The Dorsal Fin

Warning: Video contains somewhat graphic footage of shark finning and brief shots of white shark predation on a seal.

KQED aired the educational/information themed video “Great White Shark: The Man in the Gray Suit” back in April of this year. For a downloadable HD version of the video and more information, please visit the Quest website.

The video includes footage of white sharks at both the Farallon Islands and Isla de Guadalupe (although Guadalupe is never mentioned by name). The feature touches on topics including shark attacks and the “mistaken identity” theory, shark finning, migration patterns, shark behavior, and tagging programs.

Thanks to The Best Shark Dive in the World! blog for the heads-up on this video!

Even following these tips, you probably still won't get eaten by a great white shark.

According to the SF Weekly, Dr. John McCosker of the California Academy of Sciences included a tongue-in-cheek list of suggestions on how to be eaten by a white shark during his April 29th presentation, “Sharks: Why We Love, Fear, and Need Them.”

The overall theme of the presentation was one of shark conservation. However, McCosker apparently attempted to add some comedic elements to the talk with his tips on how to increase one’s odds for being involved in a white shark attack. His tips included…

• making yourself look like a natural food source of the white shark by wearing a wetsuit and floundering a top a short surfboard
• going swimming in areas in known white shark aggregation and feeding areas
• diving for abalone around the Farallon Islands (also a known aggregation spot for large white sharks)

While McCosker’s tips were likely an attempt to keep the audience’s interest piqued. None of them are really a surefire bet to cause a white shark attack, much less result in being “eaten” by a white shark. Even the abalone diver scenario at the Farallones isn’t a guarantee for a shark attack, as can be seen in the video below featuring Ron Elliott’s famous sea urchin diving among the white sharks there.

An incident which occurred at the Farallon Islands, on October 9, 1997, involving an orca attack on a white shark has somehow become “news” this weekend, at least on the ABC News website. The incident which was documented on video (and has been available on YouTube for years) is currently being featured on National Geographic Channel’s Wild series in an episode titled “The Whale That Ate Jaws.”

I have no idea why this story is back in the news this weekend (except for the fact that there’s a NatGeo show about it), although it is an interesting story, nonetheless. Also of interest was the resultant observed behavior of white sharks around the Farallon Islands after the predation occurred. According to a National Wildlife Magazine article the white sharks typically found around the Farallon Islands from September to December simply “vanished” after the orca attack on the white shark. The sharks did not return until the next fall. For a more in-depth discussion of the October 1997 event, as well as information about the “L.A. pod” of orcas and a possible second orca attack in 2000, check out the Showdown at Sea from National Wildlife Magazine.