The Dorsal Fin

MSNBC is reporting that the results of the first successful satellite tracking of great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran) followed a single shark over a 62-days journey. The great hammerhead was tagged in the waters of southern Florida as part of an effort by Neil Hammerschlag and colleagues who are tracking tropical sharks in an attempt document migration patterns.

Over the course of the great hammerhead shark’s 62-day journey, Hammerschlag told MSNBC that the shark had traveled 745 miles (as the crow flies). The shark swam from the waters of southern Florida to the coastal waters of New Jersey.

Scientific data about the great hammerhead is scarce, but this latest study will hopefully provide more insight into the migratory behavior of the species and help researchers to identify key geographic locations where the sharks migrate for feeding, mating, and giving birth.

The evidence that great hammerhead sharks are capable of traveling such large distances in a relatively short time also indicates that the species could potentially be migrating into international waters making to susceptible to illegal fishing. Hammerschlag hopes that this research will help provide information that can be used to assist with conservation efforts aimed at protecting and managing great hammerhead sharks.

CNN ran a feature this morning on about the effects of the oil spill on sharks. The video feature itself focuses on Neil Hammerschlag‘s tagging of sharks touches on the potential effects that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could have on shark populations there. Hammerschlag also points out that a hammerhead shark he had been tracking via a satellite tag stopped transmitting data right around the time of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, although Hammerschlag went on to say that a number of factors could have contributing to the termination of the data being transmitted. Hammerschlag’s research teams hopes to gather information from the tagged sharks with regard to whether or not they will be swimming through water contaminated with oil from the spill. You can read the full article at CNN.com.

Great white sharks occasionally visit Florida waters this time of year. However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that the species was involved in yesterday's fatal attack.

After multiple media outlets ran reports earlier today suggesting the possibility of great white sharks being responsible for yesterday’s fatal shark attack off the coast of Stuart, Florida, the Sun Sentinel is reporting that Neil Hammerschlag of University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science said that it’s too blame great white sharks for the attack.

Hammerschlag said that while white sharks do occasionally visit Florida waters, a determination of the species involved in yesterday’s attack can not be determined without examining the victim’s wounds or unless witnesses were able to positively identify the attacking sharks. Hammerschlag also noted that any of several species could have been responsible for yesterday’s attack.

Don’t let the title throw you. While there has been a recent study published in the Journal of Zoology about applying geographic profiling to great white shark hunting behavior, the point of this post is to illustrate how the media sensationalizes headlines whenever sharks (and great white sharks, in particular) are involved in a news story.

I am not a serial killer