The Dorsal Fin

YouTube user ELVIAVANES uploaded the video above today, which is described as a great white shark being rescued at California’s Venice Beach. The video description says that the juvenile shark was hooked on a rod and reel by locals. The description goes on to say that the hook was removed. Four men, including two surfers, can be seen assisting the shark back into the water at the video’s end.

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is a protected species in California waters.

Pro Dive South Africa recently added the above video to YouTube, which showcases a rescue effort to save a young sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) or spotted ragged-tooth shark, as they’re known in South Africa. The shark had apparently become entangled in some fishing line after being hooked. The line had cut into the shark’s head, and the hook was still embedded in the shark’s mouth.

Thanks to the efforts of Pro Dive South Africa, the shark was freed from both the fishing line and the hook. The actions of these divers will hopefully increase the shark’s chances for survival. Kudos to all those involved in this rescue effort!

Last October, the story of the rescue of Strappy the great white shark was one of the more positive shark-related news stories I’d seen in a while. Strappy had become bound by a piece of packing tape that was cutting into his flesh in front of his pectoral fins and around his gill slits. Andrew Fox of the Fox Shark Research Foundation was able to cut and remove the tape in a risky rescue attempt outside of a submersible shark diving cage.

Yesterday, Australia’s 7 News released the above video feature on Strappy’s rescue, which also focuses on the impacts of trash in the oceans.

Kudos again to Andrew Fox for his efforts to save Strappy!

According to a Daily Telegraph article Andrew Eckersley and a “lone surfer” came to the aid of a beached 3m male great white shark on a Mid-North Coast beach in New South Wales last week. The pair used logs that they had found on the beach to help move the shark back into the water where it was able to swim away. However, the shark was found dead on the same beach the following day. The shark jaws had been illegally “hacked out by someone as a souvenir,” according to the Daily Telegraph.

The official National Geographic YouTube Channel posted a video today documenting a rescue effort to help an injured sand tiger shark. The approximately 10′ (3m) female sand tiger had a fishing gaff embedded in her throat.

While the video itself plays on the drama and danger of the situation, it still manages to do a fairly good job of avoiding portraying the shark in a negative manner. Unfortunately, it seems that whoever wrote the description of this (otherwise shark-conscious) video simply could not resist the urge to add some negative hype. The video description currently reads…

A rescue team performs emergency surgery on a MAN-EATING Sand Tiger Shark – but they have to catch it first.

Is it really necessary (or even accurate) to refer to a sand tiger shark as “man-eating?” Sand tigers are generally regarded as being non-aggressive around humans and simply do not have a history of being “man-eaters.” While this kind of over-the-top hype seems commonplace among The Discovery Channel’s recent shark-related programming, I still expect better from National Geographic.