In an update to yesterday’s post, multiple news sources are now reporting that the state medical examiner’s office has changed the cause of death from shark attack to accidental drowning, in the case of a 60-year old Pennsylvania man who went missing last month after going for a late-night swim off of Corolla Beach in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The Virginia Pilot, is now reporting that "a spokesman for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, where the autopsy was conducted, confirmed the change in the cause of death." In addition, East Carolina Radio News is also reporting that a report from the office of the medical examiner in Greenville, NC states that the victim had drowned prior to sustaining shark bites.

It is unclear how or why the cause of the death was apparently misdiagnosed. As one reader commented at the Virginia Pilot article, “I hope this does not add to the family’s anguish.”

WAVY-TV 10 reported earlier today that the North Carolina state Medical Examiner has now ruled the death of a 60-year old Pennsylvania man as an accidental drowning. Last month, it was reported that the Medical Examiner was seeking a second opinion on the cause of death. According to the WAVY-TV 10 article, "The Medical Examiner’s Office in Greenville, N.C. reviewed images of the body with marine biologists and came to the conclusion that [the victim] accidentally drowned. A shark did not kill him."

The WAVY-TV 10 story, which appeared in Google News listings, has since disappeared.

Interestingly enough, the article, which was published today at 1:01 EDT, has since been pulled from the WAVY-TV 10 website. The article is still appearing in Google News listings and is available for viewing through a cached Google page, although it is not clear why the story has been pulled from the website. This reported new finding by the Medical Examiner has yet to appear at any other local media sources that I have been able to track down. The fact that it was pulled from WAVY.com not long after it was published and the lack of the report showing up elsewhere draw the validity of the story into question, at this time.

Regardless of the Medical Examiner’s ultimate ruling, the loss of the victim’s life is no less tragic. My thoughts and sympathies go out to his friends and family. I have chosen not to repeat the victim’s name regarding this news (or, perhaps, falsely reported news), as I’m sure having his name appearing in the news, yet again, likely will serve only to remind those he left behind of their tragic loss.

The now infamous cage breach video shot at Guadalupe in 2007 continues to get more mileage in the media. The latest outlet that it has shown up at is Tru Tv’s World’s Dumbest series. For some reason, media outlets just love this video and making generalizations about white sharks and shark diving, in general. While there are countless hours of exceptional Guadalupe white shark video footage out there, for some reason a few seconds of this footage keeps showing up all over the place and continues to give a bad impression to viewers about what really goes on with cage diving at Guadalupe.

WildIndie posted a video today on their YouTube channel promoting the Bermuda Shark Project. Based on the video info and the actual video itself, it seems like this is a work-in-progress endeavor, as the video info currently reads, "To find out more go to …" The video features some great underwater footage of various species of marine life, as well as some video documentation of a tiger shark being hooked via rod and reel, tagged, and then released.

According to a press release at PRNewsWire.com underwater photographer Karl Jost hopes to raise awareness to protect white sharks through a new great white shark calendar. Jost believes that interest in protecting white sharks will grow, if the general public is able to view the animals with fascination, as opposed to fear. The calendar will feature images from Jost’s collection of great white shark photos, and is available for pre-order at the Karl Jost website.

The question of why the ocean (and the planet, for that matter) needs sharks is one that I see pop up quite often on message boards, blog comments, and video comments. I came across the video below from abc Green Forum, while browsing through Oceanic Defense’s website. It’s a nicely produced video that walks through the potential consequences of wiping out species, including sharks, through over-fishing.

The official National Geographic YouTube Channel posted a video today documenting a rescue effort to help an injured sand tiger shark. The approximately 10′ (3m) female sand tiger had a fishing gaff embedded in her throat.

While the video itself plays on the drama and danger of the situation, it still manages to do a fairly good job of avoiding portraying the shark in a negative manner. Unfortunately, it seems that whoever wrote the description of this (otherwise shark-conscious) video simply could not resist the urge to add some negative hype. The video description currently reads…

A rescue team performs emergency surgery on a MAN-EATING Sand Tiger Shark – but they have to catch it first.

Is it really necessary (or even accurate) to refer to a sand tiger shark as “man-eating?” Sand tigers are generally regarded as being non-aggressive around humans and simply do not have a history of being “man-eaters.” While this kind of over-the-top hype seems commonplace among The Discovery Channel’s recent shark-related programming, I still expect better from National Geographic.

UPDATE 10/12 National Geographic has recently uploaded a video preview of their documentary on this study. Thanks to the Shark Diver blog for the video find.

Maybe it’s just me, but I was somewhat taken aback when I saw the photo gallery accompanying the article, Great White! at OutdoorLife.com. According to the article, researchers used "rod-and-reel fishing techniques, modified to accommodate the hefty 4,000-pound great whites, to get the fish into the boat". The article features a photo album with various shots of "landed" white sharks, which appear to have been taken at Isla de Guadalupe. According to the article the sharks were baited with tuna. Once the sharks were hauled on to the boat, blood was drawn for testing and satellite tracking tags were attached to the sharks’ dorsal fins. The gallery ends with the following, "While it’s fishing in every sense of the word, it’s imperative that the sharks are released into the sea unharmed and unstressed."

This is how great white sharks at Isla de Guadlupe look when not pulled out of the water.

While I don’t doubt the good intentions of the researchers, based on the pictures, it clearly doesn’t appear as if the sharks were "unstressed" throughout the experience. Being hooked, landed, and tied down seems like it would be a fairly stressful situation, although I’m not a "shark expert," so don’t quote me on that.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that the knowledge gained from the research could potentially benefit the species as a whole, but I have to wonder if this approach is really the ideal technique for gathering information about the white sharks at Guadalupe. Having been in the water with some of the sharks in the photos, looking at images of them tied down and out of the water just doesn’t sit right with me.

A documentary on this study will premiere on November 16 on The National Geographic Channel.

YouTube user SharkTrustUK posted a series of shark conservation videos today from Simon Spear. Among the videos is the one below featuring some fantastic tiger shark footage from Aliwal Shoal, South Africa. According to the video information, 8 tiger sharks were illegally poached from the marine reserve where this footage was shot just days afterward.

In what may be some good news to the ears of shark tour operators, the Honolulu Advertiser is reporting that a proposal to ban shark diving operations on O’ahu has been abandoned. The decision was made yesterday (October 7) by the Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee following a 7-1 vote against the bill, which was preceded by close to three hours of testimony from those both for and against the ban.

Opponents of shark diving operations suggest that the tours can create a hazard to the safety of the general public. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this claim. According to the article, the committee was advised by attorneys that concrete evidence needed to be provided which supported the safety hazard claim. As of now, only anecdotal evidence exists, according to Todd Apo, council chairman.

The bill was proposed by Charles Djou, the chairman of the Executive Matters Committee. Djou stated that he believed enough evidence was presented in yesterday’s testimony to support the idea that shark tours can pose a threat to the public. Based on the 7-1 vote, it would seem the rest of the council disagreed.