A video of a kayaker catching a thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) is making headlines. According to KABC-TV California fishermen Scotty Westgaard and David Saldamando “nearly turned out to be lunch for a hungry shark.” However, Saldamando told KABC that he was actually more worried about losing his fishing gear than getting bit by the hooked thresher shark. Westgaard and Saldamando did end up releasing the shark.

Thresher sharks are generally not considered to be a threat to humans, unless you believe the old story about a fisherman being decapitated by the whip-like tail of a thresher.

While this story originated as a local news piece, it has generated enough interest for BBC News to pick it up.

KSDK.com is reporting that 12-year-old Nicholas Vollser was bitten by a shark last Thursday (July 7) off of Matagorda Island’s Sunday Beach near Port O’Connor, Texas.

The boy’s father, Cecil Vossler, told KSDK that a bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) bit his son’s left. A friend (identified as Mark Constien by the Star Telegram) pulled the boy from the water and he was taken by boat to a helicopter, which flew him to Houston’s Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center. Nicholas has undergone “several surgeries” according to the report, and has at least three more to be performed.

YouTube user mvanh80 recently added the video above, which features a predation event of great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) on a petrel (a seabird). The video, according to its description on YouTube, was shot on July 9th, at South Australia’s Neptune Islands, which is a popular great white shark diving hotspot.

While I’ve seen plenty of footage of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) preying on seabirds, I think this is the first bit of footage that I’ve encountered which features a white shark feeding on a bird.

HowItShouldHaveEnded.com (known for “re-writing” popular movie story lines) recently parodied “Jaws” and added it to their YouTube channel.

If “Jaws” had played out like this, it probably wouldn’t have been a summer blockbuster and generated all the often-times unnecessary fears of sharks at the beach. It probably also wouldn’t have generated all those awful sequels, either.

NECN.com is reporting that three great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) sightings have been reported in the Cape Cod area, including two sightings off Chatham, Massachusetts. NECN also reports that interest in the sharks has resulted in an increase in tourism in the area. Tourists are visiting Cape Cod beaches in hopes of catching a glimpse of a white shark. Local businesses have been trying to capitalize on the interest in the sharks by carrying shark-related products.

All in all a fairly objective report on the great white shark presence in Cape Cod, if you ignore the cliché “Jaws” reference from the anchorwoman.

Discovery Networks recently uploaded the video above to their YouTube channel which focuses on recently passed legislation in Chile, Honduras, and the Bahamas that helps to protect sharks within those countries’ waters. Honduras and the Bahamas have recently banned commercial fishing making their waters a “shark sanctuary,” while Chile has banned the practice of shark finning.

Discovery’s Shark Week 2011 media blitz has begun. The recently released promotional clip for Shark Week 2011 is set to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Teeth,” and features footage from upcoming Shark Week episodes.

On the plus side, there are no staged fake shark attacks that look like they were taken from one of SyFy’s shark-themed horror movies in the new promotional clip.

Shark Week 2011, which will be hosted by Andy Samberg, begins July 29 at 9pm on the Discovery Channel.

KHON-2 is reporting that a Maui man was involved in the first documented case of a cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) biting a human. Mike Spalding was swimming across the Alenuihaha channel in 2009 at night when a cookiecutter shark bit his calf.

When Spalding was initially bit, he did not know what was responsible for the attack. However, a recent study by researchers in Hawaii and Florida has confirmed that the species responsible for Spalding’s bite was the cookiecutter shark, making the bite the first documented case of the species biting a human.

For more on the story, check out KHON2

DaytimeTVShow has recently uploaded a video feature on National Geographic’s “Shark Men.” The video includes an interview with Chris Fischer and covers shark finning, shark conservation efforts, and catching great white sharks.

On a side note, the feature makes the claim that 90 million sharks are killed for their fins each year. As has been noted in the past, research published in 2006 indicates that an estimated An estimated 26 million to 73 million sharks are killed annually for commercial markets.

YouTube user jajapick recently uploaded the above video shot in Tampa Bay. In the never ending battle between tarpon fishermen and great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran), another victory goes to the great hammerhead…but they’re not really keeping score.