Footage from the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS) is making news in Australia’s The Courier-Mail. While The Courier-Mail article claims the video features a tiger shark “stalking” a sea snake, it certainly looks more like the tiger shark is “stalking” bait attached to the BRUVS unit, based on the footage. Regarldess, the footage (which appeared on the AIMS site back in August) is definitely worth a watch…

The Daily Mail and The Sun both featured articles reporting on a set photos of free-divers, William Winram and Pierre Frolla, seen diving with tiger sharks and great white sharks. The motivation behind the dives and the photos was to dispel myths about the two species. While neither The Sun nor The Daily Mail were able to get through either article without mentioning Jaws, both “news” sources remarkably did not get too over-the-top with their reports in comparison to how they both typically handle shark-related stories.

The entire photo set can be viewed at Hungry Eye Images. (I’d post some here, but I don’t have the budget to shell out cash for the licensing fees to use them on this blog.)

Sport Fishing with Dan Hernandez posted the video seen below on YouTube. This is what happens when you try to reel in a tuna at Isla de Guadalupe when there are white sharks around. They don’t call it the “Island of the Great White Shark” for nothing.

The Sun Sentinel is reporting that George Burgess, Florida Program for Shark Research Director, has determined that the species involved in yesterday’s fatal shark attack off Stuart Beach, FL was a member of the requiem family, which includes tiger sharks, bull sharks, blacktip sharks, and spinner sharks. Burgess examined the bite wounds on the victim and determined that an 8-9′ shark of the requiem family was responsible for the two fatal wounds. Burgess said his examination definitively ruled out the great white shark, a member of the Lamnidae family.

CBS12, this is not an award for outstanding journalism.

Another media outlet has their own great white shark related report regarding yesterday’s tragic attack off of Stuart, Florida. This one is has an even more misrepresentative headline than the Palm Beach Post “report” from earlier today. CBS12.com features a story with the headline, Expert: Great White Shark could have been behind fatal attack. The report features statements from Gary Gross, a biology professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, who is quoted as saying, “Great whites in our area are very uncommon. They are mostly in deep waters where it’s colder. There has never been an attack here by a white shark.” In fact, the only other mention of white sharks by Professor Gross in the report deals with large sharks mistaking a kite surfer for a turtle, in which Gross is quoted as saying such a scenario is a “white shark situation.” However, Gross goes on to speculate that the attacking shark was “likely a bull shark.” (Currently, there is also no evidence to support or oppose the theory that the sharks involved in the attack were bull sharks.)

CBS12 really seems to be stretching things here. The headline suggests that Gross has indicated that he believes a white shark could be behind yesterday’s attack. However, the statements from Gross within the article suggest that he does not think that great white sharks were involved. Perhaps, a more representative headline would have read, Expert: Highly unlikely great white shark involved in attack. Of course, that might not draw nearly as much attention. It seems that media outlets have realized that great white sharks seem to draw more attention than other shark species, and the mass number of stories running with the great white shark theory (which isn’t backed up by any evidence in this particular case) just goes to show that sometimes the number of viewers/readers a story draws can overshadow truly objective reporting.

At the end of the day experts weighing in on the species involved or not involved is still nothing more than speculation, until some more details and evidence regarding the attack is available.

Great white sharks occasionally visit Florida waters this time of year. However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that the species was involved in yesterday's fatal attack.

After multiple media outlets ran reports earlier today suggesting the possibility of great white sharks being responsible for yesterday’s fatal shark attack off the coast of Stuart, Florida, the Sun Sentinel is reporting that Neil Hammerschlag of University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science said that it’s too blame great white sharks for the attack.

Hammerschlag said that while white sharks do occasionally visit Florida waters, a determination of the species involved in yesterday’s attack can not be determined without examining the victim’s wounds or unless witnesses were able to positively identify the attacking sharks. Hammerschlag also noted that any of several species could have been responsible for yesterday’s attack.

One day after a fatal shark attack off of Stuart Beach, sightings of large schools of sharks off of nearby Palm Beach are being reported.

According to WPTV.com, the number of sharks spotted off of Reef Road was “easily more than a hundred.”
The species of sharks seen in the video was not reported.

At the time of the WPTV.com report, lifeguards were monitoring the migrating sharks to determine whether or not beach closings would be necessary.

Juvenile great white sharks (Carcharodon Carcharias), though rare, can be found off the coast of Florida during the winter months, along with several other shark species.

The Palm Beach Post has a cleverly crafted article with a headline “possibly” identifying the species involved in yesterday’s fatal shark attack of a Stuart, Florida kite boarder. The headline, Expert: Young great white sharks possibly involved in fatal Stuart attack, is followed up with the statement credited to Grant Gilmore noting that “young great white sharks — the fish of Jaws notoriety — are among suspects in Wednesday’s fatal attack off Stuart’s coast.” However, if you read far enough into the article, it states that Gilmore would NOT guess which species was involved, since the only available information about the attack was early news reports.

The article goes on to discuss yesterday’s shark attack and mentions three other species common to the area that are cited as being “known to attack humans” but notes that these three species (bull sharks, tiger sharks, and great hammerhead sharks) prefer warmer waters and tend to leave the area in the winter.

Despite the tendency for these species to leave the area in the winter, tiger shark sightings were reported just last week at Riviera Beach, approximately 35 miles north of yesterday’s attack. In addition, a shark which at least one news source identified as a great hammerhead, was also caught on Riviera Beach last week. That same report indicates that bull sharks are common in the area this time of year.

While there is nothing dishonest, per se, about the story’s headline identifying a “possible” suspected species, the nudging of the reader towards the idea that great white sharks (“of Jaws notoriety,” no less) were behind the attack is fairly prominent, despite no evidence being available at the time of the report to indicate the species. So, while the article is not necessarily dishonest, I find it a bit misleading at best. Other news agencies are eating up the Palm Beach Post article and running their own similar stories, including the LA Times article,
Young great white sharks may have killed Stuart surfer, expert says.

While it may turn out that great white sharks were, in fact, involved in this tragic attack, running headlines based on a few statements suggesting a possibility that great white sharks were the culprits is simply irresponsible reporting. Given the limited information that was available when the statements were made, speculation by news agencies falls outside of the realm of objective reporting, and is irresponsible journalism, at best, especially considering the fact that the expert who was questioned on the subject specifically stated that there was not enough information to even guess the species.

According to multiple news outlets, a 38-year-old Stuart, Florida man died after suffering multiple shark bites while kite surfing near Stuart Beach. A lifeguard spotted the man in distress and paddled out to him where he was being circled by several sharks, according to WFLX.com. Despite the rescue efforts of the lifeguard, the man was pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital.

While an attack of this nature is almost unheard of in Florida waters, particularly this time of year, the loss of life is no less tragic. My thoughts go out to the victim’s family and friends.

The presence of whale sharks along the coast of East Java, Indonesia are causing an increase in local tourism. The migration patterns of the whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) take them through the area between January and March, and locals are paying up to 5,000 Indonesian Rupiah (which amounts to about $0.53 US, according to the NTD World News report) for boat trips taking them in close proximity of the sharks.

While it’s great to see a positive interest in these animals, the interview with one of the tourists about her fears towards being near a “shark” (despite it being a filter feeder) is indicative of some of the common misconceptions that are out there when it comes to sharks, in general. Then again, the fact that the news anchor referred to the fish as “mammals” might serve as a better example of the lack of understanding towards these animals. My only other major complaint with the report is that the “tour guide” featured in the video is shown apparently attempting to ride a whale shark.

While the report might be a be off on a few “facts,” it’s good to see a generally positive shark story in the news. It’s even more refreshing to hear the sharks referred to as “friendly fish.”