Minneapolis’ Star Tribune recently ran a feature about 7-year-old shark enthusiast, Sophi Bromenshenkel. Sophi, a second-grader, is known as “the shark girl” at Sheridan Hills Elementary in Richfield, MN. She recently raised $2,450 through lemonade and cookie sales which were promoted online. Sophi donated the funds she collected to University of Miami’s R.J. Dunlap Marine Conservation Program. She already has a tiger shark named after her through the program and recently traveled to Miami to participate in the tagging of a bull shark, which was named after her uncle.

Sophi hopes that her efforts will help to protect sharks, so that they are still around for her see when she grows up. Sophi represents a prime example of shark conservation in action. Kudos to Sophi “the shark girl!”

According The Northern Star, Sarah Moerman, an Iluka woman, discovered a bull shark in the Clarence River that had been finned and left to die. Authorities suggested that the woman put the shark out of its misery by dropping a large rock on the shark’s head. Moerman commented on the indifference to the shark’s plight stating, “that would never happen if it was a dolphin.”

After calling the coastguard, a ranger, the Clarence Valley Council, and the police, Moerman said her husband eventually killed the dying shark with a sledgehammer, after an hour had passed with no action on the part of the authorities.

The Northern Star interviewed a professional fisherman about the incident who stated that he did not condone the act and believed the finning was likely the handiwork of an amateur. Cutting the fins off of a live shark is illegal in Australian waters. Penalties for doing so can include automatic loss of a professional license, which the fisherman said was worth a “six-figure sum.” He went on to say that no professional fisherman would risk such a loss for “$70 worth of fins.”

YouTube user kennyl007 posted the video above which is listed as a primary 1 student named Mika describing his favorite animal, the great white shark. The speech briefly covers shark eating habits, swimming abilities, and awesomeness.

While Mika’s speech might not be 100% scientifically accurate when it comes to sharks eating “anything they encounter,” I can certainly get behind his statement of “I like great white sharks, because they are awesome.”

Way to go on a great speech Mika!

Perth’s 9 News showcased footage of a large white shark and multiple tiger sharks feeding on the carcass of a juvenile humpback whale off of Rottnest Island, which is located west of Perth, Australia. According to the report, experts believe the humpback calf died of natural causes, and the sharks were taking advantage of an opportunistic feeding situation.

The video above also features some footage of three lively humpback whales migrating south to Antarctic waters.

Australia’s Ten News released some alternate footage of a tiger shark feeding on the whale carcass, which is unnecessarily accompanied by Jaws theme music.

A great white shark at Isla de Guadalupe.

For the second year in a row, Amos Nachoum’s cage-less diving exploits at Isla de Guadalupe have appeared in UK media. The Daily Mail features multiple photos taken from Nachoum’s most recent trip to Guadalupe. The article states that customers can pay an additional fee to dive outside the cages with the white sharks at Guadalupe. What the article fails to mention is that it is illegal to offer commercial cage-less diving in the waters off of Isla de Guadalupe.

Nachoum has already drawn a lot of criticism for a similar trip offered to Isla de Guadalupe last year. I suspect his recent photo spread in the Daily Mail will evoke a similar reaction, especially considering that these types of actions put other dive companies, who are operating within the bounds of the law, at risk.

John McCosker recently was interviewed by SF Chronicle about great white sharks.

The San Francisco Chronicle featured a Q&A with California Academy of Science‘s John McCosker addressing great white shark attacks off the California coast. Questions addressed the nature of white shark attacks and perceptions of white sharks. Check out the entire article at SFGate.com

Well, maybe “raises the bar” is a bit of a stretch, but based on the teaser trailer for RetroMedia’s “Super Shark,” it’s probably safe to say that this one is definitely going to push the limits on how cheesy a shark movie can get.

With Jimmie Walker (“Good Times”) in the cast, “Super Shark” is bound to be DYN-O-MITE!!! Also among the cast is television veteran Jon Schneider (“Dukes of Hazzard,” “Smallville”). To top it off, there are some visual effects, such as the battle between the walking tank and the super shark, that make SyFy’s shark movie effects look cutting-edge. Did you also notice that the super shark can walk on land using its pectoral and caudal fins? Enough said.

“Super Shark” is set for a 2011 release.

In stark contrast to a few of the not-so-spectacular white shark clips that NatGeo has released over the past day or so, they also released this excellent whale shark footage within the past week. Hopefully, NatGeo will focus more on this kind of footage and less on guys falling out of boats and “great white attacks.”

This is how it’s done National Geographic. Nice work!

Don’t try this at home kids!

And the Great Migrations media goodness continues with the above clip. I realize that accidents happen, and I’m sure this type of thing makes for good television. However, this might not be the best kind of event to advertise to the general public when promoting an educational show.

The only beneficial aspect of this clip is that it illustrates that white sharks aren’t generally much interested in attacking people. Given the circumstances, if the nearby white shark had been interested in a free meal, the opportunity was certainly there. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, and the crew member was able to get back on the boat safe and sound.

NatGeo posted the above video to their Great Migrations YouTube Channel yesterday with the title of “Great White Attack.” While some of the other footage released from Great Migrations has been impressive and dramatic in its own right, this promotional clip falls a bit flat to me, especially considering the overly dramatic title when compared to the actual content of the clip.

Apparently, the white shark being filmed in the clip made “several attempts to bite the boat.” I guess it’s a matter of semantics, but it hardly seemed like an attack took place in the video. Then again, it was hard to see much of anything when the sense of urgency and danger seemed to be taking place.

Great Migrations premieres November 7 at 8PM.