Bull Shark Behaving Badly? Nope

This is at the mouth of one of the many river systems on the west coast of Cape York Australia. Bull Sharks can be found all over Australia including in fresh water river systems (mothers will travel upstream to have their pups).

However they are particularly prominent in areas such as where this was filmed. During the run off (just after the wet season) large numbers come to feed at the outlets of these river systems. On this trip we counted seven swimming around the boat (lured in by the fish we had been catching). In these situations it is almost impossible to catch a fish as the sharks eat them before you can get them onboard.

White Shark Cage Diving in Mexico

Martin Graf - Liquid Predation 2011

We are rapidly running out of spaces to offer for our 2012 white shark season at Isla Guadalupe this year.

That's the bad news.

The good news is we added a new date in the prime season, August 12-16.


The additional good news is the M/V Horizon, the original shark diving vessel for Isla Guadalupe, is back from a major overhaul this spring with brand new engines.

We're greener, we're faster, and we're quieter then ever before and now we'll be seeing our toothy friends one week earlier than planned.

When life is good, it's really good, see you on the docks in August!

Great White Sharks and Martin Graf at Isla Guadalupe

Liquid Predation - Martin Graf 2011

For the past decade on the back deck of the M/V Horizon has stood dive operations manager and shark fin-actic, Martin Graf.

Martin is "Isla Guadalupe" and also one of the planets top shark operations managers. You don't get to a decade of day-to-day white shark operations if you're not that good at what you do.

Martin is that good.

This image was shot during the 2011 white shark season at Isla Guadalupe and when we looked for its pedigree we were not surprised to discover that it was one of Martins.

Every once in a while he actually gets some quality cage time in between taking care of divers and gear and the daily grind of 420 round trip miles to the island and back.

When Martin does get cage time magic ensues.

Nice shot mate, we'll see you for season eleven this August!

Titanic White Shark Caught in the Sea of Cortez

Peter Thomas Outdoors is reporting one of the largest white sharks ever caught in Mexican waters this week, an animal estimated to be close to 20 feet long.

If true, this animal might represent what many have long suspected in the Sea of Cortez, a smaller distinct white shark population in these waters that may well be on it's way to complete extinction.

Or...this is just another dead shark in a population of known sharks that are pupping in this region (ya happy now DS?).

Time will tell or maybe it won't, as the numbers of big whites caught in nets seems to be on the increase.

From Peter Thomas Outdoors:


"We were amazed and immediately realized that we had a huge, dead, great white shark, and then we thought what are we going to do?," Guadalupe said in an interview with Tracy Ehrenberg of Pisces Sportfishing, which is located in the resort city of Cabo San Lucas.

The shark was nearly as long as their 22-foot panga, or skiff. They had to tow the behemoth to the beach, where about 50 people helped drag it onto dry sand.

"Guadalupe and Baltazar swore they had never seen a fish this big before in their lives," the Pisces blog stated. "Even though on March 13 of this year, some of their fellow fishermen had also caught a great white, which had weighed 990 pounds."

The irony that one of the fishermen that caught this shark was named Guadalupe has not escaped us.

Not Entirely Sure We Like This...

All hail our new Robot Overlords, courtesy of DARPA. We're glad to see our expansive 2011 tax returns are being used to develop bots with the capability to run up stairs.

Not entirely sure we like this development. Then again we're not entirely sure we like what the folks at CERN are doing either. Call us Luddites, but is it O.K to not want to recreate the Big Bang on earth when we really don't know what we're doing? 

Just the human version of a bunch of monkeys hammering away at the detonator of a cosmic nuke?

Ahh science, you gotta love it, and to think just 100 years ago yesterday the Titanic sunk:

Guadalupe Island Cage Diving 2012 - New Dates Added!

Shark Diver is adding dates to our 2012 white shark diving season at Isla Guadalupe.

We're experiencing record bookings interest again this year and selling our the prime season dates from Aug-October as fast as they go up.

It could be that a decade later Guadalupe is now understood as the premier white shark encounter site on the planet.

Or it could be the rave reports we get back from our divers every single season thanks in most part to the amazing US dive crew and vessel the M/V Horizon:

James Woodhead from the UK

Jack Mears in 2011

Or it could just be that folks want to go see a shark and scratch that Bucket List, either way we're here to help with the announcement of Aug 12-16 now open for business.

Early August dates feature the most males up in the north bay. These are scrappy animals. Bruce, Shredder, Mau, all vie these waters for dominance. Think of it like an Elk Rutting Season when the males gather to establish who's the biggest and baddest animal on site, because in a few short week the breeding aged females arrive in October looking for a "migration buddy."

After a decade of operations here we are still in awe of these animals, still like the early days out there, we're here to learn, here to admire and here to explore.

Join us, and let's go shark diving!

Say It Ain't So Matt Rand!

What started as a rumor last week has been confirmed. Matt Rand is leaving PEW.

As a driver behind PEWS shark conservation program Matt has been a genuine force for good, in fact he's been more of a Tour de Force.

Name one successful shark campaign over the past few years and somewhere in that mix was the long hand of PEW lead by Matt and his team. Great stuff.

Matt is off  on "other adventures" and PEW has lost one of the finest examples of their organizations conservation leadership. Here was a guy who was more than a policy wonk, a front line conservationist who strove for conservation metrics vs conservation hysteria in his programs.

The kind of conservation programs that can be put in place today, ones that can measure success on a year to year basis vs emotional programs that look good to the media, but ultimately fail to translate in a meaningful way to the animals we all care about.

It's a real conservation distinction and one that Matt during his short tenure at PEW championed.

Matt and his team managed in a very short time to leave the world a better place.

The conservation community wishes Matt the very best, waiting in anticipation for Matt Rand 2.0

Good hunting on your next adventures sir, wherever they may lead you!


About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Filming Sharks? Yeah It's Fun!

One look at this image has industry folks asking, "so what's with the suit of armor?"

This was part of our 2009 production with the Mythbusters at Tiger Beach, Bahamas for Shark Week.

The crew from Shark Diver was tapped to take Jamie and Adam, two of the nicest guys in television right now, down to The Beach to interact with sharks.

Part of that multi day production involved suiting up Adam for the shows intro segments. We thought it would be one of those unique production images that really captured the imagination - and it did.

The Mythbusters 2009 Shark Week appearance set new records for the Shark Week franchise and we were happy to be a big part of that shoot.

Since then we have set the standard for innovation underwater with sharks on a commercial level shooting groundbreaking productions that employed all manner of objects and sets underwater with sharks.

When it comes to sharks, why shoot in a sterile environment?

Of course safety is always our highest priority and we are happy to note that 12 years later we are proud of our 100% safety record with sharks and talent in the water.

2012 will see another series of productions around the world with sharks, so stay tuned if you happen to like sharks, we have some unique excitement coming your way.

Bloody.Brilliant.Video!

Absolutely brilliant. We like smart people doing smart things.

When can we get this button in Times Square?

Killing Sharks For Fins in New Zealand?

When it comes to sharks, some folks still don't get it.

While the rest of the shark diving and shark conservation community works tirelessly to stop shark from being finned, there are some who make a living from it - legally.

When talking about New Zealand the numbers are not pretty. Metric tons of shark fin are exported from New Zealand every year, and no one seems to mind.

Except this guy.

Sam Judd, shark attack survivor, and New Zealand native has penned an op-ed this week about the legal shark fin trade in NZ and it's about as good as it gets.


It's high time for the NGO community and the commercial shark diving industry to put some pressure on New Zealand to stop this trade. Legal or not, it should be banned, and everyone knows it.

Let's see if anyone has the stones to push for it and see it done.

The Sharks and Cancer Video

For some reason we found this amusing, as in Snakes on a Plane amusing.

Skip to 1.04:

"Of course sharks don't get cancer...but man does!"

Hearts in the right place. Not sure about the messaging. Never sure about the messaging.

USA. Guy Harvey promotes conservation with All-Release Fishing Tournaments

In his mission to inspire scientific research and education while encouraging conservation and best management practices for sustainable marine environments, Dr. Guy Harvey continues to work closely with fishing tournament organizers to support and effect long lasting cultural changes.

As a result, creators of the upcoming Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge (USC) Tournament and Festival and organizers of the World¹s Richest Tarpon Tournament (WRTT) have announced plans to strengthen and share their commitment to conservation by cross-promoting their common messages. The Ultimate Shark Challenge Tournament and Festival takes place in Punta Gorda¹s downtown waterfront at Laishley Park May 4th ­ 6th followed by the World¹s Richest Tarpon Tournament in Boca Grande May 17th and 18th and the Downtown Tarpon Festival May 19th and 20th.

Both all-release tournaments feature exciting and innovative high-stakes competitions that also place an emphasis on best practices when it comes to the post-release welfare of their respective target species‹sharks and tarpon.

The main attractions at both events are the fishing tournaments, but each will also host festivals that are free to the public and offer family-friendly fun, excitement, entertainment and education.

While their marquis species are indeed very different, event organizers are quick to point out that, "Sharks and tarpon have been coexisting here for millions of years and that their symbiotic relationship is a matter of mutual benefit to a healthy marine and coastal environment.  In many ways, that relationship is a great metaphor for why we¹re collaborating with our events."

 "Our All-Release, No-Weigh, No-Kill tournaments are an alternative whose time has come," said Lew Hastings, executive director of the Boca Grande Area Chamber of Commerce and Tournament Director of WRTT. "Bringing families together in sport and education strengthens not only our estuaries and fisheries, but enriches our community as a whole."

USC Creators, Sean & Brooks Paxton add that, "We're extremely fortunate to have this uniquely diverse environmental playground right here in our backyard. The area offers so many choices for not only boaters and recreational anglers, but also anyone interested in an endless list of eco and adventure-based activities on land and sea."

The USC tournament‹created as a model for catch and release only shark tournament formats‹drew some 3,000 competitors and spectators last year and paid out over $15,000 in cash and prizes. This year¹s event will feature an outdoor showing of "This Is Your Ocean: Sharks", a documentary created by Dr. Harvey, fellow marine artist Wyland and shark dive operator Jim Abernethy, about sharks in the Bahamas.

"We applaud the tournament founders and directors for their increased commitment to promote the catch and release of sharks and tarpon in this summer¹s tournaments," said Dr. Harvey. "Our goal is to minimize shark and tarpon mortalities and maximize educational outreach about conservation."

Following an extremely successful launch of Guy Harvey's new Armed Forces Collection, a portion of the proceeds from this year¹s USC will benefit charitable organizations dedicated to supporting America¹s military and their families. There will also be two teams of veterans fishing in this event.

Dr. Harvey, founder of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University and the internationally regarded Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF), in recent years has joined the growing ranks of individuals and organizations calling for strict regulations to ban the commercial fishing of sharks in the quest to supply the world¹s insatiable taste for shark fin soup, an expensive delicacy.

Scientists with the International Union for Conservation of Nature have estimated that 30 percent of shark and ray species around the world are threatened or near threatened with extinction.  The loss of these animals could cause irreversible damage to the ocean¹s ecosystem and result in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in the tourist trade.

Last July, Dr. Harvey, who holds a PhD in fisheries science and biology, helped lead an international effort spearheaded by the Bahamas National Trust to convince the Government of the Bahamas to prohibit all commercial shark fishing in its more than 240,000 square miles of territorial waters.

Drudown - Smartest Chap in the Industry

An artists recent rendering of "Drudown"

From time to time we enjoy watching battles unfold over industry videos and images that depict less than credible things done with sharks on a commercial level.

The battle lines tend to run predictably with online quotes by industry types, photographers, and one sparkling industry source, "Drudown."

Who Drudown is remains a mystery, and we guess that's for a reason. But if you happen to be a fan of reason, and we are, his words resonate against a backdrop of weekend sharkies who have done a few sharks trips and have seen Shark Week and therefore are experts on sharks.

They may even have a few images of sharks wrapping knife edged teeth around expensive housings making them the most dangerous of commentators - the shark fanatic.

We only preface this by placing Drudowns latest post as prima facie evidence of smart, intelligent thinking about human interactions with sharks. Sans the moronic sound bytes of the shark fanatics who more often than not get sidelined with the small minded "falling coconuts and lightning strike" analogies of the shark/human interaction space.

Here's Drudown on a recent video making the rounds:


I find it humorous that the person claiming to divine from the video that "tiger sharks can be friendly, seeking out interaction with humans because they enjoy the touch that stimulates their ampullae of lorenzini and induces a trance-like state" would allege human/predator data (i.e., re food rewards) observed from Animal Planet is somehow unscientific, i.e., the data is the data, regardless of the medium it is relayed. In contrast, the video on this thread does not provide data to support your claims. First, sharks are only put in a trance-like state when turned upside down. Second, Tiger sharks have no cognitive or emotional ability to be "friends" with any creature and have been known to eat their own young. The feelings of "connection" that spring from Kin Selection are inapplicable to pelagic sharks. That is undisputed science.

With regards to your speculative theory that Tiger sharks "enjoy" the interaction, it is likewise as unscientific as "mistaken identity" theory. I'm a lawyer too, and- aside from speculative shark theory not being subject to the scientific method- I find it very telling that the "justification" or "explanations" proffered are inadmissible in a court of law. Namely, just as the Dog Whisperer (Cesar Millan) cannot take an oath and testify as to "why" a Pit Bull attacked a person, so too, is xxx unable to testify as to what a Tiger or Bull shark thinks when it attacked Sergei Zaloukaev or any of the hundred Haitian victims devoured when their sailboat sank on May 4, 2007 in the Florida Straits (not too far from the Bahamas)... nor accurately control "risk" of an attack when one arrives for a free handout at his commercial tours. 

In other words, if a very hungry Tiger shark arrived on the scene after a long migration, the operator is attracting a dangerous predator. Like I have said previously, people are free to assume whatever risks they want. But citing to the statistical infrequency of shark attacks is somewhat misleading insofar that our oceans fish stocks are being depleted at an alarming rate. Climate change works and is. Coupled with attracting large and aggressive sharks to compete over a paltry amount of food, I think people grossly underestimate the actual distribution of risks and are very misleading about why sharks are dangerous. They are generalist feeders. They are unpredictable. They are known to prey on people in the same geographical area, albeit typically under different conditions such as a maritime disaster. Nevertheless, all that is science. 

How's this. If someone (as they probably do) were to organize tours in Tanzania to see the Chimpanzees, the same analysis would be necessary and proper. Like Tiger/Bull/White sharks, Chimpanzees are potentially DANGEROUS towards humans and it is because they eat meat- including ours. I don't care if Jane Goodall is your tour guide, she can't protect you from ravenous Chimpanzees any more than xxx can protect people from sharks without the benefit of a cage. 

Res ipsa loquitur.

All we have to say is...God Bless you sir, whoever you are.

Dead Tiger Pups from the Philippines for Sale?

Dead Tiger pup anyone?

Ya gotta love Florida. If you're looking for beach related items you'll find them for sale at almost every corner shop in the entire state.

Beach towels? Yup, they got that.

Sunglasses? Yup, they got that too.

Seashells? By the bucket load.

Dead Tiger shark pups? WTF?

Apparently there's a company called Atlantic Coral Enterprise that takes dead Tiger pups from the Philippines and mounts them. Complete with  a set of novelty googly eyes they sell these shark horrors for the princely sum of $49.99.

Of course we're not impressed at all.

In our world Tiger pups don't look like deflated tubes of dried leather. In our world Tiger pups look like this. Take your pick, which world do you want to live in?

Video by Fraizer Nivens, Tiger Beach, Bahamas 2011.





About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Tiger Sharks Ripping, Tearing, and Feasting!

 In all the years we have been working at Tiger Beach, Bahamas we have not yet been fortunate enough to encounter something as amazing as this. Every once in a while along comes a movable feast our toothy friends find so tasty they just cannot resist.

Enjoy.

 


About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

James Dylan Shooting Sharks and Shredder!

Shredder at Isla Guadalupe 2011 (click on image)

In 2011 James D joined us at Isla Guadalupe and nailed some amazing white shark shots including this one of the island most photographed animal - Shredder.

We named Shredder in 2003 after he tore apart our anchor cable in a sneak attack that left the crew and our divers adrift in the sharkiest waters on the planet.

Fortunately it was the last rotation of the last day at the island (thanks buddy) and we headed home with a boatload of happy divers to order up several hundred feet of new ground tackle.

This image captures the electric water ripples across his broad back and damaged dorsal fin that reminds us every day out there who is the site boss.


If there was a way to express our love for this unique and endearing animal it would be through first rate images like these taken by our divers who have traveled all over the planet to meet these amazing animals.

Well done Dylan!


About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Dear Google, Why?

Like many out there I light a scented candle and lay down some fresh SEO Fruit at the altar of Google each and every day. I have been doing this for as long as I can remember as a businessman who relies on Google for my daily traffic.

Google has become part of my routine and part of my family.

Like any beloved family member if you see them going off the rails you want to help. So Google I am here to help in regards to the announcement of Project Glass.

Some Tough Intervention Love

First of all Google you are not Apple. This made painfully evident by the fact you have released a version 0.1 of a product that has no hope in hell of making it into the wider tech sphere let alone the public commercial space.

What you have created with Project Glass is a bio-human catastrophic media machine waiting to happen. A futuristic toy that flies in the face that America ranks 16th in broadband and every single supplier of 3G, 4G and presumably 5G are currently throttling down bandwidth as fast as they can.

If you had been Apple, you would have released a finished and fully vetted product to waiting hoards produced at Gulag style tech sweatshops across China. Accompanied by some underweight and slightly anemic looking Norwegian singer with a catchy, simply irresistible, yet undefined techno beat.

That's how you do tech.

Not to mention the wails of discontent, the gnashing of teeth, as your early adopters are bedeviled by a product that is so high tech and fragile it fails daily life spectacularly. Imagine the horrors that await Project Glass in the marketplace.

In case you have not yet conceived of such real world tech horrors we have listed a few:

1. Moisture.

2. Children under five with sticky fingers.

3. Burning Man.

4. Looking down into the dark depths of a port-o-potty whilst in the middle of a Susan G Koman 'Run For The Cure' race in New York, watching your now branded 'Google DG Glasses' slide into the dark depths forever.

5. Re-watching, over and over, the video of your $500 'Google DG Glasses' on You Tube slide into the dark depths from an altogether unholy first tech perspective.

We're just trying to help Google so please reconsider this tech disaster and return to your roots.

I will be adding some more SEO Fruit to the Google altar today in your honor.



About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Shark Cages for Alligator Infested Productions?

The Paxtons and crew at Myakka River Deep Hole

Who do you turn to when your production needs top of the line shark cages to explore a really deep hole in Florida?

Oh, and did we mention said deep hole is absolutely infested with very big American Alligators?

If you're the Paxton Brothers you turn to Shark Diver in Florida because when it comes to shark cages for exploration and productions we're pretty much Florida's only source for big shark cage systems.

The cage system we sent over has been used by the Mythbusters, featured in several shark commercials, and most recently in the Bahamas at Tiger Beach.

For the Myakka River Deep Hole Expedition they needed the best and they got it and we were proud to help in the small way we did.

Kudos to the entire team for a first class discovery, cannot wait to see the final product.

RTSea Status on U.S. Shark Conservation

Channel RTSea Shark conservation media

If you're in the mood for first rate analysis on the complex issue of shark conservation, management, media, the place to go is the RTSea Blog.

We feature unique blogs like RTSea for a reason - great thought.

This week Richard wrapped up Washington Posts environmental writer Juliet Eilperin's take on the current status of shark conservation.

It was a good piece, and Richards thoughts on the article go deeper into the issue from a writer, filmmaker, and conservationist who has always seen all sides of complex issues and is able to distill these down to terrific blog posts.

"Commercial fishermen are pressuring politicians to interject loopholes into proposed legislation. And one common proposal is allowing the landing of whole sharks. Once thought of as a way to dissuade fishermen from taking sharks because of the value difference per pound between a whole shark and just its fins, I am now concerned that, with several species, even the taking of whole sharks may prove to be one shark too many. The populations of some sharks is that perilous."

RTSea complete post here.

Commercial Shark Divings Worst Moment?

Surfing on a tied up whale shark?

Not by far but this one ranks up there.

This story is more about a net caught shark at a local beach within a whale shark tourism zone.

Unfortunately the animal was badly treated and other images have surfaced of a regional commercial whale shark program in dire need of an overhaul.

We've have been talking about commercial shark diving since 2008, and this story making the rounds is just another another in a long stream of the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly for our industry.

Make no bones about it we have been fiercely pro-commercial shark diving since our inception 12 years ago. Fundamentally, done right, shark diving's net benefits far outstrip any arguments against it.

But as we were reminded just a few weeks ago when another stunningly bad video surfaced from Tiger Beach, Bahamas all of this, the entire commercial shark diving industry remains an ongoing 20 year experiment.

That's right.

Unless you factor in some real mavericks like Ron and Val Taylor, who showed us the way but never got down on a commercial level and a few from S.A and AU. Commercial shark diving as we know it today, is very new. What was once an extremely niche tourism marketplace has gone mainstream.

Guadalupe Island is just over a decade old, ten short years, and unfortunately there's still no "Shark Diving for Dummies" hand guide out there.

So operators learn by doing, failing, and hopefully growing. Some are better at this than others, some are in it for the associated fame and a few back slaps at DEMA, others have become self professed Professional Shark Divers (I know, right?), while still others have carefully blended long term shark conservation with operations seeking the Holy Grail of wild animal tourism - sustainability.

The fact is this is still an experiment and in many ways an ongoing one.

There's always room for improvement but as Da Shark points out, these improvements need to be grounded in set animal protocols. 20 years later we have learned much, yet new operations make basic fundamental mistakes every year.
 
Right now much of the shark diving world is still a wild west affair. We all know it.

So enough said. You can scream all you want about this image, write petitions, chatter, but at the end of the day it comes down to respecting the animals and what we as an industry consider respect for a wild animal.

It's an ongoing debate that will only get louder as the industry matures and grows and the experimentation with sharks finally reaches it's natural conclusion.

We're getting there but not without a few bumps along the way and in this hyper connected media world we live in what happens on the other side of the planet impacts us all in ways we have yet to realize.

Food for thought.

Eating Wicked Tuna - Great Stuff

Bluefin programming debate? What debate?

Over at Deep Sea News more in depth discussion on Nat Geo's new show Wicked Tuna.

One of the reasons we feature this outstanding blog is the constant stream of independent and critical thought that emanates from it like the raw unrestricted energy from a Pulsar.

Read this post today, it's as good as it gets.

"When I wrote about Wicked Tuna, the National Geographic channel’s Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing reality show (first aired Sunday night), I thought it would be pretty straightforward. Every rating system  – Seafood Watch, Sea Choice, Blue Ocean Institute – lists Atlantic bluefin as an “Avoid.” A look through the scientific literature – though I am not a tuna or fisheries expert – showed a vast gap between the fisheries literature, which focuses on bluefin population structure , and the conservation literature, which is trying to sound the alarm about bluefin’s decline. Frankly, I didn’t think it would be terribly controversial to argue that a purportedly conservation-focused organization like National Geographic shouldn’t encourage consumption of Atlantic bluefin tuna."


Complete post here.

Shark catches in the Marshall Islands Tuna Fishery

Identification of factors influencing shark catch and mortality in the Marshall Islands tuna longline fishery and management implications

 

Bromhead, D., Clarke, S., Hoyle, S., Muller, B., Sharples, P. and Harley, S.

 

ABSTRACT:
Recent average annual catches of sharks by tuna longline vessels fishing in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) are estimated to be between 1583 and 2274 t. Although 22 shark species have been recorded by the observer programme for this fishery, 80% of the annual catch comprises only five species: blue shark Prionace glauca, silky shark Carcharhinus falciformis, bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus, pelagic thresher shark Alopias pelagicus and oceanic whitetip shark Carcharhinus longimanus. Wire leaders (i.e. branch lines or traces) were also used by nearly all observed vessels. Generalized additive model (GAM)-based analyses of catch rates indicated that P. glauca and A. superciliosus are caught in higher numbers when vessels fish in relatively cooler waters, at night, close to the full moon, when the 27° C thermocline is close to the surface and during El Niño conditions. In contrast, C. falciformis, A. pelagicus and C. longimanus are caught in higher numbers when shark lines are used (all three species) or hooks are set at a shallow depth (A. pelagicus and C. longimanus and, also, P. glauca). These findings are generally consistent with current knowledge of these species’ habitat preferences, movement and distribution. The results of these analyses were combined with information pertaining to shark condition and fate upon capture to compare the likely effectiveness of a range of potential measures for reducing shark mortality in the longline fishery. Of the options considered, the most effective would be to combine measures that reduce the catch rate (e.g. restrictions on the use of wire leaders, shark baits and shark lines) with measures that increase survival rates after post-capture release (e.g. finning bans).

Journal of Fish Biology. Early View Version. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03238.x

SOURCE

The Horror: Diver Survives Two Hours Inside Gulper Shark!

One lucky diver! Photo Credit David Armstrong

(REUTERS) Australia April 1 - An Australian diver escaped an attack by a 3-metre (10ft) gulper shark (Centrophorus fourfirsticus) by poking the creature's stomach after the shark swallowed him for nearly two hours.

Eric Nibald, 41, a diver who fishes for abalones, was flown to hospital with injuries to his head, body and left arm from the attack off Cape Howe, near Eden, 250 miles south of Sydney.

The shark grabbed Mr Nibald by the head, crushing his face mask and breaking his nose, said Dominic Alders, a fellow diver who saw the attack. "He was actually bitten by the head down - the shark swallowed him whole, I thought he was a goner."

Mr Alders followed the massive shark to shallower water where it became disoriented and beached itself on a shallow sand bar where Alders went for help.

Amazingly Mr Nibald was not dead but trapped in the gulper sharks expansive throat pouch unable to move and running out of air from his dive tank. He later told rescue workers that hours later and almost out of air he was able to free one arm and poked the shark in the stomach. The animal regurgitated the diver just when rescue services arrived.

Mr Nibald was pulled from the water and rushed to hospital, suffering from blood loss and shock.
 
"Gulper sharks are a rare deep water species with a notorious reputation for snagging unwary divers," said Dr Sarah Gomes with the Sydney Aquarium.

The massive shark was dragged to shore by rescue services teams and will be sent to the Sydney Aquarium for study later this week.

Shark attacks are relatively common in Australian waters, with an average of 15 a year. Just over one attack a year proves fatal.

And Now a Happy Video

Hat Tip Dorsal Fin Blog, just a few caring folks trying to free a whale from a fishing net, 24 hours later they succeeded. Nicely done.

Dr Rachel Graham - How To Shark Media 101

Finally, a real shark conservationist who is unafraid to place at the alter of mainstream media a bountiful trove of balanced sound bytes and realistic shark numbers.

Are you paying attention Sea Shepherd, Shark Angels and United Conservationists?

Yeah, you can stop your collective conservation fog machines for just one second here because this is important.

Numbers matter in the shark conservation game and when you quote 70-80-90% of all shark species facing extinction, or when you try and get New Yorkers to sign a petition  that suggests the worlds entire oxygen supply is somehow hinged on the continuation of all shark species you make the conservation world as a whole looks like a bunch of rank amateurs playing at conservation for reasons that boggle the imagination.

100 million sharks killed for their fins? You still peddling that garbage? Seriously?

Have you read this?

What started with a dubious shark movie and some gal with a pizza box lid in South Africa that said, "Save the Sharks" written in lipstick, has metastasized into media fog factory of pulled from the arse conservation misquotes lead by some pretty awful street corner doom criers.

But back to Dr Graham, read her article in the NY Times today and start writing numbers as fast as you can. 17% of 1,200 species of the worlds sharks threatened, oxygen has nothing to do with sharks, no mention of the 100 million sharks killed each year for their fins, and yes we can reverse the declines.

This is how you do shark conservation media folks.

You can try and scare the general populace into signing your petitions and donating money to your various shark causes but the real conservation numbers are stark enough. Real facts are in fact quite actionable without the added made up conservation fantasy that far too many are peddling out there.

Thanks Dr.Graham.

James Cameron at 35,756 Feet!

Unless you have been sitting under a rock then you might not be aware that James Cameron has arrived at the deepest part of the planet in his all too cool submarine today 35,756 feet down on the Challenger Deep.

Well done sir, and on behalf of the Oceans Community, "Welcome Back!"





About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Roche Pharma and Sharks Blood?

Media Release by La Trobe University

 

Australian research into shark antibodies that holds out the potential for new drugs and diagnostic agents is a step closer to realising its goal following an agreement with international diagnostic and pharmaceutical giant, Roche.

The pioneering work, which has attracted world-wide interest, is based on research led by Associate Professor Michael Foley at the La Trobe Institute of Molecular Science (LIMS).

It builds on discoveries over the last decade that shark antibodies could offer a lot of advantages over existing therapies in the fight against cancers and autoimmune diseases.

The research agreement between Roche and the Melbourne-based biotechnology company AdAlta aims to identify and evaluate the way in which these small antibodies isolated from shark blood are able to bind to a diagnostic target.

Dr Foley is founding scientist and Chief Scientific Officer of AdAlta. He and his co-researchers have built the world’s first test tube ‘library’ of disease-targeting antibodies based on modified shark antibodies.

He says his company is pioneering a range of new technology that uses modified shark antibodies for both treatment and diagnosis, offering prospects for new and more effective approaches to a wide range of diseases.

Shark antibodies are very small and extremely stable protein molecules, says Dr Foley, and are particularly good at seeking out and binding to target cells.

‘Furthermore, because they are extremely stable, they may overcome some of the problems encountered with traditional human antibodies when stored and used at high temperatures.

‘Because of their small size and stability, such new therapies can be manufactured in bacterial systems rather than in animal cells, as is presently the case for therapeutic antibodies, and it raises the possibility that they may be taken orally instead of injected.

‘So the next generation of pharmaceuticals might make good use of these small proteins, and sharks have them naturally in their blood.’

For the global pharmaceutical industry antibody treatments represent a multibillion-dollar market.
Dr Foley says as part of the collaboration with Roche, AdAlta will screen his shark antibody library and provide relevant shark antibody ‘binders’ to Roche for further evaluation.

He explains his research involves taking genes from sharks and modifying them in the laboratory by inserting random sequences – mimicking the way the human immune system works – to develop antibodies capable of a defensive response.

In other parts of the world, Dr Foley say, shark antibody research is done by injecting captive sharks, usually held in tanks or pools, and drawing their blood.

But the system invented by Dr Stewart Nuttall within the Cooperative Research for Diagnostics and now developed by AdAlta, enables this work to be done in test tubes at a bench – a far quicker, not to mention safer, method.

Dr Foley’s discoveries on shark antibodies follow his earlier work on malaria. He says one of the key features of shark antibodies is they have a finger-like loop that can ‘bind’ into a cavity on a target protein, something he first came across in his malaria studies where it was ‘irreverently tagged as “giving malaria the finger”’.

‘Then, when we saw pictures of the shark antibody binding to a hole in the protein, we immediately thought of a situation like the flu,’ Dr Foley says. ‘That’s because this sub-cellular sabotage was similar to that involved in the development of the anti-influenza pharmaceutical Relenza.

‘It’s like covering up part of a keyhole. You don’t have to cover the whole keyhole; if you cover up part of it, you can’t get the key in.’

Source: La Trobe University, Victoria / Australia

Shark Fin on Business Insider, With a Steaming Bowl of NY Hate?

Reporter Matthew Kassel with the Business Insider got on to the shark fin debate in New York City in a unique and eye catching way this week.

He ordered and ate a bowl of shark fin soup.

This is one of the better written articles we have read on the multilayered issues surrounding shark fin bans, conservation efforts, and of course New York, currently in the middle of debates about shark fin bans.

The article is filled with facts, good quality interview subjects, and of course the actual moment that the reporter orders up a bowl of shark fin soup as part of a grander social experiment.

What got us was the extreme level of Asian hate on the comments section of this article. A level of acidic racism directed towards the NY Asian community that went unchecked and unchallenged until we stepped up today to say a few words.

Is this really the shark conservation movement and where the hell is the leadership?

Peter Puck 

Unfortunately, there is no practical way to inject a highly lethal poison into the fins of a sufficient number of sharks to kill a sufficient number of soup slurping scum. It's equally unfortunate that there's no direct connection between eating shark fin and contracting cancer. 

rufusmcbufus

I swear by god i'd rather see every single east asian dead before they kill the last shark. Mark my words, if it comes to this, I'll be on the sharks' side.
-rufus

Abalone + White Shark = Cool Video

"This 4 metre plus female great white had just bitten Mark's cage and was circling when he turned on his camera .... at 1.09 he see's it approaching from behind his cage. He's been down at 26 metres for over half an hour and is forced to make a decision. Stay on the bottom and run into decompression time or confront it .... Starvation Bay, South Coast Western Australia, October 2011."

 

Commercial Shark Diving vs Hysteria

Hello? Yeah, I have a baited shark...

Since 2008 this blog and others have documented a tide of media and agenda based hysteria leveled against the commercial shark diving industry.

What usually begins as a small agenda group seeking to end regional commercial shark diving, quickly morphs into something that left unchecked can end badly for commercial shark diving interests.

And it's all based on the premise that baited sharks become regional killers. It's 1970's based hysteria, and with no research data to counter that ugly argument, our industry has been left hanging in the wind.

All that changed this week, thanks to Dr Neil Hammerschlag and crew who have produced the first and hopefully not only research study to look at baited sharks in the Bahamas.

We featured their outreach video this week, Hat Tip Dorsal Fin Blog, and will let Da Shark take it from there. His blog basically covered this study and it's impacts from Hawaii to Fiji in great depth and it's fine reading:

Fantastic new paper by Neil!

James Cameron - Good Luck from the Oceans Community!

 

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Does Ecotourism in the Bahamas affect Tiger Shark Movement and Behavior?

Proving What Sharks Are(n't)?

Each and every year the shark diving community is subjected to a series of stunts with sharks that are designed to prove that sharks are not dangerous to humans.

And each and every year those engaged in these one off stunts are drowned out by a series of high profile actual shark attacks that are part of the human/shark storyline.

What is it with members of the ocean community who are still trying to redefine the shark?

We only mention this because Pete Thomas posted a promotional video for Monster Energy Drink featuring surfer Mark Healy engaged in a baited situation in Fiji with several Bull sharks.

The idea, once again, was to prove that Bull sharks are not dangerous to humans.

Bullshit.

That being said we were extremely impressed with the actual technical shoot itself. This is first class stuff and Mark Healy comes across as an honest, non nonsense guy who earnest love of the ocean is organic, natural, and frankly compelling to be part of for the few short minutes we get to join him in his world.

But redefining the Bull shark? We're not buying it, we're also not buying the fact these animals were baited in for a quickie shoot to once again "prove a point."

Mark should get his own television show, soon, because he's that good on camera. On the flip-side and as a word of advice, stay away from the one off shark stunts Mark. It's like watching Van Gogh try and paint a masterpiece with colored yogurt.

More here from The Diley at Office to Ocean.

The Shark Fin Trade and Actual Solutions - Interested?

The Maven of Data is back, Dr Shelley C. Clarke, and a new video/online look at the shark fin numbers.

BTW we are big fans of Dr Clarke:

"Data on shark harvests have always been poor. What the new trends suggest, Clarke says, is that "if we're going to have any hope of managing shark populations, we're going to need far better data." In particular, she says, there is a growing need for observers on fishing boats and for more comprehensive trade figures on sharks. The observers, she says, are needed to begin collecting reliable, international data on where sharks are being caught, their size, their maturity, and their species."

Oh but wait! There are reliable sources on the Internet right now to ascertain not only shark species, but regional fishing pressures, volume of trade, end user volumes, and even misidentified and mislabeled fins.

And where would this magical database be you ask?

Online shark fin trading. You know, where a seller seeks a buyer and makes a transaction? Never heard of it? Are you even aware that many thousands of pounds of shark fin are sold globally online each and every day?

We said it before and even suggested, much to the ire and moronic disposition of few tiny brained sharktavists back in 2010, that the entire online trade of shark fin might in fact be - compromised.

The data coming from a "discreet ownership" in these few trade platforms online would be invaluable. We would know for instance where new and emerging markets were seeking shark fin, where dumps of species might indicate harvesting of breeding areas. If set aside marine areas were in fact failing or working. Age, sex, deep water vs in shore species.

The list goes on and on.

The fact is, and we have said this before, shark and ocean conservation efforts are for the most part small in scope. When real time shark fin data is as reliable as the metric tonnage of fin that is sold and traded each and every day, but not used by those seeking solutions to the shark fin problem, one has lick ones palm and slap it loudly on the nearest forehead.

Preferably your own.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are actual real time solutions to this stuff. You just have to have the vision and bandwidth to seek them out. Or stay in the dark.

The choice is yours.

Tech Geek - Shark USB

From time to time emails come in with shark based tech that's too cool not to share.

This is one of them. Enjoy.

Hi Dear Friend,

This is Charlene from Gigaplus, with a professional OEM/ODM manufacture in USB flash Drive. I am writing to you because we found that one of our products is suitable for your promotion.

Nowadays, people would like to use the USB Flash Drive with printing their logo for promotion because USB not only can be as an office tool but a gift. What’s more, your clients would love to receive the special & unique gift from you. So do you have any idea of sending a gift for your clients? If yes, our Shark Shaped USB is best choice to represent your company’s image. What do you think?

If you need, please kindly let me know your expected quantity & capacity so that I can check the price for you.

Also you can send your logo & I will let our designer to make the artwork for your reference.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to ask you.

Looking forward to your reply.

 Best regards

Charlene Zheng
Account Manager
Tel +86 20 38372606 ext.109
Mobile +86 15920555500
Fax +86 20 38372660
E-mail/MSN Charlene@gigaplus.com.cn Skype:Charlene.gigaplus

"Barrage of anti-fishing rhetoric"

Switch to pork products?

How do you change fisheries status quo while at the same time remaining a relevant voice?

This latest news article had us wondering:

Anti fishing campaigners accused of misleading Australians on state of fisheries

Dr Ray Hilborn - who is Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington - said the "relentless" anti-fishing campaign by various NGOs had led to government imposed restrictions on fishing that had resulted in making Australians more reliant on imported seafood from overseas markets that may not have such stringent regulations on fisheries management.

Dr Hilborn, a vocal opponent of the "barrage of anti-fishing rhetoric", is in Australia as a guest of the Sydney Fish Market and has been meeting senior federal politicians to put his case on the issue of marine national parks specifically the Government's proposal for a one million square kilometre marine park in the Coral Sea.

He has used the visit to release a paper titled "Australian seafood consumers misled by prophets of doom and gloom".

Speaking to a gathering of chefs and the media at the Sydney Seafood School this week Dr Hilborn questioned the motives of NGOs in "perpetuating myths" about the sustainability of Australian fisheries, and said they were out of touch with recent global developments and "in denial of the fisheries management outcomes in Australia.

He said Australian fisheries today were amongst the best managed in the world.
"Australia is subject to a relentless anti-fishing campaign that is causing doom and gloom myths from misrepresentations of overseas examples of inadequate fisheries management," he said.

"Australia did not always have its current enviable record in fisheries management, but addressed the generic over fishing problem forcefully. Destructive fishing practices and continued overfishing are no longer significant problems. The great majority of fish stocks are in very good shape and. even more importantly for long-term sustainability, continues to improve.

"Australians have excellent reasons to consume Australian seafood with confidence and enthusiasm."

Asked for his advice for foodservice operators who want to ensure they are choosing sustainable seafood for their menus, Dr Hilborn said they should look to Australian fisheries.

"Buy Australian seafood," he told Hospitality. "You can be pretty confident then that the seafood you are buying has come from a properly managed fishery."

He said while he was a firm supporter of bodies like the Marine Stewardship Council which markets its certification logo as a true sign that a fishery is sustainable he did not see it as a practical.

"It's a great thing but it's expensive for a fishery to get. Just because a fishery has gone through and spent the hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the certification doesn't mean they're not a sustainable fishery."

Maldives Shark Sanctuary vs Military Coup 2012

In 2010 the Maldives government was lauded for declaring its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 90,000 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean, as a shark sanctuary free from all shark fishing and also banned all imports and exports of shark fins.

Today the Maldives is in the middle of what many are describing as a full blown military coup.

The first very real test of the global shark sanctuary effort will take place in the Maldives over the next two years.

For a look at how this might play out we went in search of a website that would give us the, 'Maldives political landscape in a nutshell' and found it here at the Institute of Development Studies:

"After the 2004 Tsunami which devastated the Maldives, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States offered reconstruction funds and support to educate imams and teachers. This was coupled with the introduction of conservative Wahabi and Salaist interpretations of Islam. Since then, public flogging of women for alleged offenses has re-occurred, and more conservative dress and practices are on the rise. The Islamic political party tabled a law banning massage and alcohol on the tourist islands; although this decision was quickly repealed, since it was not in the interest of tourism industry elites."

There's a lot going on in the Maldives these days, suffice to say that sharks and shark conservation might not be a top priority.

Stay tuned.

Online Sales of Shark Fin? - You Bet

Wolfgang in the Bahamas. Amanda Cotton amazing shot

Back in the day a loosely knit group pre-shark activists took to the Internet to demand that Alibaba.com stop selling shark fin online.

Lead by the irascible and wizened shark sage Wolfgang Leander, and worked on by a host of others, Alibaba.com eventually caved and stopped selling shark fin.

A victory?

You could say so. It was really that first corporate turnabout and a movie that appeared shortly after which started the shark conservation movement as we know it today with a plethora of shark groups, agendas, and some real wins to celebrate five years later.

But the story of online sales has not ended. Like a water balloon, in the corporate world if you squeeze a market on one side it bulges out the other, and where shark fin is concerned at $300-500 a kilo, that marketplace is still thriving.

Or so says Mark Harding who highlighted Rich Clothier from Shark Guardians this week.

We have to agree. Over a year ago we posted this finding online to mostly dead air from the shark conservation community working on consumption side economics of the shark fin equation.

But sales online continue, they may not be called shark fin anymore, fish maw, fish bones, and other names have changed the way traders seek buyers. In fact 90% of the sellers who sell dried seafood products still, when asked, will provide and source shark fin.

How do we know?

We have been involved with this since 2007. It's not hard to track online portals, pose as a buyer, and ask for shark fin. The results are immediate and abundant to the tune of several thousand kilos per transaction and sometimes even more.

Are there solutions to this problem? You bet.

But the problem has become a 'wider problem' if you want to harness the conservation bandwidth out there to make a dent in the trade. Right now that doesn't seem to be the case.

Using Stable Isotope Analysis to Understand the Migration and Trophic Ecology of Northeastern Pacific White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias)

A Guadalupe shark - sans tag for now

Hooray for the team at TOPPS. Producing, after many years of careful research and non invasive tagging, a veritable treasure trove of white shark migration info.

Fortunately for the rest of us who are not out in the field year after year struggling with meager research funds, the bureaucracies of California, and a few sad sack high visibility research carpetbaggers who drop into well known research sites to conduct ethically questionable but highly entertaining drilled fin tagging - this data is awesome.


Awesome as in, "take a break boys, you done good" kind of data, and best of all it is open source.

As you can tell we kind of disagree with Da Shark
on this one. Mark your calendars this makes a twice in a lifetime event:

"Needless to say, I very much look forward to finding out how this dovetails with Michael Domeier's multi-year tracking results, and his own interpretation of the data!"

To that statement we say, "Feh!"

The TOPP's team are good folk, they work hard, they produce data and they actually care about the critters that they have spent over two decades getting to know and study.

Once again a well deserved kudos to the whole team. So put the kettle on, pour yourself a big cuppa Joe and sit back and admire the results of long term invested research on California white sharks.

Using Stable Isotope Analysis to Understand the Migration and Trophic Ecology of Northeastern Pacific White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias)

Note: Stay tuned, as of 2012 Shark Diver in tandem with other operators at Isla Guadalupe will be documenting drilled tags on white sharks. If these tags begin to degrade dorsal fins in the same horrific manner as we have seen in South Africa - there will be hell to pay.

To those who have tagged these animals and are currently parading around the world scene like the second coming of Shark Jesus we are putting you and your tags officially on notice.

Claudia Li Nominated for GLOBE Award!

Congratulations Claudia Lee!

Well deserved congratulations to Claudia Li and the entire conservation crew behind the Vancouver non-profit organization Shark Truth this week.

As one of the many grassroots shark conservation groups that sprang up in late 2009 Shark Truth lead the way as an Asian community initiative to stop the slaughter of sharks used for shark fin soup.

Their leadership, branding, messaging and overall community impact has been nothing short of amazing to watch.

If conservation effectiveness had a face it would be Shark Truth and we along with the rest of the conservation community thrilled to hear they have been nominated for a prestigious GLOBE Foundation award.

Take some time to reintroduce yourself with Shark Truth because this is about as good as it gets.

Full story here.