The Dorsal Fin

An incident which occurred at the Farallon Islands, on October 9, 1997, involving an orca attack on a white shark has somehow become “news” this weekend, at least on the ABC News website. The incident which was documented on video (and has been available on YouTube for years) is currently being featured on National Geographic Channel’s Wild series in an episode titled “The Whale That Ate Jaws.”

I have no idea why this story is back in the news this weekend (except for the fact that there’s a NatGeo show about it), although it is an interesting story, nonetheless. Also of interest was the resultant observed behavior of white sharks around the Farallon Islands after the predation occurred. According to a National Wildlife Magazine article the white sharks typically found around the Farallon Islands from September to December simply “vanished” after the orca attack on the white shark. The sharks did not return until the next fall. For a more in-depth discussion of the October 1997 event, as well as information about the “L.A. pod” of orcas and a possible second orca attack in 2000, check out the Showdown at Sea from National Wildlife Magazine.

YouTube user, BubbleheadJace recently posted some of the highest quality whale shark (Rhincodon typus) footage I’ve seen in a long time. The footage was shot in 2009 off Koh Tao, Thailand. The video encourages viewers to visit WhaleShark.org to learn more about whale sharks and how to protect them.

Dr. Michael Domeier’s “catch and release” technique for tagging sharks, which was employed last year at Guadalupe Island and featured on a new National Geographic series, has come under some criticism from other shark researchers, as of late, after the technique was used on two sharks off the Farallones Marine Sanctuary. San Francisco’s ABC-7 ran the following report yesterday on the topic.

The incident involved with the shark at the Farallones, in which a portion of the hook was left in the white shark’s throat, is sure to draw criticism from those who believe this technique is too invasive and harmful to the sharks involved. The incident also lends support Peter Klimley’s remarks that the costs might outweigh the benefits of this technique.

What jumped out at me the most, while watching this feature, was the fact that when the technique was first covered by Outdoor Magazine in the article Great White!, the article stated, “While it’s fishing in every sense of the word, it’s imperative that the sharks are released into the sea unharmed and unstressed.” Domeier’s comments in the ABC-7 report indicate that stressing the shark is an important aspect of the technique. However, the statement in the Outdoor Magazine article is not directly attributed to anybody involved in the research, so it might have been an error on the part of the author, John Burgman.

I have little doubt that Domeier has good intentions with this tagging program, and that the goal of the program is to gain more knowledge of the species, by doing multi-year tracking (which Domeier says is not possible with the harpooning method), in order to help protect white sharks. Domeier has a long-standing track record of white shark research, which can’t be ignored. However, I have a feeling that those who are critical of the technique will be put off by Domeier’s demeanor and perceived attitude displayed in the interview clips featured in the ABC-7 report (which may have been a result of clever editing, for all I know). In addition, the photo of the team apparently in a gung ho cheer after landing one of the white sharks at Guadalupe island probably won’t sit well with critics, either.

For more commentary on the subject, check out Shark Diver’s Underwater Thrills post and Pete Thomas’ post at the LA Times Blog, which features a response from Dr. Domeier in the comments section.

WECT-6 is reporting that a 16-18′ (4.9-5.5 meter) great white shark was spotted about a mile off the coast of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina on November 8. Fisherman, Michael Ross, captured a photo of the shark with his cell phone. According to the report, Paul Barrington of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher confirmed that the shark in the picture was a great white shark and said that the current water temperatures is “good” for white sharks.

The temptation to throw in a Jaws reference was just too great for WECT-6, as the video segment is accompanied with Jaws theme music.

The Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) white shark program has been making the news quite a bit lately. Stanford University recently published an article about the program on the Stanford website along with the video below.