The Washington Post is reporting that a ban on shark fishing will go into effect this week in the waters of American Somoa, a U.S. territory. The ban will make it illegal to catch or possess sharks within three nautical miles of the shore, which will cover most of the American Somoa’s reefs.

For more information, check out the story at The Washington Post.

According to U. of Fla. study, white sharks descended from a recently identified extinct shark species.

According to Phys.org, a University of Florida study has identified a recently identified extinct shark species (Carcharodon hubbelli) as being an early “intermediate form” of white shark. Researchers involved in the study believe that the modern great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is descended from “broad-toothed mako sharks.”

Previously, the white shark was believed to be descended from the “Megalodon,” which is believed to be the largest predatory shark to have ever lived. However, the genus of the extinct species has been previously debated. The species, which was originally classified as Carcharodon megalodon, is now referred to by some scientists as Carcharocles megalodon. The recent University of Florida study seems to support the Carcharocles argument.

For more information about the study and Carcharodon hubbelli, check out “New ancient shark species gives insight into origin of great white” at Phys.org.

Is negative media coverage contributing to a public ‘image problem’ for sharks?

According to Phys.org, researchers from Michigan State University revealed that Australian and U.S. media coverage regarding sharks primarily focused on shark attacks. Results from the study, which appears in Conservation Biology, indicated that over half of global shark-related media coverage focused on attacks on humans. Additionally, sharks were “portrayed negatively” in approximately 60% of media coverage, according to Phys.org. In comparison, only about 10% of media coverage focused on shark conservation and 7% focused on shark biology/ecology.

The researchers involved in the study suggested that the negative portrayal of sharks in the media could be having an impact on conservation efforts, due to sharks having a public “image” problem. Dr. Meredith Gore, a researcher involved in the study, suggested that balancing media coverage with “positive” articles focusing on that relative risk of attacks, measures to prevent attacks, and conservation issues could help improve the public view of sharks.

For more information, check out “Shark: Bad creatures or bad image?” at Phys.org.

You can read the journal article “Australian and U.S. News Media Portrayal of Sharks and Their Conservation” at Wiley.com.

According to the Sacramento Bee, a journal article published in the latest issue of Conservation Biology reveals “significant declines in catch rates” for blue (Prionace glauca), mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), and oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) sharks in North Pacific waters. According to the article, the declines in catch rates indicate heavy fishing of the species. The research also showed a decrease in the average sizes of both oceanic whitetip and silky (Carcharhinus falciformis) sharks.

You can check out the full article at the Sacramento Bee. The journal article will be available in the latest issue of Conservation Biology.

A tagged white shark like this one, ended up in the gill net of Mozambique fishermen.

OCEARCH is reporting that a female white shark tagged in South African waters was killed after being caught in a gill net in Mozambique waters. The shark, nicknamed “Brenda,” was tagged earlier this year in Mossel Bay by OCEARCH along with a team of South African researchers.

According to OCEARCH the shark’s carcass was harvested. Its meat was given to a local village, while its fins were sold. Eyes on the Horizon, a Mozambique NGO, were able to recover the SPOT tag.

You can read the full story at the OCEARCH blog.

Could focusing on white sharks’ processing of visual stimuli lead to a more effective repellent?

The Telegraph reports that new studies involving the dissection of shark brains has indicated that a large portion of the white shark’s (Carcharodon carcharias) brain is associated with visual input. Researcher Kara Yopak of the University of W. Australia believes that understanding how the white shark’s brain functions could be vital to developing repellents that are based on visual stimuli.

Existing repellents tend to target the ampullae of Lorenzini, which are electroreceptors used by sharks to detect electrical fields in the water. According to Yopak, these types of repellents failed to deter attacks from white sharks in all cases. Yopak believes that focusing on the effects of neurobiology on white shark behavior could help to develop a more effective deterrent.

For more information, you can check out the full article at The Telegraph.

The past few days have seen quite a few photos either misrepresenting the effects of Hurricane Sandy or just flat-out faking them. Some gullible news outlets have been running with photos that appear to show a shark swimming through a flooded neighborhood in New Jersey. A few of the photos have already made the rounds during other major storms, but there are a couple of new ones that claim to show sharks swimming around a New Jersey that are brand-new exclusives to Hurricane Sandy.

The photos apparently originated as a hoax on a Facebook page and have since been circulated by some as genuine.

The Atlantic has a fairly extensive page that debunks or verifies some of the photos from Hurricane Sandy that have been going viral, as of late.

While Hurricane Sandy is definitely presenting some real-life dangers to many, sharks are pretty far down on the list of worries that those affected by the storm are dealing with.

A “Paddle-Out” was held Sunday (10/28) to honor a California man who was killed in a tragic shark attack last week. The victim was remembered as someone who “loved the beach and surfing,” and “embraced those around him with a smile and a mellow attitude” according to a Lompoc Record article.

The surfers who participated in the memorial paddled out about 100m and formed a circle, where family members, transported by boat, briefly spoke. The surfers then each dropped a flower into the water in a sign of remembrance.

YouTube user Melissa Galieti captured this footage of what is described as a 10-foot (3m) great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) feeding on a Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) off La Jolla, California. The footage was shot on October 2, 2012.

It’s unclear from the video how large the harbor seal involved was, as the carcass had already been fed upon to some extent prior to what is seen in the video. Preying on pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) is a behavior generally associated with larger white sharks. The shark seen in the video would likely be considered on the smaller end of the scale, in terms of size, of white sharks that target pinnipeds as prey items.

Check out Pete Thomas Outdoors blog for more information on the encounter.