Monthly Archives: June 2013

Monterey Bay Aquarium suspends collection of great white sharks

Posted on: by George Probst
young great white shark

The Monterey Bay Aquarium will not collect or display great white sharks for the remainder of 2013.

According to a Santa Cruz Sentinel report, the Monterey Bay Aquarium will not attempt to collect or display any juvenile great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) for the remainder of 2013. The decision to suspend the collection of the species was a result of a recent petition to have the white shark classified as endangered, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has had 6 juvenile white sharks on exhibit since 2004, all of which were released to the wild after their stays at the aquarium. The sharks were tagged with satellite tracking tags prior to their release. Tracking data indicated that one of the sharks died “soon after release” of “unknown causes,” while another died four months after release as a result of being caught in a fisherman’s gill net. Data from five of the released sharks (including the shark killed in the by the gill net) indicated that they “thrived” for long periods of time, traveling distances of up to 2,000 miles, according to the aquarium’s website.

Discovery’s “Snuffy the seal” Shark Week promo

Posted on: by George Probst

DiscoveryNetworks YouTube channel recently added the first promo for its 2013 Shark Week. The over-the-top style ad features the fictitious “Snuffy the seal” as his return to the wild is being celebrated following his rescue and rehabilitation. Poor Snuffy doesn’t make it very far, though, as a breaching white shark snaps him out of the air before he ever makes it back to the sea.

It looks like Discovery is going with the tagline of “it’s a bad week to be a seal” for this year’s edition of the much celebrated week of shark-themed programming, but they go on to say that “it’s pretty awesome” for the rest of us. I guess the rest of us will just have to wait until August 4 to see for ourselves.

What do you think of Discovery’s latest promo for Shark Week 2013? Sound off in the comments below!

Video: great white shark filmed off New Jersey coast

Posted on: by George Probst

WARNING: Video features language that some may find offensive.

YouTube user Rob Pompilio recently posted a video featuring a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) off of the coast of New Jersey. According to the video description, the footage was shot on January 9, 2013 about 30 miles from shore. Atlantic white sharks are known to travel north along the east coast of the U.S. during the summer months seeking cooler waters, as temperatures rise during the summer months.

White shark dorsal fin study – abridged version (infographic)

Posted on: by George Probst

In case you don’t have time to read through the Dyer Island Conservation Trust press release regarding the study of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) estimates based on dorsal fin identification, Marine Dynamics has provided a handy infographic that summarizes the findings of the study.

Over 20,000 photographs of great white sharks, taken between 2007 and 2012, were used in the study. Dorsal fin recognition was used to identify 532 individual white sharks off of Gansbaai, South Africa. Using this data, researchers extrapolated that Gansbaai’s total estimated white shark population is between 808 and 1008.

Research conducted by Marine Dynamics a Shark Cage Diving Operator in Gansbaai South Africa

Study uses dorsal fins for great white shark population estimate

Posted on: by George Probst

The following is a press release from Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT)

Fin recognition image

Fin recognition software was used to identify individual white sharks.
(Photo courtesy of Dyer Island Shark Trust)

Pioneering study in South Africa shows population could be 50% lower than previously thought.

Gansbaai, Western Cape, South Africa – The global population of great white sharks  – generally estimated at 3000-5000 – may have been significantly overestimated.  As a result the great white shark – already listed as a species “vulnerable to extinction in the wild” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – may be in greater danger than has been previously recognised.

This is the implication of a pioneering study conducted by marine biologists from the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) working with the shark cage diving company Marine Dynamics shark tours, in the world’s densest population of great white sharks at Gansbaai, near the southern tip of Africa.  The study is published in PLOS ONE today.
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