources and fishing activity, higher catchability by purse seine fisheries through shoaling of the thermocline, positive effects on recruitment for skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tunas and negative recruitment effects for albacore.

As models linking tuna stocks with biological and physical oceanography have been developed and enhanced over the past ten years, we are now able to see the effects of large-scale changes in ocean climate at the decadal and longer time scales. To date, these studies have mainly been hindcasts that reconstruct the historical responses of tuna stocks to such variability. However, recent advances in the modelling of atmospheric and oceanographic processes associated with climate change have opened the possibility of explicitly modelling the responses of tuna stocks to specific climate change scenarios.

More here.