The Dorsal Fin

TSVBulletin has posted a video report filmed at Palm Island’s Onion Bay (near Townsville, Queensland, Australia) which documents numerous tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) feeding on the carcass of a young male humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). The tiger sharks can be seen reaching their heads well above the surface to feed on the whale’s carcass.

According to Townsville Bulletin reporter Liam Butterworth, the sharks ranged from 3m to 6m in length. It is estimated that the whale had been dead for approximately a week, and that it had been washed in by the tide.

Thanks to Pete Thomas’ Outdoors, Action and Adventure for the heads-up on this video.

“Sharks on a Golf Course!” No, it’s not the wildly anticipated sequel to Samuel L. Jackson’s “Snakes on a Plane,” unfortunately. This is actually a non-fiction story recently reported on by NBC Sports “Off the Bench” about Queensland’s Carbrook Golf Club, which has the distinction of having sharks in the water hazard on the 15th fairway.

According to the story, the sharks (along with various other fish species) ended up residing at the club after the nearby Logan River flooded in the early 1990′s and washed the animals into the lake on the golf course. While the stories of sharks in the course’s water hazards were initially believed to be a myth, repeated sightings along with video documentation has proven the myth to be true. The NBC Sports article goes on to note that the golf course staff feeds chicken to the sharks, now.

Australia’s Ten News is reporting that a “shark warning” has been issued as a result of heavy rains in Queensland, which are washing bait fish down toward river mouths and attracting bull sharks to these areas, according to Trevor Long of Sea World.

Long advises swimmers to avoid canals and river mouths, especially where there is low visibility in the water. Instead, he encourages people stick to protected beaches and netted areas in the broadwater.

According to Sky News a rescue helicopter crew filmed the video of above in a stretch of coastal area off of Teewah, Queensland. The Sky News article identifies the species as tiger sharks and reports that over a hundred sharks were spotted in the area when the video was shot. The sharks were encircling fish along the coast, according to the helicopter crew.

Thanks to Shark Diver’s Underwater Thrills Blog for the heads-up on this video.

Shark nets in Queensland will be fitted with “pingers” designed to alert migrating whales to the presence of shark nets, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The move marks an attempt to help prevent whales from becoming entangled in the nets. In 2009, six whales were trapped in the shark nets, which have stirred up controversy in the past. All six of the whales trapped last year were successfully freed.

The shark nets are already equipped with pingers designed to alert dolphins. The whale pingers will a “longer and louder noise” as compared to the dolphin pingers, according to Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin, who went on to note that the pingers are designed only to alert the whales of the presence of the nets not to scare them away.

Multiple prototypes will be fitted to the nets this week as a test run. The goal is to have the alarms on all the shark nets by August when younger whales are more likely to come in close proximity to the nets.