This Thursday, SyFy will be serving up yet another original shark-themed horror flick. Sharknado features…well, sharks and tornadoes along with the type of special effects that viewers of SyFy original movies have come to expect. The film’s cast includes Ian Ziering (90210 supporting cast member) and Tara Reid.

Sharknado premieres July 11 at 9/8c on SyFy.

Sports agent Drew Rosenhaus recently tweeted a video of himself “wrestling a 6-foot shark.” In the video, Rosenhaus can be seen grabbing what appears to be a hooked shark by its caudal fin.

Not only does the video suffer from the dreaded Vertical Video Syndrome, the actions of Rosenhaus in the clip aren’t exactly recommended behavior in the presence of hooked predator. Yet another one to add to the “don’t try this at home, kids” list.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium will not collect or display great white sharks for the remainder of 2013.

According to a Santa Cruz Sentinel report, the Monterey Bay Aquarium will not attempt to collect or display any juvenile great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) for the remainder of 2013. The decision to suspend the collection of the species was a result of a recent petition to have the white shark classified as endangered, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has had 6 juvenile white sharks on exhibit since 2004, all of which were released to the wild after their stays at the aquarium. The sharks were tagged with satellite tracking tags prior to their release. Tracking data indicated that one of the sharks died “soon after release” of “unknown causes,” while another died four months after release as a result of being caught in a fisherman’s gill net. Data from five of the released sharks (including the shark killed in the by the gill net) indicated that they “thrived” for long periods of time, traveling distances of up to 2,000 miles, according to the aquarium’s website.

DiscoveryNetworks YouTube channel recently added the first promo for its 2013 Shark Week. The over-the-top style ad features the fictitious “Snuffy the seal” as his return to the wild is being celebrated following his rescue and rehabilitation. Poor Snuffy doesn’t make it very far, though, as a breaching white shark snaps him out of the air before he ever makes it back to the sea.

It looks like Discovery is going with the tagline of “it’s a bad week to be a seal” for this year’s edition of the much celebrated week of shark-themed programming, but they go on to say that “it’s pretty awesome” for the rest of us. I guess the rest of us will just have to wait until August 4 to see for ourselves.

What do you think of Discovery’s latest promo for Shark Week 2013? Sound off in the comments below!

WARNING: Video features language that some may find offensive.

YouTube user Rob Pompilio recently posted a video featuring a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) off of the coast of New Jersey. According to the video description, the footage was shot on January 9, 2013 about 30 miles from shore. Atlantic white sharks are known to travel north along the east coast of the U.S. during the summer months seeking cooler waters, as temperatures rise during the summer months.

In case you don’t have time to read through the Dyer Island Conservation Trust press release regarding the study of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) estimates based on dorsal fin identification, Marine Dynamics has provided a handy infographic that summarizes the findings of the study.

Over 20,000 photographs of great white sharks, taken between 2007 and 2012, were used in the study. Dorsal fin recognition was used to identify 532 individual white sharks off of Gansbaai, South Africa. Using this data, researchers extrapolated that Gansbaai’s total estimated white shark population is between 808 and 1008.

Research conducted by Marine Dynamics a Shark Cage Diving Operator in Gansbaai South Africa

The following is a press release from Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT)

Fin recognition software was used to identify individual white sharks.
(Photo courtesy of Dyer Island Shark Trust)

Pioneering study in South Africa shows population could be 50% lower than previously thought.

Gansbaai, Western Cape, South Africa – The global population of great white sharks  – generally estimated at 3000-5000 – may have been significantly overestimated.  As a result the great white shark – already listed as a species “vulnerable to extinction in the wild” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – may be in greater danger than has been previously recognised.

This is the implication of a pioneering study conducted by marine biologists from the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) working with the shark cage diving company Marine Dynamics shark tours, in the world’s densest population of great white sharks at Gansbaai, near the southern tip of Africa.  The study is published in PLOS ONE today.
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A new IMAX 3D film titled “Great White Shark” premiered over the weekend in select cities. The film aims to “unravel the mystery” of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and tell the true story of its role as an apex predator in the ocean environment. The mission of the film is to change the public’s perspective and attitude toward the great white shark.

You can visit the film’s official website for a list of upcoming locations and release dates of “Great White Shark.”

eNCA reports that researchers from Stellenbosch University are performing a test trial of a new “eco-friendly” shark barrier near Dyer Island off the coast of Gansbaai, SA.

The Sharksafe Barrier System consists of connected rigid pipes that span from the ocean floor to the surface. The system is designed to resemble kelp and emits a “magnetic barrier,” which will deter sharks from attempting to swim through the artificial barrier, according to the team who developed the system.

Unlike “traditional” shark nets that indiscriminately kill various forms of marine life, the Sharksafe Barrier System is designed to serve as a physical barrier to merely deter sharks from passing through. The system will span from shoreline to shoreline, as well as from the sea floor to the surface, to create an all-encompassing barrier, unlike traditional nets.

In addition to researchers from Stellenbosch University, PhD candidate Craig O’Connell (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) and renown diver and white shark conservationist Mike Rutzen have collaborated on the project, which has been under development since 2011. The team plans to finish testing the barrier within the next month before submitting requests for permission to use the barriers at Cape Town’s Muizenberg and Fish Hoek beaches.

The Texas Senate has voted down the “shark fin bill.” The bill (SB 572), had it been passed into law, would have prohibited the sale, purchase, trade, and transportation of shark fins within the state of Texas.

According to The Dallas Morning News, Senator Troy Fraser spoke against the bill arguing that fishermen who catch sharks should be able to sell whatever part of it they choose. The bill needed permission from 21 senators to reach the floor for a vote. Fraser’s speech managed to sway enough senators to prevent the bill from being voted on.

Shark finning is already illegal on a federal level. However, supporters of the bill argue that legislation on the state level is necessary, since the profits from shark finning outweigh the current federal fines.