Producer George Schellenger of Shark Task Force recently posted the above preview video of the efforts of Guy Harvey, Wyland, and Jim Abernathy to promote shark conservation in the Bahamas. Wolfgang Leander wrote a great blog post over at Oceanic Dreams in regards to the efforts of Shark Task Force and how a unified effort is needed to help protect the sharks of the Bahamas. Head on over to Oceanic Dreams blog to give it a read.

Perth Now is reporting that an unknown man is being hailed as a hero after he assisted a shark attack victim on Saturday near Rockingham, Australia. The victim, a 19-year-old Australian woman, was hosting a snorkeling-with-dolphins expedition when she was bitten by what is described as a 3m shark. The unidentified man, who was part of the snorkeling group, reportedly grabbed the tail of the shark as it was biting the victim. When the shark released the woman, the man brought her to the surface and brought her aboard the boat. The victim was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital and is in stable condition.

The unidentified man offered a “no comment” to journalists and simply told the press, “All I want is the girl to be OK.”

The footage above features Mark Addison of South Africa’s Blue Wilderness free-diving with tiger sharks at Aliwal Shoal. Admittedly, I’m more of the no-touch diving mindset, so I’m not a big fan of the shots of “shark riding” seen in the video. That being said, the video does a good job of illustrating that tiger sharks aren’t mindless eating machines that will attack anything they see.

Scott West of Daybreak USA interviewed NatGeo filmographer Andy Brandy Casagrande (aka ABC) about filming great white shark footage for NatGeo’s Great Migrations. In addition to discussing filming large predatory animals, Casagrande addresses the risks of shark attacks and touches on the fact that humans are not a natural prey item of white sharks.

WARNING: Video features graphic footage of white sharks feeding on a seal.

National Geographic recently posted the above preview footage from the upcoming November 7 episode of Great Migrations, which features some dramatic footage of white sharks feeding on a seal. The narration plays up the drama a little bit with its foreboding tone and lines like “gruesome collision” and “feast for one and death for another.” However, the footage speaks for itself.

UPDATED: As it turns out, this footage is indeed of an actual natural predation event that occurred at Isla de Guadalupe. Thanks to Andy Murch of ElasmoDiver.com for the information!

It is unclear as to whether what we see in the film was a true predation event or whether a seal carcass was dumped in the water to get the shot. The editing of the clip which features multiple sharks, (at least one of which does not appear in any shot with the seal carcass) and the up-close nature of what appears to be the initial attack on the seal make me wonder if the seal was already dead when the first shark bite occurred. If anybody who worked on this footage could share some insight on the event, your comments would be greatly appreciated. Regardless of whether it was the result of predation or scavenging, the event produced some amazing footage. (see update above)

The episode of Great Migrations premieres on National Geographic Channel on November 7, 2010 at 8PM.

Scott MacNichol of Perry, Maine captured the footage above on Saturday while diving off of Eastport, Maine. The footage shows MacNichol’s camera being bitten by what WMTW-Portland is reporting as an 8′ porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus). The porbeagle shark can be seen swimming earlier in the video before it charges the camera. MacNichol was unharmed and returned to the same spot for another dive earlier this week, according to WMTW.

Porbeagle sharks belong to the family Lamnidae and typically feeds on bony fish and squid. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, the porbeagle shark can grow up to 12′ and weigh up to 500 lbs. It is typically not known for attacks on humans.

The Vancouver Sun has an interesting article about the depletion of basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) populations from British Columbia waters over the last several decades. It begins with the story of how basking sharks were targeted for slaughter by a federal fisheries vessel equipped with a blade designed specifically to slice open basking sharks and notes a one-day record of 34 confirmed kills. The sharks were targeted due to the fact that they were becoming troublesome for fishermen by getting entangled in commercial fishing nets.

The story then flashes forward to present day and a much different view of the basking shark, which is now endangered in the waters of B.C. Sightings of the sharks have become so rare, that federal shark biologist Romney McPhie compares basking shark sightings in B.C. waters to sightings of the mythical Sasquatch and Ogopogo. However, there have been some confirmed sightings over recent decades including an encounter that BBC filmographer, Florian Graner, filmed in July of 2009.

You can check out the entire article on basking sharks at the Vancouver Sun website.

We hear a lot about the shark fin soup market in the media, but how much of it is true?

GuyHarveyMagazine.com has an excellent article written by Chuck Thompson (with additional reporting from Virginia Lau) exposing the “4 lies” about shark fin soup. The article covers myths about the cultural history of the dish in China, flaws in international conservation efforts, cultural status and the cost of shark fin soup, as well as cultural views on sharks and animals, in general.

The report is long and certainly opinionated, but it is definitely worth reading in its entirety if you’ve followed any of the anti-finning movements or campaigns that have been in the media over the past few years. Check out the full article at GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Thanks to Shark Diver’s Underwater Thrills blog for the heads-up on this article.

The video above, titled “fighting sharks with Frank Solomon,” was recently posted by YouTube user frog790. While it certainly seems looks like there is some semblance of “fighting” going on in the latter part of the video, it also appears to have potentially been provoked.

Both sharks in the video seem to be somewhat disinterested in Solomon when he first drops into the water. In fact, the shark with the fishing line dragging from his mouth even appears to swim away from Solomon when he approaches him early in the video. It is not until Solomon attempts to approach the second shark that the “fight” takes place.

Fortunately, neither Solomon nor the shark seemed worse for the wear after the encounter, but this is definitely something that should be filed under “Kids, don’t try this at home (or in the ocean).”

Sad news out of California yesterday as a 19-year-old University of California Santa Barbara student has died due to wounds from a shark attack, which occurred just after 9AM local time. The man was boogie boarding about 100 yards from shore when he was bitten on the leg by what has been described by officials as a shark that is “14 to 20 feet in length,” according to ABC News.

The species of shark involved has not been officially identified, according to a CBS report, which speculates the species was a great white shark. Drew Sugars, of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, told CBS that they hope to have the species identified by Monday and that they plan to use teeth marks from the boogie board to determine the species.

Matthew Garcia, a friend of the victim, was only a few feet away when the attack occurred. Garcia attempted to rescue his friend and brought him into shore. Unfortunately, the victim was pronounced dead after further resuscitation attempts after he was brought to shore.

The victim was described by one friend as “the happiest kid in the world,” and by another who said he was a nice guy who “loved life.” My thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and all of his friends and family.