Wild Aid has recently posted several animal conservation PSA videos to their YouTube Channel, including an English version of a shark conservation PSA above, which features 1984 Olympic gold medalist (10m platform diving), Zhou Jihong. The original version (posted a few years ago) of this PSA was in Mandarin and focused on the “duty” of humans to protect sharks and the world’s ocean ecosystems. Wild Aid has produced several shark conservation PSA videos featuring prominent Chinese athletes aimed at curbing demand in the Chinese shark fin soup market.

Tracking data from “Sammy” the female whale shark that was reportedly released from Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm on March 18 has been retrieved by Mote Marine Laboratory, according to a gulfnews.com article. The whale shark was tagged with a pop-up satellite tracking tag upon her release. The tag was expected to record data for approximately 3 months, but it popped up after one month. It is unknown why the tag detached early, but data retrieved from the tracking tag indicated what Dr. Robert Hueter, Director of Mote’s Center for Shark Research described as “normal behavior similar to what we’ve observed in other whale sharks.”

Not long after the reported release of the whale shark, some animal rights groups were requesting evidence that the shark had actually been released, calling into question the “secretive” nature of The Palm’s release of “Sammy” back into the wild. The data retrieved by Mote Marine Laboratory provides scientific evidence that the whale was not only released but exhibited normal behavior for at least 33 days after her release.

Mote has posted a map of the released whale shark’s tracking data.

Discovery’s new promotional video for “Ultimate Air Jaws” follows Chris Fallows as he attempts to understand why white sharks are coming in close to shore of the coast of Mossel Bay.

If this video is an indication of what we can expect from the network this year as far as promotional material for Shark Week 2010 goes, then I’d say they’ve made leaps and bounds in the right direction compared to last year’s marketing campaign. The promo video features some amazing slow-motion breach footage and seems to be more focused on information and education versus trying to drum up fear. Hopefully, we’ll see more of these types of promotional videos from Discovery leading up to this year’s Shark Week.

MyFox Boston is reporting that the presence of great white sharks is expected again around Chatham, Massachusetts this year. The presence of several white sharks in the vicinity of Lighthouse Beach caused the closing of the beach last year. While tourists and the tourism industry might not exactly be welcoming the return of the great white sharks, researchers are expected to take advantage of their presence in hopes of learning more about the species.

Last year, five great white sharks were tagged in the waters around Chatham. Their migrations were tracked as far Florida. According to the satellite tag data, at least one of the sharks was recorded in water as cold as 44° F. However, the sharks spent 80% of the time in water temperatures in the 59°-70° F range, according to the Cape Cod Times.

Warning: Video contains somewhat graphic footage of shark finning and brief shots of white shark predation on a seal.

KQED aired the educational/information themed video “Great White Shark: The Man in the Gray Suit” back in April of this year. For a downloadable HD version of the video and more information, please visit the Quest website.

The video includes footage of white sharks at both the Farallon Islands and Isla de Guadalupe (although Guadalupe is never mentioned by name). The feature touches on topics including shark attacks and the “mistaken identity” theory, shark finning, migration patterns, shark behavior, and tagging programs.

Thanks to The Best Shark Dive in the World! blog for the heads-up on this video!

Shark nets in Queensland will be fitted with “pingers” designed to alert migrating whales to the presence of shark nets, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The move marks an attempt to help prevent whales from becoming entangled in the nets. In 2009, six whales were trapped in the shark nets, which have stirred up controversy in the past. All six of the whales trapped last year were successfully freed.

The shark nets are already equipped with pingers designed to alert dolphins. The whale pingers will a “longer and louder noise” as compared to the dolphin pingers, according to Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin, who went on to note that the pingers are designed only to alert the whales of the presence of the nets not to scare them away.

Multiple prototypes will be fitted to the nets this week as a test run. The goal is to have the alarms on all the shark nets by August when younger whales are more likely to come in close proximity to the nets.

National Geographic’s Expedition Great White premieres tonight at 9pm on the National Geographic Channel. However, you don’t have to wait tonight to get a sneak peek. National Geographic has made the episode “First Bites” available on Expedition Great White YouTube page (the episode is embedded below).

Expedition Great White focuses on a research team, headed by researcher Dr. Michael Domeier, whose goal is to gather tracking data on great white sharks at Isla de Guadalupe (filmed in the fall of 2008). Domeier’s team uses a catch-and-release technique to SPOT (Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting) tag great white sharks in order to provide researchers with real-time tracking information. After hooking and bringing in a white shark using a rod and reel, the shark is then brought onto a platform and raised out of the water in order to have a satellite tag attached to the shark’s dorsal fin. In addition to attaching the SPOT tag to the white shark, samples were also taken from the shark for research efforts.

Unlike traditional pop-up tags that report data after detaching from the shark and surfacing, the tags that Domeier’s team uses in Expedition Great White reports real-time data whenever a tagged white shark surfaces. The tags are expected to be able to transmit for six years.

Domeier’s catch and release method drew some criticism last year after an incident at the Farallon Islands, in which a hook was stuck in the mouth of a captured great white shark, requiring that the hook be cut with part of the left stuck in the shark’s mouth. However, Domeier’s team has since reported that the shark’s tag is still reporting data, and the shark is in good health.

While elements of Domeier’s methods may seem questionable to some, the results of his efforts in terms of producing real-time data could prove invaluable in terms of gaining knowledge about white shark behavior. Personally, I can find merit with both sides of the argument. I expect that the airing of the Great White Expedition series will drum up the debate once, again, and it will likely bring up interesting arguments both for and against Domeier’s techniques.

Updated tracking data from Domeier’s tagging efforts can be viewed at MarineCSI.org (click on the small map image for a larger view).

Update:As you can probably tell, the video, at this time, seems to have been removed from KTLA’s website. You can still see an image of one of the breaching sharks at KTLA.com.

KTLA.com is reporting that surfer Randy Wright has caught footage of white sharks breaching at Will Rodgers State Beach (Pacific Palisades, CA). Wright’s video footage can be seen in the KTLA feature above. According to KTLA report, Wright has captured two white sharks on video in the past week. Wright is no stranger to filming breaching sharks, in October of last year, he captured a photograph of what was believed to be a breaching white shark off of Sunset Beach.

Back on March 27 (a day before the actual segment ran), I ran a post about CBS.com’s preview of the 60 Minutes segment, “The Sharkman,” which featured the well-known cageless diver, Mike Rutzen. The quick preview post (which was later replaced with a transcript of the actual segment at CBS.com but is still available in this repost of “On 60 Minutes Tonight”) referred to the sharks that Rutzen and Anderson Cooper were diving with as “the star of Jaws,” which I made a overtly sarcastic response to, questioning CBS’s journalistic integrity.

While I still stand by the remarks about the “Jaws” references, the actual 60 Minutes segment (seen in the video above) was a great example of how the news media can handle shark-related stories without focusing on baseless stereotypes of sharks (and white sharks, in particular) being mindless killing machines. Sure, Cooper makes a couple of quips in the segment, but the overwhelming theme of the segment focuses on dispelling myths about great white sharks. So, while the author of the quick preview post for this segment was off the mark, in my opinion, I give kudos to the actual Sharkman segment from CBS’s 60 Minutes.

And, yes, this one is “better late than never” at best. I should have followed up on the CBS segment soon after it originally aired, but it fell by the wayside.

The St. Petersburg Times article, “Sharks: Myth vs. reality” is a solid example of responsible reporting when it comes to dealing with the subject of sharks. The article touches the threats of over-fishing on sharks, the odds of being attacked, and myths about shark attacks. Author Terry Tomalin manages to stick to the facts and avoid any unnecessary sensationalism, which often shows up in “news” articles involving sharks. While Tomalin is responsible enough not to ignore that sharks are predatory wild animals and can pose a risk to humans, he also is also objective enough to address the relatively low odds of the risk and dispel some of the myths about shark behavior. Kudos to Mr. Tomalin.

The full article is currently available online at TambaBay.com

Note: As of this writing, the article currently contains what appears to be a typo in the “By the numbers” section which states that the odds of a fatal shark attack on a human is 0 in 264.1 million. I’m assuming this statistic is meant to read 1 in 264.1 million.