Congrats NY Daily News!
The claim that Ross “fended off” the shark with the oar is about as accurate as saying that a pickpocket victim fended off his assailant with a wallet.
The NY Daily News also earns extra special points for using the “We’re gonna need a bigger boat,” reference in a hard news story.
Apparently, this is the year of so-called “monster sharks” as is evidenced by a Herald Sun article, Monster great white photographed in Port Phillip Bay. According to the story, Ray Theuma and Brian Bell, were fishing in Port Philip Bay (Australia) about 7km from shore, when a 4m great white shark approached their boat. According to Theuma, the shark touched the boat three times and circled it for approximately 10 minutes.
Much like another “monster shark” in the recent media, it’s unclear what the actual size of this recent “monster shark” is. The Herald Sun refers to it as a “4m monster” at one point, yet Theuma is quoted as saying the shark was the same size as his 4.6m boat. To further complicate the report, The Herald Sun lists the boat as being 4m and the shark being larger than the boat, in the text accompanying a photo gallery with images of the shark.
It is still unclear to me what criteria must be met for a shark to achieve the rank of “monster shark,” but I think it probably has something to do with trying to sell more newspapers.
In other (apparently non-monster) white shark news from the Herald Sun, a white shark snatched an oar from the hands of man in a surf boat off of Hawks Nest Beach. According to the Herald Sun, Greg Ross had a hold of the oar when he felt a “thump” and then saw the white shark “writhing” with the oar in its mouth. After a “good minute” the shark lost interest and swam away. Ross, who works as a volunteer lifeguard at the beach, said that the he and his colleagues see white sharks “all the time.” Ross went on to say that the white sharks, which he and his colleagues refer to as “pets,” do not worry them much.
According to The Northern Star, a surfer survived what is being reported to be a shark bite near Evans Head in New South Wales, Australia. According to the article, Nigel Hughes was surfing on Sunday morning when he felt a strike to his foot, as he was pushing himself up to stand on his board. He sustained an injury to his big toe but was able to catch a wave into shore where friends helped him to a car, wrapped his foot in a towel, and took him to a hospital. Hughes appeared to be in good spirits while awaiting surgery and said the injury would make his holiday a memorable one. He also said that he "definitely" plans on getting back in the water. Hughes did not see the shark and was not willing to speculate on what species it might be.
While Hughes was not willing to speculate, it did not slow the article’s author down from noting that Hughes’ injury occurred in “known Great White territory.” However, the article also includes quotes from a local fishing boat operator, Mick McGilvray, who speculated that the species responsible for Hughes’ injuries was most likely either a bull shark or a bronze whaler. McGilvray also said the offending shark would have been no bigger than 2m in length. Apparently, speculation is good filler when facts are sparse. Regardless of speculation, here’s to a speedy recovery for Mr. Hughes.
Shark attack survivor and surfer, Bethany Hamilton, appeared on the Today show on December 11 as part of their “Buzziest Stories of the Decade” series. Hamilton lost her left arm as a result of a tiger shark attack 6 years ago and has since become an inspirational figure to many due to her perseverance after the attack and her return to surfing.
Unlike some of the other shark-related clips that have appeared on the Today Show over the past year, this one is fairly devoid of over-sensationalizing sharks and manages to focus more on Hamilton’s story of triumph rather than emphasizing shark-related fears. While Matt Lauer does ask Hamilton if she thinks about sharks, I think it’s a fair question to ask, and he seems to respectfully take her answer at face-value. Perhaps, the Today Show is getting better at dealing with shark-related stories.
According to an article from the Miami Herald, the Florida Fisheries and Wildlife Commission adopted a new set of rules to protect shark species in Florida waters. The rules which take effect in mid-January include.
Perth Now is featuring a special report about Leon Deschamps a “Western Australia conservationist” who can be seen in images and video petting tiger sharks while sitting on the carcass of a whale that the sharks were feeding on. The images and video were shot in Shark Bay. Deschamps said that he hopes the images will help dispel misconceptions about tiger sharks. DeSchamps was quoted as saying…
“Tiger sharks are not aggressive, and I thought the most effective way to demonstrate that would be by throwing ourselves into the middle of a feeding frenzy.
They were sedate in their movements and far from aggressive, despite it being a time when they are supposed to be at their most ferocious. I think they enjoyed the experience.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Conservation has condemned the act, citing that touching whales was illegal and that interfering with the sharks, is “highly irresponsible and dangerous behaviour.”
Despite Deschamp’s actions in the video and photos, he also warns people to leave sharks alone especially while they are feeding, according to the PerthNow article. Go figure.
While I’m all for raising awareness for RESPONSIBLE shark conservation, I’d have to say that this particular act doesn’t fall anywhere under the responsible umbrella. Attempting to physically interact with any wild animal, while it is feeding, is not a good idea and shows a lack of respect for the animal.
Acts like riding sharks, petting sharks, etc. might be a good way to draw attention to one’s self, but then again, so is robbing a liquor store (another act I strongly discourage). Often times, these kinds of stunts can end up doing more harm than good. There is plenty of footage of divers swimming in the midst of non-aggressive tiger sharks out there. Does climbing on a dead whale carcass and petting sharks really do anything to help dispel myths about the species or is it just a good way gain publicity?
PS The statement made in the video that tiger sharks are scavengers and not predators is utterly false. They are most certainly a predatory shark, in addition to being scavengers. One can’t “dispel myths” by creating new ones.
Marge Kathrein has recently published a book chronicling the ordeal that she and her son, Jonathan, went through after Jonathan was attacked by a great white shark in 1998. Kathrein’s son, Jonathan, was bitten off Stinson Beach, CA at the age of 16. He sustained wounds that required 200 stitches to close and an 8-hour surgery to save his leg, according to the Marin Independent Journal. Kathrein’s new book, Far From Shore – A Mother’s Memoir of a Shark Attack was self-published through a division of Amazon.com.
Jonathan made a full recovery from the attack and even wrote a children’s book of his own titled, “Don’t Fear the Shark” in 2006.
An estimated 26 million to 73 million sharks are killed annually for commercial markets, research shows.
It seems the magic number of 100 million sharks killed each year gets quite a bit of use in the world of shark conservation, but is there any actual data to support this number? At least one commenter on this blog has called the number into question, which led met to start looking into the basis for the 100 million “statistic.” Other shark conservation-minded bloggers including Shark Diver’s Underwater Thrills and Luke Tipple have called the 100 million number into question this year, due to a lack of a scientific basis for the number. Despite the lack of any hard data to support the number it is widely used and accepted in the media and in many conservation efforts.
Research conducted by Shelley Clarke estimated the global number of sharks killed annually at 26 million to 73 million. Clarke’s Global Estimates of Shark Catches using Trade Records from Commercial Markets journal article published in 2006 in the Ecology Papers Vol 9 Issue 10 follows a generally accepted scientific methodology and is backed up by solid research.
While “26-73 million” might not roll off the tongue quite as easily as “100 million,” there is data to support the former, while there seems to be no solid data supporting the latter. Considering that I make a point of calling attention to instances of misrepresentation and misinformation in the media with this blog, I think it’s important to point out that the use of the 100 million number is not based on any specific scientific evidence, and I would encourage shark conservationists to reference the global estimates from Clarke’s research. At the end of the day, even the low-end estimate, from Clarke’s study, of 26 million is still alarming number of sharks being plucked from the ocean.
The other lesson to be learned from the lack of scientific data to back up the claim of 100 million sharks killed per year, is that opportunistic filmmakers will use the baseless number as springboard to devalue the entire shark conservation effort, as can be seen in the video below.
The gentlemen in the video have a point when it comes to the magic “100 million” number (and the “90% of the species” statistic), but nowhere in the video do you hear mention of the estimates from Clarke’s study, which would be far less disputable.
When it comes to shark conservation efforts, I recommend sticking with data that can be backed up by science. There’s already enough conjecture and flat-out misinformation out there without shark conservationists adding to it (as a couple of the people in the video above do a fine job in displaying).