The Dorsal Fin

According to a report on NBC San Diego, a woman was bitten repeatedly by a juvenile great white shark, yet sustained injuries that “didn’t even cut the skin.” Bethany Edmunds described feeling a sharp pain in her foot while taking underwater photos. She initially shrugged it off as having possibly kicked the reef, when she felt the same pain a second time. She then began to swim away from the area when she was "hit on the upper right thigh" and knocked about 1′ out of the water. It was at this point that she attempted to head for shore. While heading for shore, Edmunds says she, "felt the same sharp pain in my left calf, but this time I was dragged under water and shaken for 4 – 5 seconds." Edmunds stated that during this struggle she accidentally kicked the shark prompting the shark to release her.

According to Encinatas lifeguard, Elena Tellechea, a shark specialist confirmed the bites were from a juvenile great white shark based on the injuries. Thankfully, Edmunds, was not seriously injured as a result of the multiple bites. According to information at the Shark Research Committee website the bite marks, which produced no obvious signs of bleeding when Edmunds exited the water, are indicative of a juvenile white shark approximately 5-6′ (1.5-1.8m) in length. The site also has two images of the bite marks.

According to News24.com, a surfer has died after suffering a shark bite to his right leg, while surfing Glentana and Outeniqua, near Mossel Bay, today. The species of shark involved in the attack is not known at this time, according to the report. The victim was brought ashore by a friend who had been surfing with him. According to National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson, Craig Lambinon, the victim was airlifted to George Provincial Hospital in critical condition. After all efforts to save the man’s life were exhausted, he was declared deceased at the hospital. Lambinon made the following statement regarding the tragedy:

"The NSRI and the emergency services have expressed our deepest sympathies to the family of the victim."

This is the kind of story that you never want to see, and while the odds of a fatal shark attack are highly unlikely, those odds are of little consolation to the people who are directly affected by such a rare event. My sympathies go out to the friends and family of the victim.

Lesley Rochat, one of the minds behind the Rethink the Shark ad campaign, has posted a new video in conjunction with her recent article which appears in Africa Geographic magazine this month. "Mighty Maxine, A Shark’s Legacy" follows the story of Maxine, a sand tiger shark (also known as a ragged-tooth shark), and her journey from being accidentally entangled in a fishing net, tagged and released, caught by another fisherman, transported to live at the Two Oceans Aquarium for nine years, to being released back to the wild.

For more information about the Mighty Maxine campaign visit AfriOceans Conservation Alliance, where you can download a PDF of the Africa Geographic article and sign the petition to help protect multiple shark species.

According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium website, they now have yet another juvenile white shark in captivity and on display in their Outer Bay exhibit. The 5’3″ female white shark was "collected" on August 12 by aquarium staff near Malibu, California. The shark was held for observation in an ocean holding pen to determine if she was eating and swimming appropriately before being transferred to the Outer Bay exhibit. According to the aquarium website, they hope the white shark will remain on exhibit for several months and serve "as a way to change public attitudes and promote protection for this magnificent and much-maligned ocean predator."

A juvenile female great white shark like this one is currently on display at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

According to the article, Georgia Aquarium sinks teeth into new shark exhibit (please, disregard the bad shark pun in the title), a new 10,000 sq-ft exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta "treats sharks more like the hunted than the hunter, chronicles a dramatic decrease in their numbers, and seeks to turn around more than 30 years of bad PR."

"Planet Shark: Predator or Prey," which will open on October 3, will be an interactive exhibit will include full-scale models of sharks, shark jaws (models and actual jaws), as well as a frozen 10′ (3m) Mako shark. Mike Bhana, the exhibit’s producer was quoted as saying, "We want people to come away from the exhibit with empathy for an animal that has been mistreated for all the wrong reasons."