The Dorsal Fin

The following report and accompanying photos were provided by Cassie Heil of Oceans Research. The report involves a fisherman catching a protected great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) at Beacon Point in South Africa’s Mossel Bay. The shark was eventually returned to the water by Ryan Johnson, an Oceans Research scientist. Thanks to Ms. Heil and Oceans Research for sharing this story, and kudos to Johnson for his efforts to return the protected shark back into the water.

A fisherman poses with a legally protected great white shark at South Africa's Mossel Bay.
(photo courtesy of Oceans Research)

Man Illegally Catches a great white shark in Mossel Bay
Press release – 16th October, 2011: Mossel Bay

On Friday 14th October 2011, Oceans Research received a phone call from local members of the community regarding an incident that was taking place at Beacon Point in Mossel Bay. A fisherman was in the process of catching a great white shark and was hauling it onto the rocks. In South Africa, the white shark is a protected species, and if one is inadvertently hooked then it must be immediately released.

Ryan Johnson, a scientist from Oceans Research rushed down to the location to discover the fisherman still had the shark out of the water; was making no effort to return it to the water and was instead posing for photographs being taken by his two companions. Simultaneously, Oceans Research scientist, Enrico Gennari, telephoned the local fisheries inspector from the Department of Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), who assured Gennari that he was going to make his way to the location to investigate (the DAFF offices are situated less than 1 kilometer from the fishing location).
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Surgeons are crediting the quick response of bystanders with saving the life of British shark attack victim Michael Cohen. Cohen’s right leg was severed by a bite from a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) while swimming of Fish Hoek beach in Capetown, South Africa.

The Daily Mail reports that Hugh Till and Douglas Drysdale, who were in the area trying to spot whales, witnessed the attack and entered the water to assist Cohen back to shore. Bystanders applied a tourniquet to Cohen’s leg using a wetsuit and belt quickly after he was brought to beach following the attack. Surgeon Andrew Nicol told reporters that the quick action and proper first aid applied by those on the scene helped saved Cohen’s life.

The UK’s Channel 4 News reports that lifeguards told Cohen not to enter the water, due to three white sharks being spotted over a 90 minute period. According to the report, Cohen told the lifeguards that he was going in and that they should blame him and not the sharks, in the event of an attack. As of yesterday, Cohen remains hospitalized, recovering from his injuries, according to The Daily Mail.

Thanks to some “Shop-Fu” and Redditor throwawaystress, a digitally manipulated photo of a white shark swimming down a flooded street in Puerto Rico has been making the rounds on the web and even duped Miami’s 7 News, which reported on the photo not realizing it was a joke (video uploaded by YouTube user jernestine)

The story about the hoax photo even founds its way to a blog article at The Washington Post, which revealed the original source of the shark image used in the composite work.

If the shark in the photo looks familiar, it’s because it was lifted from a rather famous photo taken by Thomas P. Peschak that shows a white shark following a kayaker off the coast of South Africa. The photo has been published by multiple media outlets including Africa Geographic and BBC Wildlife to name a few. You can check out the story behind the original photograph on Peschak’s website.

The following report and accompanying photos were provided by Cassie Heil and Oceans Research. Thanks to Ms. Heil and Oceans Research for sharing this story, and kudos to all those who helped with the rescue effort.

Great white shark in the back of this Oceans Research vessel after breaching into the boat.
(photo courtesy of Oceans Research)

3m Great White Shark breaches into Research Boat Oceans Research Team gets a little too close for comfort

Mossel Bay, 18 July, 2011: The Oceans Research team, a marine research organisation working in Mossel Bay, got the surprise of a lifetime today when a 3 meter great white shark breached into their research vessel, shocking a field specialist and her crew.

Field Specialist Dorien Schroder of Mossel Bay, and six crew members had been chumming since 7:30 this morning with sardines off of Seal Island, conducting research for a population dynamics study that has been ongoing for the past three years. They had been chumming for over an hour and had a fair amount of activity around the boat, taking data on at least 4 sharks, including a shark named Pasella, which has been frequently seen in the bay since 2008.

Activity around the boat had ceased for about five minutes and all was pretty quiet at the stern. Schroder describes the incident; Next thing I know I hear a splash, and see a white shark breach out of the water from side of the boat hovering, literally, over the crewmember who was chumming on the boats portside. Schroder automatically sprang into action and pulled the crewmember quickly away towards the stern of the boat’s platform into safety. The crewmembers all jumped towards the stern of the boat as the 3m, 500kg, shark landed on the top of the fuel and bait storage containers. The shark had landed with only half of its body onto the boat and Schroder and her team hoped that as it thrashed it would make its way back into the water. But instead the panicked shark worked itself into the boat getting stuck in between the 1.5x2m area behind the container and boats stern. The shark began thrashing around, destroying equipment and cutting the fuel lines as it twisted and turned on the boats deck. (continue reading…)

Field and Stream posted a new online article yesterday featuring some dramatic great white shark breaching photos. The photos were taken by Mike Rutzen and his crew off the coast of South Africa. A seal decoy was used to lure the sharks into breaching for the photo ops. The article features some background information about Rutzen. A majority of the photos are credited to Sara Andreotti of Rutzen’s Shark Diving Unlimited.

You can check out the white shark photos and article at Field and Stream.