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Tag: SHARK

  • Duxbury Beach: Giant Shark Spotted In Massachusetts

    Nobody wants to swim in shark-infested waters, and the sighting of a giant shark near Duxbury Beach has many people avoiding the waters in the area.

    Lifeguards spotted the huge shark near the shoreline on Monday and immediately ordered everyone out of the water.

    The shark appeared to be about 15 feet long and was tracked by a state police helicopter.

    Officials decided to close the beach until the shark left the area. It was closed at around 2 p.m. and opened back up around two hours later.

    The large shark was originally said to be a great white, but officials weren’t certain and are now saying that the species is unknown.

    Many beachgoers were afraid to enter the water, even after the beach was reopened, but others made light of the situation by making movie references.

    One beachgoer even got creative and wrote a funny message in the sand.

    Contrary to popular belief, shark attacks on humans are rare. That is also the reason they get so much attention.

    Sharks don’t usually come close to popular beaches, and when they do it is usually because they are attracted to something in the water.

    In June, several Alabama beaches had to be closed because dozens of sharks began swarming nearby. The sharks had come to the shore to feast on a sturgeon carcass which had washed up on the beach. The sharks eventually left the area a few days after they were originally spotted.

    Officials in Massachusetts are not sure what attracted the large shark to the shoreline but have told beachgoers and lifeguards to be on the lookout in case it returns.

  • Grouper Fish Makes Shark Its Watery Bitch

    Grouper Fish Makes Shark Its Watery Bitch

    It has been a baaad week for sharks.

    First there was the report of a bull shark that was on the losing end of a battle with an 18-foot crocodile named Brutus.

    While that feisty fish might have gotten away in the end, it’s a different story for this unlucky shark.

    In a new viral video, a group of fishermen capture a shark and grouper fish circling each other. The fisherman seem to have nabbed the four-foot shark based on the line that is clearly attached to the sea creature.

    Being hooked may have put the little guy at a distinct disadvantage, since it didn’t have a chance to flee or defend itself.

    As the filming fishermen were reeling in the captured shark, the grouper fish leaped up and swallowed the shark!

    In a matter of seconds the grouper was gone, leaving behind an amazed group of humans with some great footage.

    Since hitting YouTube a couple of days ago, the shocking video has quickly amassed views. It’s already nearing the four million view mark!

    Perhaps the reason this video is so stunning is that it helps shatter the image of the creature long held by people.

    For many decades sharks have been viewed as extremely terrifying, if not totally invincible—the kings of the ocean.

    Often pictured as larger than life, shark species in fact vary greatly by size and shape.

    This shark was only about four feet in length, which means it lacked the threat of say a Great White shark. The Great White tends to be about 20 feet in length.

    Before you start feeling too confident about your own chances against the shark in the viral video, know this: A shark that size could do some damage…if not drown you!

    So yes, sharks can still be very dangerous to us wimpy humans while being little more than a meal for other fish.

    It all depends on the context of the situation.

  • Brutus The Crocodile Takes On Shark

    Brutus The Crocodile Takes On Shark

    Crocodiles and sharks actually have a quite a lot in common.

    Both animals are readily associated with the water. Both are known as formidable predators. Lastly, they are both terrifying and have razor sharp teeth.

    The average person isn’t exactly a fan of the idea of crossing paths with either creature.

    That doesn’t mean that we aren’t curious about what would happen if the two animals were to cross paths.

    Australian tourists came across this incredible scenario on Tuesday when a crocodile named Brutus attacked a bull shark.

    The reptile, which is reportedly 18-feet in length, was seen by the tourists diving into the water to eat a piece of buffalo meat that had been left out for the crocodiles on a pole.

    When the boat carrying the visitors passed by Brutus a second time, they observed a fin protruding from the croc’s mouth.

    Tourist Andrew Pierce said that he was “awestruck” by the experience.

    “So were the rest of the people. [The guide] had never seen it before either and he had been there for about 30 years.”

    Images taken of the aftermath are a crude testament to the deadly battle.

    While it’s pretty clear that Brutus got the better of the bull shark, onlookers aren’t sure whether or not to declare it a flawless victory.

    “When we pulled the boat in closer [Brutus] slid back into the water. And when the shark, or the mouth of the croc, hit the water, the shark started to thrash around.”

    Whether Brutus succeeded in eating his fishy dinner or the shark got away is anyone’s guess.

    It is known that even though Brutus came out the winner, he didn’t leave the battle unscathed; witnesses say that the crocodile lost almost all of his teeth in the scrap.

    Ouch!

    Hope it was worth it, Brutus.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Shark Attack Data Offers Safety Tips

    George Burgess, director of the Florida Program of Shark Research and keeper of the International Shark Attack File, has combed through incident data to devise some strategies to avoid encounters with the apex predators.

    From his basement office at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, situated roughly one hundred miles northwest of Volusia County, a.k.a the “shark-bite capital” of the world, Burgess plainly attributed a rise in shark attacks to a rise in human activity in the ocean.

    Burgess pointed out that the combination of warm ocean waters and droves of surfers, swimmers and tourists has prompted the trend of more shark encounters. According the International Shark Attack File, Florida has averaged 21 bites annually over the last ten years. “Humans are just simply pushing the equation,” Burgess said. “Sharks plus humans equals attack.”

    Here Burgess details the 2013 Florida Shark Attack Report, compiled by the University of Florida and the Florida Museum of Natural History:

    Burgess revealed that surfers are most at risk – “The typical attack victim in Florida is a young, white male between the ages of 14 and 24, which is the demographic of what you see surfing most of the time.” And while Burgess said that surfers “play at their own tune,” he added he has never interviewed one who was attacked who displayed any ill will toward a shark.

    Capt. Tamra Marris, of Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, confirmed that five attacks have been logged so far this year.

    Floridians of Cocoa Beach help a shark:

    As for tips for avoiding an attack, Burgess said that timing is important, as sharks are most active at dawn and dusk. “We enter the water beginning late-morning hours, have the peak of our activity in the afternoon and trail off as we go back home for dinner,” Burgess said. “Amazingly enough, the number of attacks follows that pattern precisely.” Early morning and late-night swims should be avoided.

    Burgess also suggested to stay in groups, to not swim near fishermen and to avoid wearing shiny objects in the water.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Shark Chokes On Sea Lion, Strange But True

    Shark Chokes On Sea Lion, Strange But True

    Nature is just full of surprises and you never know what you might encounter in the animal world. While sharks are considered the prime predators of the sea, one recently bit off more than it could chew, literally.

    A male shark was recently found washed ashore on Coronation Beach in West Australia.

    While it is not uncommon for sharks to wash ashore, this one was a little more interesting than others.

    Although the shark was dead when it was found, it had been spotted several times beforehand.

    One witness even captured a video of the shark, which appeared to be struggling but had no signs of a physical injury.

    The state’s Department of Fisheries determined that the shark was behaving so strangely because it had a large sea lion stuck in its throat and may have been choking. The shark was struggling to dislodge the sea lion, which is why it thrashed around so violently.

    “This could explain why the shark was exhibiting such unusual behavior in shallow waters,” Dr McAuley said.

    “It is possible that the shark was trying to dislodge the blockage.”

    Unfortunately, the shark may have gotten stranded or beached itself while working so hard to get the sea lion out of its throat

    Not everyone in Australia finds the death of a shark disappointing. Many people living in Australia know the dangers of swimming in shark-infested waters and are working to eliminate large sharks from popular beaches.

    The government started a shark culling campaign last year that it also plans to run this year. The campaign is an effort to make the beaches in Australia safer for everyone, but many people are against it and some even call it cruel.

    What do you think of the choking shark and Australia’s shark culling campaign?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • One-Ton Shark On Its Way To Texas

    Beachgoers beware, a huge one-ton shark is making its way to Texas.

    The giant great white shark is 14 feet long and weighs 2,300 pounds.

    It was recently spotted 100 miles off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico and is now making its way towards Texas.

    The shark is being tracked with a tagging system that allows scientists to catch, tag and release great white sharks.

    The scientists can then follow the sharks and learn more about them.

    The tagging system also works as a warning system and allows scientists to alert certain beaches if a large shark is coming near them.

    Every time a tagged shark surfaces, the tag sends back its GPS coordinates and scientists map it. Some of the sharks that are tagged have already traveled 1,400 miles.

    The giant shark headed to Texas is named Katherine and she was first tagged off Massachusetts’ Cape Cod.

    “Every track is giving us new information and going contrary to all the assumptions that we were going on,” Dr. Robert Heuter, director of Mote Marine Laboratory’s center for shark research, said. “Having (sharks) in the Gulf is something we thought happened in the wintertime.”

    As Katherine gets closer to Texas, scientists will keep a close eye on her to make sure she is not headed too close to any popular beach destinations.

    Earlier this month, several Alabama beaches had to be evacuated after a huge swarm of sharks gathered in the nearby waters. The sharks were feeding on a sturgeon carcass and left within a couple of days.

    Katherine will likely linger in the waters around Texas for a few days and then venture back up the eastern coast. The tracking program has revealed that some sharks prefer to travel great distances and others stay in the same small areas for most of their lives.

    Would you swim in the ocean knowing Katherine the shark was lurking nearby?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Goblin Shark Netted Off Florida Keys

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service, a commercial shrimping trawler netted an extremely rare goblin shark off of the Florida Keys on Wednesday, the second specimen ever to be recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. The fish was roughly 18 feet long, and leisurely swam away after being released. The first goblin shark sighting in the region occurred nearly 15 years ago when commercial fisherman captured one in 2000.

    The pink-skinned, prehistoric-looking goblin shark is a deep-water, poorly understood species, and is the only living representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, an ancient lineage some 125 million years old.

    The goblin shark possesses a distinctive, flattened snout, and highly protrusible jaws which feature nail-like teeth. The sharks inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons and seamounts worldwide, at depths greater than 300 feet, with adults swimming deeper than juveniles.

    Below is a clip of a goblin shark attack:

    The goblin shark has been recorded in all three major oceans, and has many names, for such a rare fish – it is referred to as an elfin shark (English ), hiisihai (Finnish), Japanese neushaai (Dutch), Japanischer nasenhai (German), kabouterhaai (Dutch and Afrikaans), karsahai (Finnish), Koboldhaai ( Dutch), koboldhai (German), lensuháfur (Icelandic), mitsukurizame ( Japanese), naesehaj (Danish), Nasenhai (German), näshaj (Swedish), nesehai (Norwegian), neushaai (Dutch), requin lutin (French), schoffelneushaai (Dutch), squalo folletto (Dutch), squalo goblin ( Italian), teguzame (Japanese), teppichhai (German), tiburón duende (Spanish), trollhaj (Swedish), tubarão-demónio (Portuguese), tubarão-gnomo (Portuguese), zoozame (Japanese) and žralok škriatok (Czech).

    Though observations of goblin sharks existing in the wild are limited, it is suggested that the animal leads a sluggish lifestyle, mostly feeding on rattail fish and dragonfishes. It also consumes cephalopods and crustaceans, including decapods and isopods. Garbage has been found in the stomachs of some specimens.

    The NOAA points out that biologists encourage anyone who comes across a goblin shark to report these rare sightings and catches, as the information that can be collected is integral to forming a better knowledge of the species.

    Image via YouTube

  • Huge Great White Shark Tagged In Australia

    Huge Great White Shark Tagged In Australia

    Great white sharks are the ultimate predators of the sea and creatures that many people fear. While great white sharks are only responsible for a small number of shark attacks, they are known as one of the largest and most ferocious shark species.

    Huge great white sharks have recently been spotted near popular beach areas in Australia and other parks of the world. When a great white shark named Joan of Shark was spotted by fishermen near Ellen Cove in Australia, the beaches were closed and nobody was allowed to enter the water until the shark moved on.

    Joan of Shark had been tagged and can be tracked with a GPS. This allows researchers to know the whereabouts of the shark at all times. The tracking device not only helps keep beachgoers safe, it also allows the researchers to learn more about great white sharks and their habits. The shark was first shot with a temporary tag but was later caught and fitted with a more permanent one in her stomach that will allow researchers to track her for at least 10 years.

    Joan of Shark is the largest shark to be tagged and researchers are anxious to study her. She is more than 16 feet long and is estimated to weigh 1.6 tons.

    “It is the first one we have caught of breeding size,” Mark Kleeman, Shark Monitoring Network project manager said. “It had signs of mating scars, with bites down one side.”

    “This is very exciting and potentially a world first, he continued. It is something we have been striving for and it is great to prove we can handle an animal of that size.The main thing is that tracking larger animals opens up a whole new world. Lots of juveniles have been tagged, but to have a fully-mature female and get 10 years of data out of it is a big thing for us. We are excited by the potential of what this shark can give us.”

    The researchers believe that Joan of Shark will soon move away from the beaches and out to deeper waters. They claim that she is only in the area because she could sense the distress signals of a large humpback whale which was beached earlier in the week and later died. They also warn that more sharks could come into the area over the next few days because of the dead whale.

    What do you think researchers will learn about the newly tagged great white shark?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Great White Shark Tracked For The First Time Crossing The Atlantic Ocean

    A mature female great white shark nicknamed Lydia was tagged off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida in March of last year. Since then, the researchers have been keeping a close eye on her. This weekend, almost a year later, researchers saw that she was on her way across the Atlantic Ocean. It was a milestone, since there had been no records documenting such a feat by a great white. Lydia’s current position is east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and she seems to be headed towards the coast of the Cornwall peninsula in the U.K.

    The discovery that great white sharks can make long-distance trips has started to change the way science regards the species. For instance, it could be a factor when looking at the ways to conserve the shark population. According to Bob Hueter of the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, if sharks are to be saved, scientists and advocates must not only protect the animals where they live, but “also work with other countries towards global conservation.”

    Lydia now holds the distinction of traveling the farthest distance of any known great white shark. She has covered around 20,000 miles, including her trips along the East Coast of the United States. In 2004, another female great white was discovered to have swam from South Africa to Western Australia and back. Her journey back and forth across the Indian Ocean was tallied at 12,427 miles.

    Advances in technology have enabled scientists to track large predators such as Lydia. The group that developed the method used to secure and tag her, Ocearch.org, shows a real-time track of the great white on its website. Lydia’s tag, attached to her dorsal fin, is tracked by satellite. When she swims, her dorsal fin rises above the water’s surface, and the tag transmits location data.

    Before Lydia’s tag was developed, scientists made use of archival tags that stored information until these were retrieved. Researchers then downloaded the data to recreate where the shark had been.

    Watch “Lydia”, the great white shark, get ready for the Atlantic Ocean

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Tara Reid To Star In Sharknado 2

    Are you ready for Sharknado 2? You had better be, because Tara Reid has just signed on for the sequel. If you didn’t catch the first Sharknado, you missed a chance to make fun of a horrible movie. Sharknado starred Tara Reid and Ian Ziering and tells the story of a storm that causes a tornado so powerful it sucks sharks up from the ocean and shoots them back out across a seaside town.

    While the movie was definitely entertaining, many people thought it was more fun to make fun of than to actually watch.

    Sharknado 2: The Second One will show what happens when a strange weather pattern causes a Sharknado to strike New York City. Fin (Ziering) and April (Reid) having dealt with a Sharknado before are the only ones who can save the city from the sharks.

    “Sharknado was an extraordinary ‘perfect storm’ which captured the attention of movie fans across the globe,” said Thomas Vitale, executive vice president of programming and original movies at Syfy. “You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing about Sharknado!

    That may be true, but in most cases, people were referencing Sharknado for jokes or as an example of a bad movie. Nevertheless, it has become one of those films that you love to hate and just have to watch. If Sharknado 2: The Second One is anything like the first, it will be just as enjoyably bad.

    What did you think of >Sharknado and are you excited to watch Tara Reid star in Sharknado 2: The Second One?

    Image via YouTube

  • Shark Photobombs Family Picture At Manhattan Beach

    It was just another day at the beach for a California family. The kids were playing near the shore and June Emerson, the children’s mother, was doing what every mother does…snapping pictures. It wasn’t until she later looked at those pictures, that she realized their photos had been photobombed…by a shark!

    “It was quite a shock to see,” Emerson said. “Many local surfers and lifeguards have seen this and believe it to be a shark. Of course, I told my kids it was dolphin, as we live at the beach and are in the waters here almost daily.”

    Emerson said her children didn’t realize that the shark was swimming so close to them, and she wasn’t going to terrify them by telling them that it was. “I’m not sure what it was,” she told CBS2/KCAL9, “but it definitely scared me when I thought it might be a shark.”

    (image)

    Emerson later posted the picture on her Facebook page with a caption that read: “Another beautiful day at the beach. Big waves and apparently Big Fish! (Look into wave to right of Quinn Emerson, who’s out catching a few!) – Manhattan Beach, California.” The picture instantly received thousands of views and comments.

    What do you think the photobomber is…dolphin or shark? Leave your comments below.

    Image via KTLA

  • Shark Photobombs Two Boys at Manhattan Beach

    The photobomb trend is nothing new–everyone from friends, strangers and even celebrities have been known to get in a picture right before it was taken, effectively ruining it. While photobombs can be annoying (and sometimes funny), at least they don’t usually send cold chills up your spine right? A woman from Manhattan Beach, California got quite the surprise when she discovered that a shark photobombed a snapshot of her boys playing in the ocean.

    June Emerson took her twin 12-year-old boys to Manhattan Beach on Friday. After looking through her pictures, she noticed something lurking near the boys. “I’m not sure what it was, but it definitely scared me when I thought it might be a shark,” Emerson said. “Many local surfers and lifeguards have seen this and believe it to be a shark.”

    Rather than tell her boys that a shark was so close to them while they were in the water, Emerson decided to tell them that the creature in the photo was a dolphin. “Of course, I told my kids it was dolphin, as we live at the beach and are in the waters here almost daily.” Now that the shark photobomb story has gone viral, it’s not likely that Emerson will be able to keep that story afloat for long.

    Check out the shark photobomb picture below.

    Some people believe the shark in the photo was a Great White (cue the Jaws music). Great White sharks have been spotted close to the Manhattan Beach shore before, but it hasn’t been confirmed that the shark in the photo was of the Jaws variety.

    While the photo might scare some people out of getting in the ocean for a while, most sharks don’t attack humans. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “sharks rarely ever attack humans and would much rather feed on fish and marine mammals.” The NOAA also notes that most shark attacks occur when the shark is “confused or curious.”

    Image via KTLA

  • Family Photo Shows Shark Lurking Eerily Close

    A populated area such as Manhattan Beach, California seems to be an unusual place to spot a shark, but unfortunately they’re not that uncommon in this area of the Pacific coast.

    It is especially surprising when that same shark went undetected by family or beach goers. The discovery that there was a shark at all didn’t come until later, when June Emerson reviewed the photos from the day at the beach with her family.

    In the photos, Emerson noticed her son Quinn and his friend surfing the waves, with a good-sized shark within feet of them.

    “It was quite a shock to see,” Emerson said.

    “Many local surfers and lifeguards have seen this [photo] and believe it to be a shark,” she said. “Of course, I told my kids it was dolphin, as we live at the beach and are in the waters here almost daily.”

    Emerson said her 12-year-old twins were also unaware of the fish swimming so close to them as they played in the waters off the popular beach on Friday.

    It wasn’t long ago that paddle boarders caught a video of a great white shark, around the same area. The video showed the shark just 50 yards from the shoreline.

    “There are two different things in your head,” paddle boarder Jay Dohner told the Los Angeles Times after using his helmet-mounted camera to record three great whites. “’Wow, that’s beautiful,’ and ‘we should get out of here.’”

    And although most people are scared to death of sharks and wouldn’t stick around long once one has been spotted, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife actually issued a warning for people to leave the sharks alone – for the protection of the sharks.

    The sharks coming in close to shore is a welcome development for wildlife researchers who say it’s a sign of a healthy rebound for marine life after California legislators prohibited the use of gill nets for fishing in 1990.

    On March 1, white sharks are being protected as they could be added to the California Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered. Presently the sharks cannot be legally hunted, captured or killed, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

    As for Emerson, she’d rather not let it dissuade her from enjoying the beauty of the Manhattan Beach Pacific Coast and can easily go on thinking it was just a playful dolphin who came so close to her son.

    “Another beautiful day at the beach,” Emerson wrote on her Facebook page. “Big waves and apparently Big Fish! (Look into wave to right of Quinn Emerson, who’s out catching a few!) – Manhattan Beach, California.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Maui Shark Attack Kills Fisherman

    Maui Shark Attack Kills Fisherman

    A shark attack in Maui resulted in the death of a kayak fisherman whose foot was severed in the attack. The fisherman, who has been identified by the Maui County Police Department as Patrick Briney Stevenson, was reported to have been fishing with a partner at the time of his attack.

    Briney’s fishing partner allegedly spotted a nearby boat from which he sought help. Briney was taken ashore by the boat and then to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.  According to CNN,  William Dunaway was one of the passengers of the boat that helped to transport Briney’s body. Dunaway reported what he says he witnessed of the incident:

    “We noticed in the distance there was a man in a kayak that was waving to us, and he started paddling over to us. We saw that he was tethered to another kayak. And as he got closer we saw that there was a body lying flat out in the kayak and the body didn’t look good. It had a very odd tint to it, and I think we all realized that there was something wrong.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VacKx9s7q4w

    While shark attacks have been greatly feared (especially since the production of Jaws), marine scientists have always worked hard to assure the public that shark attacks are typically rare and few in number.

    But little consolation comes to those who frequent the waters as well as those who do not, due to the highly televised stories of the most grizzly shark attacks, such as the attack suffered by pro-surfer Bethany Hamilton back in 2003. Hamilton was only 13 years old when she lost her arm to a tiger shark during a morning surf at Tunnels Beach in Kauai.

    And this year, Hawaii has been more shark-infested than usual with a total of 13 shark attacks recorded. Of the 13 incidents, Maui makes up the majority of these attacks with what is being counted now as its eighth attack this year.

    The chairman of the Department of Land and Natural Resources William J. Aila has announced measures toward finding the reason for the increase in shark attacks happening around Hawaii:

    “We are not sure why these bites are occurring more frequently than normal, especially around Maui. That’s why we are conducting a two-year study of shark behavior around Maui that may give us better insights.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

    Video and via Youtube

  • Hawaii Surfer Repeatedly Punches Attacking Shark

    A 25-year-old former boxer landed multiple punches on a hark that bit into his surfboard in Hawaii Sunday.

    Jeff Horton was with ten other surfers off of Kauai when the incident occurred. He initially spotted a fin in the water, and about 20 minutes later, a dark shape appeared in the water. Horton initially figured it was a stingray as it approached – the mass was black on top, white on the bottom.

    It turned out to be a shark, and Horton quickly pulled his leg out of the water. “It came flying straight toward me,” Horton said. The shark then got a mouthful of the board, knocking Horton into the water in the process.

    The surfer then grabbed onto one of the shark’s fins, and began beating it over the head with his free fist, as hard as he could. Horton guesses he got about 8 good blows in. “I finally got one nice punch into the eye,” Horton said. “I put some really good hits on it, for sure.”

    Ideally, the finest way to ward off a shark attack is to leave the water. When this isn’t possible, playing dead, like one might do with a Grizzly bear, isn’t going to cut it. What Horton did was the right course of action, according to The Florida Museum of Natural History.

    If a shark is trying to eat you, the best thing to do is attack its nose, eyes or gills, which are all very sensitive areas on the fish. Though, one must be sure to remember that a shark can’t actually be frightened; it’s a killing machine running on basic instinct, and lacks a limbic system. Essentially, after beating a shark, be sure to get away from it, because there’s a large chance it might return.

    After Horton poked the shark in the eye, it took off for a bit, allowing him time to get back onto his board. Along with another surfer, Horton caught a wave and headed to shore. The shark briefly followed, but then lost interest. Upon making it to the beach, a tourist gave Horton $50 to go buy some booze, and his only injuries were scrapes made by the rough skin of the shark.

    His 7-foot board, which Horton plans to mount on his wall, has teeth marks in it. Horton was back in the water surfer at another beach the next day.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Seal Escapes The Jaws Of A Shark

    David “Baz” Jenkins is a wildlife photographer who caught the unthinkable on camera – a seal outsmarting a shark. Great whites are known for their prowess as apex predators. Sharks have had plenty of time to refine their prey-hunting skills after inhabiting the ocean for 400 million years. However, Irish photographer Jenkins was able to capture a series of pictures where a seal was pursued by a large great white, only to get caught up on a nose-balancing act with the ferocious fish before ultimately swimming away.

    While on a expedition watching sharks off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, David Jenkins was able to witness the event.

    David Jenkins recently spoke with Caters New Agency about the series of photographs in which he had depicted the seal-on-shark chase. “The breaching sharks are amazing, the speed and agility just takes your breath away as they can explode from below without warning,” he said.


    Even ardent shark-watchers must be impressed watching the agility of the seal as this seal maneuvers away from the shark’s jaws, evading being the meal. David Jenkins surmised the unique interplay between one of the ocean’s most vulnerable creatures and one of the ocean’s most dangerous creatures. “This seal was one lucky pup,” he said.

    The great white depicted is one of 440 known species of shark, classified into the eight main orders of: Hexanchiformes, Squaliformes, Pristiophoriformes, Squatiniformes, Heterodontiformes, Orectolobiformes, Carcharhiniformes, and the great white’s order of Lamniformes. With so many sharks roaming the ocean, organizations have devoted efforts to researching and improving survival for the creatures that do not necessarily always get their meals.

    The Shark Research Institute is one such organization that has participated in initiatives to monitor the ecosystem as well as staying abreast of political issues with regards to sharks such as the recent Tokyo protest against keeping shark fin soup outside a Muji shop.

    [Images Via YouTube]

  • Walking Shark: Great for Science, Great for Conservation

    Science freaked out the laymen a couple of days ago when a new shark species was discovered in Indonesia. Oh yeah, and also…it walks. The new species, called Hemiscyllium halmahera, is a type of epaulette shark described in the journal Aqua: the International Journal of Ichthyology. The shark lives off the coral reefs along the coast of Halmahera, a remote Indonesian island.

    Incredibly, this is not the first time a walking shark has been observed. This is the third known species of walking shark known to have appeared. The ReefQuest Center for Shark Research tried to explain in a statement just how this “walking” could be:


    “The wriggling gait of the Epaulette Shark has been studied as a model of the probable limb movements used by the first tetrapods (four-footed vertebrates) to clamber from the sea onto land. This research provides evidence supporting the evolutionary theory that the paired limb movements necessary for terrestrial locomotion predate the first amphibians.”

    Epaulette sharks, so named for the dramatic badge-like spot behind the pectoral fin, apparently use their fins to help navigate the uneven environment of a coral reef. Check it out:

    The finding of the new Epaulette shark is not only an amazing discovery for science, but could be a huge boon to conservation efforts fronted by a group called Conservation International. Conservation International, whose scientists discovered the shark along with colleagues from the Western Australian Museum, added that it happened to come at a time when Indonesia was increasing its efforts to protect shark and ray species.Conservation International has been trying to turn the tide on the export of shark products from Indonesia, such as dried shark fins and shark meat.

    Ketut Sarjana Putra, Indonesia country director for the group, said the Hemiscyllium halmahera shark could “serve as an excellent ambassador to call public attention to the fact that most sharks are harmless to humans and are worthy of our conservation attention”.

    Image courtesy of Channel News Asia

  • Shark Attack in Daytona; 11-Year-Old Gets Souvenir

    This past weekend 11-year-old Riley Breihan was bitten by a shark in Daytona Beach, Florida. She was swimming at WinterHaven Park in Ponce Inlet on Sunday when something began to bite at her leg.

    Breihan was on her boogie board when she realized that her leg had come in contact with a shark.

    The little girl said, “At first I wasn’t thinking about pain, I was thinking I got bit by a shark and I have to go to the emergency room. Then I felt the sting and it hurt real bad.”, according to WKMG-TV, Orlando.

    She was bitten on her leg and near her ankle. Two people who did not know Breihan witnessed the attack and very quickly wrapped her leg up in a towel and took her to the hospital.

    Doctors soon began to check her wounds and confirm that she had been bitten by a shark. As they were examining her, they found a shark tooth in her skin, where one of the bites had taken place.

    The medics had to numb the area in order to remove the shark tooth from the 11-year-old’s leg. “They had to numb me and they had to prick it out,” Breihan also told WKMG-TV, Orlando.

    She is now at home, recovering on crutches with the assistance of her family.

    [Image via Youtube]

  • Horned Monster in Spain an Oarfish or Shark?

    Has the Loch Ness monster been discovered? PROMAR (Programa en Defensa de la Fauna Marina-Sea Life Defense Program) is working on finding that answer after a “horned monster” washed ashore in Spain earlier this month.

    A swimmer first discovered the head of the monster while walking along the beach. The head had two horns protruding from it. Then, as she walked further down the beach, she discovered the 4-meter long body.

    “A lady found one part, and we helped her retrieve the rest,” Civil Protection coordinator Maria Sanchez said. “We have no idea what it was. It really stank, as it was in the advanced stages of decomposition.” She added, “Promar experts are trying to find out what it could be.”

    Identifying the monster has not been an easy task. The body was found in a very decomposed state and the smell from the monster made it hard to work around. Due to hygienic reasons, the body of the monster had to be buried and now researchers have only the samples they were able to obtain and the pictures taken to go by.

    “It’s hard to know what we’re dealing with,” A PROMAR (Programa en Defensa de la Fauna Marina-Sea Life Defense Program) spokesman Paco Toledano said. “It’s very decomposed and we cannot identify what it is. Perhaps we could learn something more from the bones, but to be precise, it would be necessary to perform a genetic analysis, which is very expensive and who would pay for it? Anyway, we have submitted the information to colleagues with more experience and knowledge to see if they can tell us something more specific.”

    Different theories have been circulating as to what the monster could be. Jokingly, people have said that it is Nessie, or some other kind of sea dragon, but scientists believe that it is a type of shark or an oarfish.

    One scientist, David Shiffman, shared his opinion on the Southern Fried Science website and said: “It’s hard to tell, but the official guess that it could be a thresher shark seems plausible. Certainly the tail looks oarfish-y. It maybe could be a thresher shark, but nothing else.”

    Another expert from Florida State University, Dean Grubbs, says: “That is definitely a shark skeleton… The elements toward the back were confusing me, but those are the lower caudal fin supports. The ‘horns’ are the scapulocoracoids which support the pectoral fins.”

    Image via YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbqZSr7zrJ0

  • Maui Shark Attack Causes Woman to Lose Arm

    When a German visitor went snorkeling at Palauea Beach in Maui, she never thought that she would be the next person to fall victim to a shark attack. Unfortunately, this was the case, and the 20-year-old woman has now lost her right arm.

    The attack occurred around 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. It was reported that visibility was very limited in the water, which could have been one of the factors that contributed to her attack.

    She had been snorkeling approximately 50 yards offshore, and thanks to the help of fellow beach-goers, she was able to be pulled into a kayak and brought to land. Lee Mainaga, the fire services chief at the Maui Fire Department reported that her right arm had been severed below her shoulder, and that the limb wasn’t able to be recovered.

    The woman’s name has not been released. We do know, however, that she was listed in critical condition at the Maui Memorial Medical Center.

    The Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman, Deborah Ward said: “It wasn’t clear what type of shark bit the woman. Witnesses interviewed didn’t see the animal. We will try to speak to the victim when she is cleared to speak with us.”

    The beach was re-opened on Thursday around 12:00 p.m. Maui County officials said that lifeguards and firefighters surveyed the ocean and found no sign of sharks in the area.

  • Turducken Of The Sea Baffles Scientists

    There is always a bigger fish. Isn’t that the old adage? A three feet long dogfish recently found this out. Scientists from the University of Delaware were researching sand tiger sharks through a tagging process where sensors are initially released to entice the sharks for later retrieval. Menhaden, containing the sensors, were used as bait, which caught the attention of the dogfish. As it turns out, the dogfish served as the ultimate bait. During the retrieval process, these scientists pulled a large adult female sand tiger shark from the ocean with the smaller dogfish still inside.

    According to the (Ocean Exploration, Remote Sensing, Biogeography Lab) ORB LAB Facebook page, which is regulated by the scientists responsible for this project, “We caught one large female on our first line Friday, but we were not expecting to catch her like this!”

    Motivation behind this project serves, in part, to further investigate the decreasing number of sand tiger sharks noted in recent decades. Researchers have noticed a 75 percent decrease in these sharks over the last thirty years. These scientists aim to determine whether this population of ocean dwellers is rebounding or continuing to decline. Interest in maintaining the equipment that led to the finding of the “shark within a shark” is so strong that the researchers from the University of Delaware and Delaware State University are offering financial rewards to anyone who stumbles upon a sensor either on the beach or in the ocean waters off Delaware.

    While the official Shark Week may be over, it appears that not all sharks are ready to retreat from the Hollywood attention. The general public still remain entranced with these creatures as noticeable from Twitter.