The Dorsal Fin

For some reason, this old clip of Valerie Taylor hand-feeding a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) has recently been making the rounds online this week. The footage in the clip is from the Australian Geographic documentary “Shadow of the Shark.” The clip was posted on YouTube almost two years ago, but this week it has had a surge in views and has been featured on few high-traffic blogs, including Comedy Central’s Tosh.0.

The video clip shows Taylor feeding fish to a white shark and at one point patting the shark on the snout. Taylor says that she felt like she had an “understanding” with this particular white shark and thought that they could get along “quite nicely.” Taylor does point out that she did not have the same feeling with some other white sharks.

It should go without saying that white sharks are wild animals. One could make the argument that this footage and other footage of humans interacting with sharks help dispel the myth that sharks are simply “mindless killing machines.” However, the title of the YouTube video claiming that Valerie’s hand-feeding is “evidence” that great white sharks are “peaceful” is nothing short of anthropomorphism.

It should also be noted that Valerie Taylor (along with her husband Ron) have a great deal of experience being around white sharks. Hand-feeding a wild animal isn’t a wise idea for the average Joe/Jane…in other words, “kids, don’t try this at home.”

DiscoveryNetworks' Featured Videos on YouTube appear to focus on shark attacks on humans.

It seems that Discovery Networks’ fixation on promoting shark attack footage has stretched beyond their annual Shark Week. Today while browsing through YouTube for recent shark-related videos, I was presented with “Featured Videos” ads from DiscoveryNetworks‘ YouTube channel. I guess it shouldn’t really come as any surprise that Discovery is continuing to push shark attack footage on YouTube. Their promotion of Shark Week 2009 was centered around over-the-top fictionalized shark on human violence, including cheesy videos of fake shark attacks, which appeared on YouTube.

It should be noted that these shark attack ads for showed up while searching on the term “shark” (not “shark attack”) using the “upload date” filter, despite the fact that the videos are listed as being uploaded “1 year ago.” Of course, I realize this all part of YouTube’s marketing of “Featured Videos,” but Discovery Networks certainly has a hand in which videos are promoted. Two shark attack videos certainly seem like odd choices for a company that claims to be conservation-minded.

After watching the video purportedly of a surfer being towed by a great white shark, you might be thinking, “Is it even worth asking whether this is real or not?” However, a quick glance through some of the comments from YouTubers would tend to indicate there is much debate over the authenticity of this footage…

To get to the point, it’s not any more “real” than the last movie you saw at the theater. However, it’s not really a “hoax,” either, or at least, it wasn’t really intended to be. The hoax aspect has come into play more as a result of the responses of YouTube viewers, than as a result of the actual video content.
(continue reading…)

Australia’s Courier Mail has an interesting and amusing story about the battle of “giant shark movie” clips that is currently raging on YouTube. The contenders are the trailer for Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, and a short excerpt from Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (which the Courier Mail incorrectly refers to as a “trailer” for the film). When it comes to view count, the Shark Attack 3: Megalodon clip is the winner hands down with over 17.5 million views, compared to Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus’ 2.1 million views. In all fairness, the Shark Attack 3: Megalodon clip has been on YouTube for 2 years longer than the Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. View counts aside, though, which is the king of the giant shark movie?

The tale of the tape goes something like this…

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus features:

• Acting sensations Lorenzo Lamas and Debbie Gibson (oops, DEBORAH Gibson)
• State-of-the-art computer-generated special effects that look like they came right off your 1996-era Nintendo 64 (you know you want to click the link)
• A shark attacking the Golden Gate Bridge
• A giant octopus knocking a fighter plane out of the sky
• A shark attacking a passenger jet
• No seriously, A SHARK ATTACKING A FREAKING PASSENGER JET!!!

Shark Attack 3: Megalodon features:

• Dazzling special effects involving actual white shark footage with actors superimposed into the footage for incredible “realism”
• Some of the most infamous dialog ever featured in modern film
• No appearances by either Lorenzo Lamas or Debbie Gibson

With each film having such unique strengths, it’s hard to pick a clear-cut winner (although Giant Shark vs. Mega Octopus does have a shark attacking a passenger jet!!!). I guess the only solution is to let you judge for yourselves. I’m going to go watch the true king of YouTube videos.

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.