The Dorsal Fin

Leave it to the media to turn an estimated 4m (13.1′) shark into a “MONSTER SHARK!!!” According to The Manly Daily, a “monster” shark was spotted at Avalon (NSW, Australia) on Sunday. (In case you were wondering, the Manly Daily is not a periodical for Sylvester Stallone fans. Manly is actually a suburb of Sydney, Australia.) Several surfers spotted the shark at the same time, which witnessed placed being within 5m (16.4′) of some of the surfers. Volunteer lifesaver, Kurt Magnus, was packing up for the day, when the surfers alerted him of the shark sighting, which prompted Magnus to sound the shark alarm and clear the water. There were no further incidents between the shark and any bathers or surfers.

While the shark is designated a “Monster Shark” in the report’s headline, the article also goes on to refer to it as a “mammoth shark,” as well. I’m not sure if this implies that mammoths are also monsters or not, although I’m guessing monsters sell more newspapers the mammoths.

The Courier Mail is starting off 2010 with a spin-off story involving the “monster” great white shark reportedly responsible for a shark-on-shark attack on another great white back in October. As everybody knows, sequels generally don’t live up to the original, but that hasn’t slowed down the Courier Mail. According to the article, surfer Russell Specht survived a “terrifying” encounter with a “monster” white shark off of Main Beach, North Stradbroke Island (Queensland, AUS). The article also states that Specht, local lifesavers, and boardriders fear that this was the same shark responsible for the “horrifying” shark-on-shark attack in October. Specht, who described the animal as approaching “like a submarine,” estimated that the shark was at least 4m (13′) in length. Four other surfers were with Specht when someone spotted the shark (or “monster” as it is referred to in the article). Specht’s mates immediately headed toward the beach leaving him alone in the water with the approaching shark. Specht said the shark passed directly underneath him, as he sat motionless on his board, at a depth of about 1m (3.3′) before veering off and swimming away.

The article goes on to mention that the co-ordinator of Surf Life Saving Queensland Gold Coast services, Stuart Hogben, supports Specht’s suspicions that he saw the same great white shark responsible for the shark-on-shark attack in October. However, neither Hogben nor the article’s author make mention of any evidence as to why they believe this is the same shark, other than to say that Hogben witnessed several sharks in the 2-3m range about 200-300m offshore of the island’s surf side, during a helicopter flight last weekend.

The Courier Mail has pulled out all the stops with this story. It’s filled to the brim with sensationalism. The author throws in words like “terrifying,” “horrifying,” and “monster.” The story seems crafted to play up the fear angle that was also exploited when the initial shark-on-shark attack story broke, yet this story fails to contain any facts or evidence to support the theory of Specht and Hogben. There is no mention of the discrepancy in the size of the shark believed to be responsible for the shark-on-shark attack compared to the size of the shark Specht encountered. The estimated size of the shark involved in the October attack as being 5-5.2m (16.4-17′), according to Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries manager, Tony Ham. Ham’s team estimated the shark’s length based on the bite wounds to the shark carcass from the October attack. Specht, on the other hand, reported the shark he saw as being at least 4m (13.1′). Granted, the term “at least” does leave some wiggle room for the shark’s actual size, but we’re talking about a difference of at least 1m (3.3′).

Then there’s this whole issue of “monster” sharks. A 4m white shark is certainly a large shark when compared to the size of human, but for a species known to reach lengths of 6m (19.7′), it escapes me how the shark that Specht saw has achieved its “monster” status. Perhaps, the “monster” title is independent of size. However, if that were the case, it would seem that the “monster” status would have to be earned based on monstrous behavior. In the case of Specht, the only thing the shark reportedly did was swim in close proximity of Mr. Specht and some other surfers, which hardly seems to be monster-worthy activity. Despite the lack of any real confrontation between the shark and Specht, the Courier Mail article is adorned with a headline that mentions a “face-off” between Specht and the shark. Since there was fortunately no reported confrontation between the shark and Specht, we can only assume that the two were beginning a friendly game of hockey. Now, THAT would be a newsworthy shark story.

Apparently, this is the year of so-called “monster sharks” as is evidenced by a Herald Sun article, Monster great white photographed in Port Phillip Bay. According to the story, Ray Theuma and Brian Bell, were fishing in Port Philip Bay (Australia) about 7km from shore, when a 4m great white shark approached their boat. According to Theuma, the shark touched the boat three times and circled it for approximately 10 minutes.

Much like another “monster shark” in the recent media, it’s unclear what the actual size of this recent “monster shark” is. The Herald Sun refers to it as a “4m monster” at one point, yet Theuma is quoted as saying the shark was the same size as his 4.6m boat. To further complicate the report, The Herald Sun lists the boat as being 4m and the shark being larger than the boat, in the text accompanying a photo gallery with images of the shark.

It is still unclear to me what criteria must be met for a shark to achieve the rank of “monster shark,” but I think it probably has something to do with trying to sell more newspapers.

In other (apparently non-monster) white shark news from the Herald Sun, a white shark snatched an oar from the hands of man in a surf boat off of Hawks Nest Beach. According to the Herald Sun, Greg Ross had a hold of the oar when he felt a “thump” and then saw the white shark “writhing” with the oar in its mouth. After a “good minute” the shark lost interest and swam away. Ross, who works as a volunteer lifeguard at the beach, said that the he and his colleagues see white sharks “all the time.” Ross went on to say that the white sharks, which he and his colleagues refer to as “pets,” do not worry them much.

Kudos to Rory Gibson of Australia’s Courier Mail, for his article, Hysteria over shark risk to swimmers unfounded. His commentary on the media and public reaction to the story about a photo of mauled great white shark caught on a drum line last month is both entertaining and poignant. Gibson points out, in a very tongue-in-cheek nature, that relatively low risks of shark attacks on humans, and stresses the need for conservation of the great white shark as a species. He is also critical of the Queensland shark control program, which “indiscriminantly kills a creature listed as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.” Gibson suggests a moratorium on shark nets and drum lines until a non-lethal solution for managing white shark populations can be devised. Check out the entire article at the Courier Mail.

NBC Today has thrown their hat into the ring in what appears to be an attempt to outdo the level of sensationalism found in some of the other reports of Queensland’s supposed “Monster Shark.”

The Today Show segment goes all-out with unrelenting Jaws references, the Jaws soundtrack, and some of the more ridiculous interview clips from other reports (including my favorite, “If they’re going to grab something as big as another shark, they’re definitely going to grab my daughter.”. The Today Show on-air personalities even join in on the Jaws-based hysteria, at the end of the segment. To the Today Show’s credit they do mention that the shark in Jaws is “mythical.” I’m glad they are at least aware that it’s just a movie.

One would think that a reputable network news program like NBC today would have at least taken the time to research the story before running wild with it, but apparently that wouldn’t have put a damper on the whole 20′ great white shark angle.

Fortunately, the good folks over Underwater Thrills: Swimming with Sharks decided to take the time to contact various agencies in Australia about the story and were told by Tony Ham, The Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries manager, that the shark in photo was “a confirmed 3.3 meter (10′) white shark, caught by our contractor, he measured the primary bite mark at 50 centimeters.” However, Ham went on to say that his team estimated that based on the bite marks, the feeding shark was in the 5-5.2 meter (16-17′) range. Even the Courier Mail who first ran the image of the mauled shark on October 24, have marveled at how the feeding shark seems to have magically grown since the story first broke.

Now, I’m only speculating here, but I think that NBC’s Today show probably has a larger operating budget than the Underwater Thrills: Swimming with Sharks blog. So, why is it that a shark blog was able to track down some legitimate information about this story, while a media giant seemed to be incapable of looking past a overly-sensational depiction of the story? My opinion is that NBC’s Today show was simply looking for a shock and awe story, so journalistic responsibility was cast aside for some good old fashioned fear, which really seems to draw in an audience, for some reason.