In some odd shark-related news, CNN and WMUR are reporting that the carcass of a 6-8′ blue shark (Prionace glauca) was found in the woods in Milton, New Hampshire. The dead shark was found discarded approximately 50 miles from the coast. According to WMUR.com, authorities who were called to the scene decided to leave the carcass where it lay and “let nature takes its course.”

DiscoveryNetworks YouTube channel offers up a preview clip of the upcoming show “Jaws Comes Home” which features footage shot around the carcass of whale which several blue sharks (Prionace glauca), as well as an an 18′ female white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), have come to feed on.

Researcher Greg Skomal and cameraman Nick Caloyianis take the opportunity to film/photograph the encounter from a cage, which is being supported by buoys. After taking an interest in the orange buoys supporting the cage (which the narrator dramatically describes as “attacking”), the white shark becomes trapped between the surface and the top of the cage.

While situations involving wild animals will always have a level of unpredictability, hopefully the engineers behind this particular cage design/setup will take this event into consideration with future designs.

According to The Globe and Mail report, Dr. Williams estimated that 20,000 blue and salmon sharks gathered in the relatively small area each summer. A paper was published on the findings last year and was recently tabled with the Cohen Commission

For more information, check out Mark Hume’s full article “Shark week: Marine biologists hit ‘hot spot’ off B.C. coast” at The Globe and Mail.

MyFoxPhilly.com is reporting that a story about a blue shark “beaching itself” on a New Jersey beach is the result of a fisherman reeling the hooked shark onto the beach. CBS3.com has a different take on the story quoting Melissa Nick of the Seaside Park Beach Patrol as explaining, “a fisherman caught a fish, was reeling it in and the shark chased after the fish.”

The “fish story” has made the rounds among various media outlets with headlines such as "Beached Shark Terrifies Swimmers", "New Jersey Shark Sighting: Sand Shark Causes Panic (which misidentifies the species), and "Another shark scare in New Jersey." Seaside Beach was reportedly closed after the sighting according to NBCNewYork.com.

The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is generally considered harmless toward humans and has a diet that consists primarily of squid, crustaceans, and bony fish. Blue sharks are typically found in deep water, but it is not unheard for them to be found close to shore.

This feature from 60 Minutes, , which originally aired in December of 2005 was updated on August 6, 2009. It covers the whole gamut of shark tourism and conservation. The segment does feature some footage that will clearly be seen by some as being detrimental to attitudes towards sharks and the shark tourism industry. Most notably a cage breach in which Simon implies that the divers would have “been toast” if the shark had not lost his bearing.

The lead-in to the segment also seems to state in a somewhat “matter of fact” manner that many people believe shark diving has resulted in an increase on shark attacks on beach-goers. It does seem to be somewhat balanced in featuring opinions of those both for and against shark diving, although I think it would have been more informative to see some references to research to support or contradict either point of view. I know there is at least one study on the effects of shark tourism on white shark behavior that was conducted in South Africa, which could have been relevant to the argument.

The segment started out with what I felt like was a somewhat negative attitude towards sharks from Bob Simon, in that he seems to be focused on fears toward sharks early on. However, Simon definitely seems in awe of the white sharks that he dives with in South Africa and even comments that the experience is less about fear than it was marveling at seeing white sharks up close. In the latter half of the segment, the focus shifts from shark tourism to the finning industry and the threat to global shark populations. By the end of the segment, Simon seems to be conservation-minded and even calls for people to give sharks a break.

False accusations against a blue shark persist.

While it’s not uncommon for details of breaking news to be sketchy, if not entirely inaccurate, most media outlets tend to follow-up on a story when it turns out the story has been falsely or incorrectly reported. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case with the following publications:

• The Daily Mail – British holidaymakers warned to stay away from Spanish beaches after shark attack on schoolgirl
• The Leader – BATHERS URGED TO REMAIN VIGILANT AROUND TARRAGONA BEACHES
• The Daily Star – COSTA GIRL IS SAVAGED BY SHARK

All three of these publications ran stories reporting a shark attack caused by a blue shark, yet none of them have any follow-up story clarifying that no such shark attack occurred, nor that the injured girl was bitten by a bluefish. It should be pointed out that The Daily Mail and The Daily Star both appear to be tabloid-style “news.” However, The Leader looks to be a “legitimate” news source. In addition to the three sources above, The Barcelona Reporter, ran a sensationalized version of the story, Blue shark bites girl in Spain, nearly severs foot, off Tarragona beach. To The Barcelona Reporter’s credit, they did add a paragraph at the end of their story mentioning that it was later concluded that the bite was consistent with a bluefish bite, but they didn’t change the headline of the story nor did they remove the content in the story claiming that a blue shark almost severed the girl’s foot.

While most of the publications that ran with this story seem to be far-from-reliable sources of news, the story and lack of follow-up illustrate how sensationalism and fear-mongering seem to be more attractive “news” than actually reporting the facts, whenever a shark is involved (or not involved, at all, in this instance).

Hammerhead sharks: a dangerous and violent species?

After the beach was evacuated, a hammerhead was later caught. The article also mentions that in May a blue shark was caught near Tongyoung and two great white sharks were caught near Mukho port in February and March, respectively. The IUCN lists great white sharks as “globally Vulnerable to extinction” and blue sharks as “Near Threatened.” The article does not mention what kind of hammerhead was caught, so it’s hard to pin down where that animal falls on the IUCN red list. While many countries have laws protecting great white sharks due to the threatened status, South Korea does not.

The suspected bluefish is still at large. Beachgoers beware!

A blue shark had been seen, prior to the attack, 20 miles away from Sant Salvador de El Vendrell. In a knee-jerk reaction, maritime police caught and a killed a blue shark in the area after the attack, prior to the “shark attack” being debunked. Neighboring beaches were closed after the non-shark attack but have since been re-opened after maritime police patrolling the beaches found “no signs of bluefish.”

The knee-jerk tactics of attempting to hunt sharks down after a supposed attack is utterly absurd given the scientific information available today about shark attacks on humans. It’s also ridiculous to think that bluefish are no longer in area where bluefish live, as if a rogue bluefish swam in from some mystical bluefish hiding spot to bite someone and then left the area. The thought of maritime police patrolling for bluefish is comical, at best. No word on whether or not the police were able to sleep soundly after executing the wrong perpetrator.

Here’s to hoping that the 11-year-old victim of the bluefish bite heals up quickly and is able to enjoy the rest of her vacation. An animal bite which requires stitches is no less severe regardless of the species.