According to a Daily Telegraph article Andrew Eckersley and a “lone surfer” came to the aid of a beached 3m male great white shark on a Mid-North Coast beach in New South Wales last week. The pair used logs that they had found on the beach to help move the shark back into the water where it was able to swim away. However, the shark was found dead on the same beach the following day. The shark jaws had been illegally “hacked out by someone as a souvenir,” according to the Daily Telegraph.

Craig Ferguson of The Late Late Show gives a comedic take on great white shark sightings in the video above. While the monologue is done in jest, Ferguson brings up some valid points about the media and how often times other species are misidentified as great white sharks.

MyFoxPhilly.com is reporting that a story about a blue shark “beaching itself” on a New Jersey beach is the result of a fisherman reeling the hooked shark onto the beach. CBS3.com has a different take on the story quoting Melissa Nick of the Seaside Park Beach Patrol as explaining, “a fisherman caught a fish, was reeling it in and the shark chased after the fish.”

The “fish story” has made the rounds among various media outlets with headlines such as "Beached Shark Terrifies Swimmers", "New Jersey Shark Sighting: Sand Shark Causes Panic (which misidentifies the species), and "Another shark scare in New Jersey." Seaside Beach was reportedly closed after the sighting according to NBCNewYork.com.

The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is generally considered harmless toward humans and has a diet that consists primarily of squid, crustaceans, and bony fish. Blue sharks are typically found in deep water, but it is not unheard for them to be found close to shore.

Boston.com has posted a feature on the great white shark research tagging effort going on off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts. Dr. Greg Skomal and his crew have successfully tagged two great white sharks in the area within the past week. The video above features footage of Saturday’s successful tagging.

A small sand tiger shark (aka grey nurse shark, or spotted ragged-tooth) caught by fishermen in Long Island Sound is making the rounds in the local news media. Despite being a species considered relatively harmless to humans, the news of the presence of a sand tiger shark apparently stirred up some fear among some of those interviewed in the story above.

Mystic Aquarium suggests that fishermen who catch sand tiger sharks should release them. While the fishermen who caught the shark seem to be enjoying the fame of their “big catch,” they told NBC Connecticut that they would release any sharks that they catch in the future.

WARNING: Video features footage of a shark being shot with a handgun.

Seriously, don’t try this at home, kids…or on a boat with your kids. This really does appear to be a video of somebody firing a handgun at a hooked shark from a boat, which appears to have at least three children on-board. According to the video information, a “7 ft bull shark gets shot in the head after a 45 minute long fight.” The video information also goes on to say the bullet hit the line and the shark survived.

Eric Cheng posted some amazing whale shark footage to his blog/journal yesterday. The footage was shot off Isla Mujeres, and according to Cheng’s journal they had over 500 whale sharks around the island. Cheng’s work never ceases to amaze. In addition to the video above, Cheng has posted an exceptional close-up shot of a “whale shark gulp” in both 2D and anaglyph 3D versions in his recent blog/journal entry.

For more about Eric Cheng check out his website EricCheng.com. Additionally, you can view some of his amazing photography on his Flickr Photostream. Cheng also owns and runs WetPixel.com, an online community for underwater photography and videography.

Fox25 Boston is reporting that another great white shark has been tagged off of Chatham, Massachusetts. The shark estimated at 10′ in length was tagged yesterday by researchers. A total of 8 great white sharks were reported yesterday by shark spotters near the eastern shore Monomoy Bay. Chatham’s South Beach was closed to swimming as a result of multiple great white sharks being spotted near the shore. Yesterday marked the second time a great white shark was tagged by researchers within the past week near Chatham.

Discovery Networks is running a contest of sorts to “be a part of Shark Week.” The rules are simple. Just upload a video (with no background music) of yourself creating your own lyrics to the tune of Discovery’s “Boom De Ah Dah” song and upload it to YouTube as a response to the above video. This is your chance to voice to Discovery how you feel about Shark Week.

To send your video response go directly to the above video on YouTube and click in the empty box below the video where you can add a comment. When you click in the empty comment box, a link will appear to the right that reads “Attach a video.” Follow the instructions from there to add your personalized Shark Week video.