The Dorsal Fin

According to a WPTV.com report a 9′ (2.75 m) female scalloped hammerhead was caught by fisherman off-shore and then left dead on the docks of the Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach, Florida. The abandoned catch has stirred up some controversy. A WPBF.com report on the event quotes Jim Abernathy as saying that the catch was illegal based on Florida law. According to Abernathy, any fish that is not intended to be eaten must be immediately released under the state law.

Despite being listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Redlist, the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) is not a protected species in Florida waters.

A great white shark predation event on a seal was captured on video by a Massachusetts’ family. According to WPRI, the event occurred 20 yards from shore, off the coast of Provincetown last week. Estimates put the white shark at approximately 15′ (4.5m) in length according to the report.

While the WPRI video report refers to the feeding event as “vicious” and “violent,” it is also noted that it is part of “the cycle of life.” Seals often serve as a natural food source for larger great white sharks.

According to NECN, a basking shark, which was first spotted swimming not far from shore on August 19, was later found washed ashore on White Horse Beach in Plymouth, MA.

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), a filter-feeder, is generally considered harmless to humans.

A video game based on the popular Steven Spielberg horror film “Jaws” is now available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. While the trailer for the game might make some shark conservationists cringe with its “mindless eating machine” mentality, others might argue that it’s a harmless video game. “Jaws” the game certainly isn’t doing anything to dispel many of the largely unwarranted fears about sharks, but as a video game based on a fictitious horror movie, I have to wonder if anybody would really expect anything different.

If the game were billed as an educational app about sharks, I would certainly have no trouble crying foul. However, “Jaws” is a horror movie about a 25′ rogue great white shark who hunts down humans mercilessly. When you see the name “Jaws” attached to a video game, you pretty much know what you’re getting into.

“Jaws” (the film and its video game incarnations) catches a lot of flak for creating the mindset that sharks are mindless killers, but is the movie itself really the problem? For whatever reason, “Jaws” is simply very effective at scaring people, and the fear associated with the movie gets carried over into the real-world for many people. I would argue that the the inability to discern reality from fiction is far more to blame for misconceptions about sharks than a movie or a video game.

YouTube user opimoby (videographer Ross Isaacs) posted the video above featuring a children’s song titled “I’m a Shark.” The video is an excerpt from “Bubbles – On the Reef,” an educational children’s video intended to introduce children to ocean life. The video, shot in high definition, follows Bubbles the shrimp on an adventure through Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The video information for “I’m a Shark” touches on issues such as shark finning and the theory that shark attacks on humans are the result of mistaken identity. All-in-all it seems that “Bubbles – On the Reef” sends a pro-ocean message to children, based on the excerpts and video information available. For more info about the video, visit Ocean Planet Images.

While the “I’m a Shark” tune isn’t quite as catchy to me as The Great White Shark Song, it seems like it’s sending a pro-shark educational message to a younger audience, which hopefully will counteract some of the more negative stereotypes associated with sharks in the media.