The Dorsal Fin

From National Geographic:

The Shark Men are headed back to the waters where they have successfully caught and tagged almost a dozen sharks; Guadalupe Island. Dr. Domeier almost has enough data to support his theory about great whites mating at the island. But still needs a few more blood samples, his primary target; adult females. No matter how familiar the waters are nothing goes off without a hitch for this team.

The latest episode “As Big As A Boat” premieres this Sunday (05/01) at 10pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel.

A great white shark at Isla de Guadalupe.

For the second year in a row, Amos Nachoum’s cage-less diving exploits at Isla de Guadalupe have appeared in UK media. The Daily Mail features multiple photos taken from Nachoum’s most recent trip to Guadalupe. The article states that customers can pay an additional fee to dive outside the cages with the white sharks at Guadalupe. What the article fails to mention is that it is illegal to offer commercial cage-less diving in the waters off of Isla de Guadalupe.

Nachoum has already drawn a lot of criticism for a similar trip offered to Isla de Guadalupe last year. I suspect his recent photo spread in the Daily Mail will evoke a similar reaction, especially considering that these types of actions put other dive companies, who are operating within the bounds of the law, at risk.

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.)

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!

Apparently, great white sharks at Isla de Guadalupe are becoming like amusement park rides. Apparently, the activities seen in this video were part of a “documentary,” which seems to be the catch-all excuse for “getting the shot” these days.

This video is part of rettigundersea’s Guadalupe photo set, which is worth checking out for some cool rare shots of the island that aren’t related to white sharks, including some cool shore diving shots.