National Geographic just uploaded a promotional clip for their series “Shark Men.” The clip features the show’s team catching a juvenile white shark and preparing to bolt a SPOT (Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting) tag on the animal’s dorsal fin.

“Sharks on a Golf Course!” No, it’s not the wildly anticipated sequel to Samuel L. Jackson’s “Snakes on a Plane,” unfortunately. This is actually a non-fiction story recently reported on by NBC Sports “Off the Bench” about Queensland’s Carbrook Golf Club, which has the distinction of having sharks in the water hazard on the 15th fairway.

According to the story, the sharks (along with various other fish species) ended up residing at the club after the nearby Logan River flooded in the early 1990’s and washed the animals into the lake on the golf course. While the stories of sharks in the course’s water hazards were initially believed to be a myth, repeated sightings along with video documentation has proven the myth to be true. The NBC Sports article goes on to note that the golf course staff feeds chicken to the sharks, now.

ABC News is reporting that a 300-million-year-old partial shark jaw was recently discovered in a Kentucky mine. Jay Dixon, a mine operator, discovered the fossilized shark jaw in February.

Gerald A. Weisenfluh, the associate director of the Kentucky Geological Survey, says the jawbone is from a shark species of the Edestus genus, which lived during the Carboniferous Period (359.2 – 299 million years ago).

The jaw contains teeth that are 2″ in width at the base of the jaw and extend 2-2.5″ in height. The largest portion of the jaw bone is 18″ in length. Weisenfluh estimated the entire length of the jaw would have 30″. Weisenfluh also noted that this species had a permanent set of teeth unlike modern sharks who continually shed teeth throughout their lifetimes.

The Daily recently released a video featuring expedition leader Chris Fischer and Captain Brett McBride discussing their work with great white sharks for the National Geographic series “Shark Men.” Fischer seems to do most of the talking and touches on how his team of “world-class mariners” has joined forces with “world class scientists” in order to learn more about great white sharks and use that knowledge to affect policies to protect the species.

Fischer also mentions 5,000 lbs great white sharks in the video on multiple occasions. Maximum weight of white sharks seems to be one of those things that has been debated among experts over the years. For example, National Geographic lists the weight of great white sharks at “5,000 lbs or more,” while the Smithsonian lists the weight of white sharks at “up to 4400 lbs.”

Considering that the “Shark Men” team are recording measurements as part of their research, if they have been recording the live weight of all of their specimens, could an end to the debate on white shark weight be near?

New episodes of “Shark Men” air Saturdays at 9pm on the National Geographic Channel.

To promote the upcoming new season of “Shark Men” (formerly known as “Expedition: Great White”), National Geographic has posted multiple full episodes, available in HD, of the show to their YouTube channel.

The episodes available include:

• “Fresh Kill”
• “Feeding Frenzy”
• “Into the Unknown”
• “Giant on Deck”
• “Blood in the Water”

The series follows Dr. Michael Domeier and a team of fishermen and researchers who catch great white sharks and tag them with SPOT (Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting) tags before releasing them.

The tagging program documented by “Shark Men” has been the subject of another recent news story regarding “infighting” among shark researchers, according to an article posted by SantaCruz.com.

Photos have been recently circulated of a white shark, nicknamed “Junior,” who was tagged by Domeier’s team in 2009 at the Farallones Marine Sanctuary. The selected photos show an injury to the shark, which some are claiming might be the result of a mishap at the hands of the research team while others argue that the injury is unrelated and could be the result of a bite from another white shark.

New episodes of “Shark Men” start Sunday, April 10 at 9PM with two back-to-back episodes.

Grant Johnson recently uploaded this video, documenting the tagging of a large female bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), to his YouTube channel. The shark, which was tagged off of Bimini, was measured at 2.65m in length and was safely released unharmed after being measured and tagged, according to the video description.

It should go without saying that Johnson and the team involved in this tagging effort have a great deal of experience in field research involving sharks, so kids, don’t try this at home (or on your boat).

According to Ten News a white shark has been filmed and photographed unusually close to the shore at Hawks Nest, NSW. Images and video show what the Ten News describe as a 3.5m great white shark swimming among the waves at Bennett Beach. Lifeguards believe that bait fish are attracting sharks close to the shore.

Australia’s Montrose Access offers a hydrotherapy program which teaches children with duchenne muscular dystrophy how to scuba dive. The ten week program, which was named by the children, is called “Shark Bait Kids” and allows the children to dive with sharks at Seaworld at the Gold Coast.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common and severe form of MD and is characterized by rapid muscle degeneration. By using hydrotherapy, the difficulties associated with the disease become less of an obstacle, allowing the children to “feel free” by lessening the effects of gravity.

YouTube user TheMarkFloro recently posted the above video which shows a fisherman reeling in a moray eel only to have it nabbed by shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). While I’ve seen plenty of videos of tarpon and tuna being snagged by sharks, I think this marks the first time I’ve seen a moray snatched away from a fisherman. The fishermen seemed to take it in stride.

On March 24th, a Russian woman was bitten by a shark on a beach in Cancun, Mexico. According to a report that has appeared in various news sources, including The Canadian Press, a lifeguard on the scene claimed that the victim was attacked after ignoring warnings to stay out of the water. The lifeguard is also reported as having said that the victim was 100m from shore, and that he warned swimmers to stay out of the waters due to the possible presence of sharks.

Last week, a friend of the victim, who identified the woman involved in the attack as 26-year-old Luibov (Luba) Teran, contacted The Dorsal Fin with concern that the news articles featuring claims that Teran ignored warnings were being disputed by eyewitnesses who were on the scene when the attack occurred. A Cancun discussion forum featured comments from at least two eyewitnesses, who claimed that no warnings about staying out of the water were issued on the beach before the attack.

The Dorsal Fin was able to get in touch with Andreas Buchholz who was at the beach when the attack occurred and had been at the beach throughout the week leading up to the day of the incident. Buchholz said the claim that the victim ignored warnings to stay out of the water is “absolutely not true,” and that they were never warned to stay out of the water prior to the attack.

Additionally, an Expediente Quintana Roo article states that the attack occurred approximately 10m from shore and includes photographs of sharks which appear to be in close proximity to the beach.

At the time The Dorsal Fin was initially contacted, Teran was recovering in Cancun General hospital and required surgery to save her leg, according to her friend.