The Dorsal Fin

Raw video footage of a southern right whale breaching and landing on a sailboat has surfaced since the news story first hit the media last week.

The Independent Online reported that South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs is investigating the incident after several witnesses claim that the boat had illegally approached the whale in violation of regulations that require boaters to give the whales at least a 300m berth. The eyewitness accounts seemed to be backed up by a voice, which can be heard in the background of the raw video saying, “They don’t listen. You can’t go close.”

CNN.com has an extended version of the raw footage, in which the crew of the boat from which the video was filmed seemingly left the scene laughing at the crew of the sailboat without checking on the well-being of the boaters. Fortunately, nobody was hurt on-board the sailboat.

Discovery’s new promotional video for “Ultimate Air Jaws” follows Chris Fallows as he attempts to understand why white sharks are coming in close to shore of the coast of Mossel Bay.

If this video is an indication of what we can expect from the network this year as far as promotional material for Shark Week 2010 goes, then I’d say they’ve made leaps and bounds in the right direction compared to last year’s marketing campaign. The promo video features some amazing slow-motion breach footage and seems to be more focused on information and education versus trying to drum up fear. Hopefully, we’ll see more of these types of promotional videos from Discovery leading up to this year’s Shark Week.

The Dyers Island Conservation Trust recently posted this short video on parasitic copepods infecting white sharks in South Africa. If you’ve watched enough videos or looked at enough photos of sharks, then you’ve probably noticed some of these parasitic species freeloading off of a host shark. One of the most noticeable on white sharks, as can be seen in this video, is the Pandarus satyrus. While a vast majority of the oceans’ copepods are free-living, it is estimated that about 15% are parasitic in nature. For more information check out this article on parasitic copepods.

A great white shark was shot with a spear gun by a diver in False Bay on Tuesday.
(photo taken at Isla de Guadalupe)

A great white shark was shot with a speargun yesterday in False Bay (South Africa), according to the Independent Online. A spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said that the white shark had not been acting aggressively and had turned to swim away after getting close to a group of divers. One of the divers “shot at the shark” to scare it away and “accidentally” shot the shark in the gill area. The diver estimated the shark to be between 3-4m in length. Researchers and scientists are concerned for the well-being of the shark due to the potentially life-threatening injuries that could be sustained in the gill area. The spokesman for the NSRI encourages any sightings of the injured shark to be reported.

Great white sharks are a protected species in South Africa. The story somewhat reminds me of stories that I’ve heard about hunters firing “warning shots” at deer when they are out of season only to “accidentally” hit the deer. The difference here is that it seems as though the diver reported the incident to the NSRI, which makes it seem as though the diver simply panicked and shot the shark out of fear, despite the fact that the shark had turned to swim away.

The Herald Sun is reporting that a South African man disappeared after being attacked by a shark off the coast of Port St. Johns. Witnesses reported seeing the man waving his hands frantically before disappearing under the water, leaving only a cloud of blood behind. The victim’s surfboard washed ashore and was retrieved, according to John Costello at the National Sea Rescue Institute. The NSRI are investigating the disappearance but no signs of the victim have turned up. The species involved can not be identified, since there are no bite marks to analyze. This is the second attack at the popular South African beach this year, according to the Herald Sun report. In January, a 26-year old lifeguard was fatally attacked by a bull shark.