The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the West Australian Department of Fisheries is in the process of installing 20 acoustic receivers along the coast of Perth, Australia which will output a signal any time a tagged great white shark travels within 500m of one of the receivers. After a white shark is detected by a receiver, an alert will be sent either via email or text message to notify government and wildlife officials about the shark’s presence. Lifeguards and scientists will also be contacted through this alert system.

A two-year, $400,000 (AUS) study will be performed, using this technology, to track movement of white sharks along the coast of Perth. According to the article, over 70 sharks have already been tagged, and the acoustic receivers will all be installed by February in the seabed around popular beaches. The goal of the program is to better understand white shark behavior around beaches.

The New Zealand Herald loses points for opening the story with a Jaws reference and referring to 100 sharks as being “man-eating.” Other than first paragraph, the story remains fairly objective, though.

YouTube user sherri7057 has posted a series of short video clips that involve a fisherman accidentally hooking a shark. According to the video information the fisherman was fishing for tarpon at Sanibel Island, Florida. While there isn’t anything particularly dramatic or spectacular about a fisherman accidentally hooking a shark, the final video of the sequence might be indicative of a more positive perception of sharks from the public. Not only does one of the guys make an effort to pull the shark back into deeper water, so that it can swim away, but a group of people can be heard in the background cheering and applauding when the shark is successfully released.

Kudos to the guy who helped the shark back out into the water!

The Yao Ming shark fin soup PSA produced by WildAid, reported on last week, is now online. Check out the English version of the commercial below.

WildAid has a reputation for creating some very effective PSA for animal conservation. I am really glad to see that they are using the “up to 70 million sharks” figure as opposed to the “100 million magic number.” The “up to 70 million” statistic is based on the high-end estimate from Shelley Clarke’s research on global estimates of shark catches, which estimated that between 26 million and 72 million sharks are killed commercially each year.

According to the Fraser Coast Chronicle, “shark hunter” Vic Hislop has been repeatedly victimized by vandals at his Hervey Bay “Shark Show.” The latest act involved five men ripping the tail off of Hislop’s fiberglass shark. According to the article, Hislop “accosted” and apprehended 3 men and a woman several years ago, whom he suspected of vandalizing his museum, and "took them to the police station where they admitted offenses." The following day Hislop was visited by police who "read out six charges" against him that were punishable by up to 6 years in jail. Hislop went on to say that local hoteliers who were tired of the vandalism rallied behind Hislop and "eventually no one was charged."

Hislop claims to have killed over 1,100 sharks, and has called for a national cull on sharks, according to a 2005 Earthdive article. Hislop’s museum features a frozen carcass of one of the great white sharks he has killed. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Hislop, check out this 2009 Edit International article for some insight into his views on sharks.

While I certainly don’t see eye to eye with Mr. Hislop, I don’t condone acts of vandalism against him and hope the local authorities will deal with the perpetrators appropriately

The Herald Sun is reporting that a South African man disappeared after being attacked by a shark off the coast of Port St. Johns. Witnesses reported seeing the man waving his hands frantically before disappearing under the water, leaving only a cloud of blood behind. The victim’s surfboard washed ashore and was retrieved, according to John Costello at the National Sea Rescue Institute. The NSRI are investigating the disappearance but no signs of the victim have turned up. The species involved can not be identified, since there are no bite marks to analyze. This is the second attack at the popular South African beach this year, according to the Herald Sun report. In January, a 26-year old lifeguard was fatally attacked by a bull shark.

I usually try to avoid repeating stories from some of the other major shark blogs out there, but this one is too good not to share, in case anybody missed it at The Best Shark Dive in the World! and Shark Diver’s Underwater Thrills: Swimming With Sharks. Video footage of a rare great white shark sighting off the coast of Florida, filmed last week about "6 to 7 miles outside of the Mayport Jetties," has been posted on YouTube. The video information posted on YouTube lists the shark as being at least 18′, although I suspect the size might be a bit overestimated, based on the apparent girth of the shark. (Then again, what do I know?) Regardless, of the shark’s size, it’s a rare find and the footage is well above “Bigfoot quality” in the respect that there is little doubt that the subject matter is clearly a white shark.

The video was posted by YouTube user surfergirl10244 who posted a couple more short clips of the white shark, in addition to the one above. Check out the links below for the other clips.

Clip #1
Clip #2

According to Adelaide Now article, Fisheries net catches ‘great white killers’, two Whyalla men were arrested for killing a great white shark and selling its body parts. The men were arrested by Whyalla police and Primary Industries and Resources SA Fisheries officers after a year-long investigation. In addition to the arrests, Fisheries officers seized over $120,000 (AUS) worth of property including fishing equipment, a commercial charter fishing boat, and white shark teeth and jaws. A third man is also expected to be summoned for “similar offenses.” The arrested men have been released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court at later date.

Great white sharks have been protected by law in South Australia since 1998, according to Rob Parkes, Primary Industries and Resources SA Fisheries strategic operations manager.

According to an AFP article, basketball player, Yao Ming has recently unveiled a new television commercial "aimed at wealthy Chinese" urging them to turn away from the consumption of shark fin soup. The commercial was produced by WildAid and features Ming pushing away a bowl of shark fin soup that is being offered to him in an upscale restaurant, accompanied by a narrator asking, “If you could see how shark fin is made, could you still eat it?”

Ming is quoted as saying, “We have species that need our attention and protection. They are endangered by excessive hunting by humans and deprived of habitats due to human greed.” Along with the television commercial, the basketball star’s image is also appearing on shark conservation billboard in China. Ming has been involved with WildAid in the past and made news in 2006 with his pledge to give up eating shark fin soup. Ming has also appeared in previous conservation PSAs for WildAid, including the one below which focuses on the hunting of elephants.

Hopefully, WildAid will post the new Yao Ming PSA online in the near future, as they generally do an exceptional job with their commercials (except that they tend to rely on the 100 million sharks a year “magic number”).

The rather whimsical video below was posted today at Jean-Michel Cousteau’s OFS YouTube Channel and features an encounter between a great white shark and an African penguin (sometimes referred to as a jackass penguin, due to the donkey-like noises they can emit). So exactly what happens when an African penguin and a white shark go toe-to-toe (or jaw to beak, as the case may be), check the video out and see for yourself!