The Dorsal Fin

Australia’s ABC network’s Triple J TV: HACK recently featured a story about the conservation of grey nurse sharks (Carcharias taurus) on the east coast of Australia. Grey nurse sharks (also known as Sand Tiger Sharks, and Spotted Ragged-Tooth Sharks) are reaching critically endangered levels on Australia’s east coast, according to the report. Despite being a protected species, conservationists believe that many of the sharks are still being accidentally hooked by fisherman.

Conflicting views are presented on how to protect and preserve grey nurse shark populations particularly along the coast of New South Wales. Options that are addressed are stricter fishing bans and artificial breeding of the species.

While I don’t know what the ideal solution to the problem is, Nicky Hammond’s assessment of the artificial breeding option makes sense to me. If the cause of the dwindling numbers of this species is not directly addressed, then breeding more sharks is just going to result in more of them being accidentally hooked. Artificially breeding grey nurse sharks would simply be a case of treating the symptoms without delivering a cure.

According to Mustang Challenge, SpeedWorks’ Mustang Challenge Race Team unveiled its “Save the Shark” race car on January 12, 2010. The car features an image of a young female great white shark on each side of the car. The shark image was photographed by the car’s driver and well-known underwater photographer, John “Chip” Scarlett. Scarlett shot the photo at Isla de Guadalupe in 2005. Scarlett’s “Save the Shark” car will make its first official track appearance in March during tests at the Virginia International Raceway, in Alton, VA.

The “Save the Shark” car will help to promote awareness about shark conservation efforts and will be adorned with the Shark Savers logo, in addition the great white shark image.

Scarlett’s photo essay, “Loving Sharks” earned him Ocean Geographic’s Underwater Photography Journalist award for 2009. Scarlett’s “Save the Shark” race car is another great and innovative example of responsible way to promote shark awareness. Kudos to Mr. Scarlett. If you’d like to learn more about John “Chip” Scarlett, check out JohnScarlett.com.

Not too long ago, I stumbled across a photo that somebody had posted one of my Facebook shark groups of an amazing great white shark sculpture, which I assumed to be from a museum. After doing a little digging and Google-ing (or is it Googling?), I managed to find the website of Bill Wieger, the amazing sculptor behind the the artwork. As it turns out, several of these incredible white shark sculptures are available for purchase through Wiegers’ online store. To top it all off, a portion of the sales from these awesome sculptures goes to the Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund.

As you can see from some of the pictures I've included here, Wieger has created some phenomenal works of art, based on great white sharks. His other work includes various forms of wildlife (including gorillas, tigers, dolphin, and orca), as well as art based on science fiction and fantasy themes. To get a good look at some hi-res images of Bill's sculptures, check out his gallery page.

In addition to be an artist, Wieger is also a shark diver. He believes strongly in animal rights and conservation. Along with the contributions to the Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund, Wieger donates proceeds from some of his other wildlife sculptures to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, and to WildAid.

In addition to his white shark sculptures, Wieger also offers resin shark teeth cast from original white shark and Megalodon teeth. Wieger also has a selection of shark posters available.

If you’d like to see more of Bill Wieger’s work, or if you’re interested in purchasing one of his works of art, check out his website at www.billwieger.com.

All photos courtesy of Bill Wieger.

File this one under “over the top” response. According to Perth’s The Sunday Times, Western Australia Government’s Shark Hazard Committee has revealed revealed a plan of attack for dealing with “rogue sharks.”

According to Tina Thorne, WA Department of Fisheries strategic compliance manager, the series of actions for dealing with rogue sharks would involve hooking an offending shark on a baited drumline, hauling it aboard a boat, shooting it in the head, and then “severing its spinal cord and bleeding it out.” Thorne stated that these measures would be a “last resort” and only take place in extreme circumstances involving a rogue shark attacking a human and continuing to pose a significant threat to humans, AND the attacking shark would have to be positively identified. Thorne also stated that since white sharks are a protected species that “a special exemption from the law was required by Fisheries Minister Norman Moore to kill one.”

In 3 of the last 4 fatal shark attacks in WA, the shark responsible was never spotted. Only in the case of an attack on Brian Guest did the shark remain in the area after the attack. According to The Sunday Times article, Guest’s family was angered by the Shark Hazard Committee’s recent talks of killing sharks. A friend of the Guest family said that Guest’s wife and son stood by the idea that “sharks belong in the marine environment and should not be harmed.”

While I certainly believe that protecting humans from shark attacks is a serious and important issue. The idea of hunting a specific shark down, shooting it in the head, severing its spine, and bleeding it out seems so ridiculous that I would expect to find the idea in a really bad shark-themed horror movie. Instead, we find the idea coming from a government committee assigned with the task of dealing with real-world shark attacks. Even Ms. Thorne’s comments seem to indicate that the circumstances that would result in this method of response ever occurring seemed highly unlikely. Based on The Sunday Times article it seems like the only time these measures would be considered would be if a shark similar to the one in a certain famous shark movie showed up, attacked a human, and then continued to terrorize a beach area. I guess anything is possible, but I wonder why there was no mention of hiring a local crusty shark hunter to get the job done. I guess they didn’t want him interrupting the Shark Hazard Committee meeting by scratching his fingernails on the chalkboard.

The good folks at RTSea Productions (the company behind the Guadalupe documentary “Island of the Great White Shark”) recently posted this excellent black-and-white shark footage, filmed in the Bahamas, to their YouTube channel. It’s definitely worth a look!