CNN ran a feature this morning on about the effects of the oil spill on sharks. The video feature itself focuses on Neil Hammerschlag‘s tagging of sharks touches on the potential effects that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could have on shark populations there. Hammerschlag also points out that a hammerhead shark he had been tracking via a satellite tag stopped transmitting data right around the time of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, although Hammerschlag went on to say that a number of factors could have contributing to the termination of the data being transmitted. Hammerschlag’s research teams hopes to gather information from the tagged sharks with regard to whether or not they will be swimming through water contaminated with oil from the spill. You can read the full article at CNN.com.

KABC News is reporting that a 13-year-old North Carolina teen is expected to fully recover after being bitten twice on her left leg while swimming off Topsail Island in North Carolina. Carley Schlentz’s wounds required 60 stitches. While doctors expect her to recover fully, she will be on crutches for the next few weeks and her mother said she may need reconstructive surgery after the wounds heal. The species of shark involved in the attack has not yet been determined.

According to New England Cable News (NECN), a 7′ great white shark was caught, tagged and released in Stellwagen Bank. The shark was caught and released by the crew of a Gloucester, Massachusetts sportfishing charter boat. Dr. Gregory Skomal, of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, identified the shark as a great white. The article from NECN does not elaborate on what type of tag was used on the white shark.

Note: The video above is loops through an 8-second clip of the white shark after it was hooked. After you’ve seen the first 8 seconds, you’ve seen all there is to it.

Isla de Guadalupe is considered by many to be the best great white sharking diving site on the planet.

Pete Thomas has put together an interesting article, “Danger level on the rise for great white shark divers at Guadalupe Island” over at GrindTV.com. The article touches on what some view as less than shining moments that have gone on at Guadalupe over the past few dive seasons, including Amos Nachoum’s cageless diving offering, and the incident involving a "shark wrangler" accidentally sticking his hand in a white shark’s mouth that was caught on film by Don Carpenter. The article also features some comments from several dive operators addressing some of these issues.

I’m not sure I completely agree with the wording of the headline of the article, in the sense that the danger level itself has increased for divers at Guadalupe, rather it seems as though some divers are simply participating in more dangerous behavior. Thomas certainly brings up some valid concerns. It’s hard to argue that some of the behavior that has gone on at Guadalupe doesn’t increase the level danger associated with diving with these animals, especially when established guidelines are ignored. (Admittedly, the bit in the article about divers being instructed to keep limbs inside the cage is news to me.)

UK’s TelegraphTV recently posted this nice piece of video footage of a basking shark off of Isle of Man. The video was shot by Craig Whalley, while he was kayaking. For an underwater video shot from a kayak, it’s some fairly impressive footage.

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), a filter feeder, is the second largest known species of shark.

San Francisco’s Aquarium of the Bay will be featuring a new exhibit featuring comic characters from Jim Toomey’s comic Sherman’s Lagoon, according to a press release.

The exhibit, “Sherman’s Lagoon: Finning Isn’t Funny,” focuses on the ecological threats posed by shark finning as told through the cast of the Sherman’s Lagoon. The exhibit will include comics, daily presentations, and “an action station where visitors of all ages can help prevent shark finning.” In addition, visitors to the exhibit can also sign individual letters to be mailed to National Marine Fisheries Service in support of international bans on finning.

The exhibit opens June 26, 2010. Jim Toomey will be at the aquarium on opening day to promote the exhibit, sign books, and conduct a “Cartooning 101” class. The exhibit will be open throughout the summer.

A relatively small white shark was killed on Friday during the Star Island Yacht Club Shark Tournament.

In a follow-up to today’s earlier post regarding internet rumors of a white shark being illegally caught and killed at the Star Island Yacht Club Shark Tournament, The East Hampton Press is reporting that a great white shark weighing between 300 and 400 lbs. (which would make it a relatively young white shark) was confiscated by the National Marine Fisheries Service after a participant in the Star Island Yacht Shark Tournament brought the shark in. (The great white shark has been a protected species in U.S. waters since 1997.) The article reports that the fisherman who caught the shark was neither fined nor arrested on the scene, according to Lesli Bales-Sherrod of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement. However, he could face a civil charge at the conclusion of NOAA’s ongoing investigation of the event.

The East Hampton Press quoted Rich Janis, a manager of the shark tournament, as saying that the fisherman mistook the shark for another species. Janis went on to say that it was “an honest mistake” and noted that there was “no benefit” to the fisherman for bringing in the shark.

The information in the The East Hampton Press article is in stark contrast to the rumors that appeared on a few online angling forums, in which claims of an arrest, fines, boat seizure, and even a child endangerment charge were mentioned.

Was a great white shark illegally caught and killed at the Star Island Yacht Club shark tournament?

UPDATE: It seems that there is some truth to the rumors about a great white shark being killed during the Star Island Yacht Club Shark Tournament. However, claims of the arrest, boat seizure, and fines against the angler seem to be unfounded, according to a report from The East Hampton Press. Additionally, more forum members at Noreast.com have since posted refuting the claims that any action was taken against the anglers involved in the catching of the great white shark.

According to threads on The Hull Truth Boating Forum and Noreast.com a fisherman at the Star Island Yacht Club Shark Tournament in Montauk, NY illegally landed and brought a great white shark into the docks. The great white shark has been a protected species in U.S. waters since 1997.

According to a forum member at Noreast.com, who participated in the tournament, a fisherman not caught a white shark, announced over his radio that he caught it, and then brought it in to the docks. The forum member went on to say that the man who caught the great white shark, was arrested, his boat was seized, and he was fined $25,000, in addition to being charged with child endangerment for bringing the white shark on the boat with a 6-year-old child on-board.

It should be noted that all of this information comes from user-submitted discussion forums. I have been unable to find any news outlets reporting this story at the time of this writing. Hamptons.com has an article on the shark tournament, but there is no mention of a great white shark being brought to the docks, nor any mention of charges brought against any tournament participants.

UPDATE: This video is actually over 3 years old and was shot in the Gulf of Mexico according to YouTube user sharkyjones who posted the video in May, 2007. The shark is indeed a Greenland shark (Somniosis microcephalus), according to the video information.

YouTube user mmoo490 recently posted this video which is listed as “A Transocean video of a shark passing in front of a BOP stack-up.” Unlike some of the ridiculous hoax photos of sharks supposedly spotted on ROV cameras as of late, this one looks like legitimate footage. The information about the video is sparse and does not indicate where the BOP (blowout preventer) stack is, at what depth the camera was at, etc. Based on the video the dorsal fin appears to be almost non-existent on this shark. Anybody have an idea on what species this is? Greenland shark, maybe?

Live Science has an interesting read on how the movie “Jaws,” the Jersey Shore attacks of 1916, and World War II accounts of shark attacks have altered the public perception of sharks over the past century. The article quotes George Burress as saying

“At the turn of the 20th century, there was this perception that sharks had never attacked a human being. There was even a reward offered if someone could prove they were bitten by a shark — money that was never collected.”

The article goes on to note that after “Jaws” was released shark-hunting tournaments began to gain popularity on the East Coast of the U.S. According to Burress, the shark-hunting trend “dramatically reduced nearly all shark species over the following decades.”

The article also goes on to mention an “inadvertent benefit” that came about as a result of declining shark populations. Scientist became more conscious of the need learn more about sharks which resulted in an increase in funding for shark research.

Visit Live Science to see the full article, How ‘Jaws’ Forever Changed Our View of Great White Sharks.