The Dorsal Fin

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the West Australian Department of Fisheries is in the process of installing 20 acoustic receivers along the coast of Perth, Australia which will output a signal any time a tagged great white shark travels within 500m of one of the receivers. After a white shark is detected by a receiver, an alert will be sent either via email or text message to notify government and wildlife officials about the shark’s presence. Lifeguards and scientists will also be contacted through this alert system.

A two-year, $400,000 (AUS) study will be performed, using this technology, to track movement of white sharks along the coast of Perth. According to the article, over 70 sharks have already been tagged, and the acoustic receivers will all be installed by February in the seabed around popular beaches. The goal of the program is to better understand white shark behavior around beaches.

The New Zealand Herald loses points for opening the story with a Jaws reference and referring to 100 sharks as being “man-eating.” Other than first paragraph, the story remains fairly objective, though.

YouTube user sherri7057 has posted a series of short video clips that involve a fisherman accidentally hooking a shark. According to the video information the fisherman was fishing for tarpon at Sanibel Island, Florida. While there isn’t anything particularly dramatic or spectacular about a fisherman accidentally hooking a shark, the final video of the sequence might be indicative of a more positive perception of sharks from the public. Not only does one of the guys make an effort to pull the shark back into deeper water, so that it can swim away, but a group of people can be heard in the background cheering and applauding when the shark is successfully released.

Kudos to the guy who helped the shark back out into the water!

The Yao Ming shark fin soup PSA produced by WildAid, reported on last week, is now online. Check out the English version of the commercial below.

WildAid has a reputation for creating some very effective PSA for animal conservation. I am really glad to see that they are using the “up to 70 million sharks” figure as opposed to the “100 million magic number.” The “up to 70 million” statistic is based on the high-end estimate from Shelley Clarke’s research on global estimates of shark catches, which estimated that between 26 million and 72 million sharks are killed commercially each year.

According to the Fraser Coast Chronicle, “shark hunter” Vic Hislop has been repeatedly victimized by vandals at his Hervey Bay “Shark Show.” The latest act involved five men ripping the tail off of Hislop’s fiberglass shark. According to the article, Hislop “accosted” and apprehended 3 men and a woman several years ago, whom he suspected of vandalizing his museum, and "took them to the police station where they admitted offenses." The following day Hislop was visited by police who "read out six charges" against him that were punishable by up to 6 years in jail. Hislop went on to say that local hoteliers who were tired of the vandalism rallied behind Hislop and "eventually no one was charged."

Hislop claims to have killed over 1,100 sharks, and has called for a national cull on sharks, according to a 2005 Earthdive article. Hislop’s museum features a frozen carcass of one of the great white sharks he has killed. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Hislop, check out this 2009 Edit International article for some insight into his views on sharks.

While I certainly don’t see eye to eye with Mr. Hislop, I don’t condone acts of vandalism against him and hope the local authorities will deal with the perpetrators appropriately