Red Meat?

Watch.

Yeah that would be a Shark attack.

It happened because, and I cite,

"Sharks like to eat fatty red muscle...” David said.

Indeed - especially Whale Sharks and Angular Roughsharks!

I mean, seriously, that statement has the same truth content and educational value as if I professed that Mammals like to eat Eucalyptus leaves - meaning plus/minus zero! Like Cristina (brava!), it really bothers me that we put all ‘sharks’ into one pigeon hole and ascribe the same basic behaviours to them all, seldom realising that there are more than 400 species of different sizes, living in different environments and showing different behaviours!

And then, I read

So why do sharks bite?
Shiffman says it’s usually a case of mistaken identity. “Sharks aren’t used to things being in their environment that isn’t food. When a surfer cuts through the water on his board, wearing a white suit, he can easily be mistaken for a seal,” he says. But most of the time, once a shark gets a taste of his bony human dinner, he backs off in disgust. “The ‘hit and run’ is a common bite — they take one bite and realize it’s not what they wanted to eat,” Shiffman said.

Really.

Same old same old, and equally totally misleading - except that apparently, surfers now wear white garb! I can categorically assure you that the Blacktips and Spinners that strike surfers in Florida and the Bulls doing the same in Reunion Island are NOT mistaking them for seals!

Likely, the Floridian Sharks act in perceived self defense or are maybe caught up in a feeding frenzy (read this!); and equally likely, those Indian Ocean Bulls are engaging in predation - but of course we will never know for sure!

Bravo David for the laudable intention of wanting to put Shark strikes in perspective - but the stubborn ultracrepidarianism, and this from a self-proclaimed dragon-slaying myth-busting fact-based researcher is really irritating!

And that Blue Shark?

Judging from the head shake etc, methinks this is an attempt at predation - but again, who knows. But divers hovering next to bait bins whilst being obviously oblivious of the dangers and of their surroundings are a recipe for disaster. If this is a fun dive, then OK, shit happens - if, like it appears, this is a commercial dive with tourists, then those lousy protocols need to be changed, pronto!
Remember this shit? It gets triggered by stuff like that!

Anyway, just sayin!

PS: thread here - agree agree disagree who knows! :)

Norman the Nurse Shark - Kickstarter!

Source - watch it!

Damn.

It sure is a creepy world out there!

So to make things perfectly clear, Duncan, no spanking  for you!

Anyway.

Check out the video.

This is, again, great stuff. 

Although I'm not generally a huge fan of those micro-NGOs doing nothing but awareness & education (= instead of having amateur enthusiasts go visit school classes, wouldn't it be more rational to advocate having it included in the official curricula for it to be taught by the pros?), Jillian's science-based Sharks4Kids continues to go from strength to strength and is definitely the cream of the crop.

Plus, I just like those folks, so there.

Here's the kickstarter page - please, if you can, give generously.

Thank you.

OSAM - Interview with MPO!

Nice!

As a predominantly underwater photographer, our friend Michael is as as good as it gets - and as a person, idem.

Enjoy the interview!

Is this the Taste of Paradise?

Really?

Sent to me by a concerned pal.

This is the episode from Taste of Paradise it comes from - 09:20ff.

Not impressed, sorry.

Not by Lance Seeto, not by Fiji TV.

This gratuitous stupidity is no good for anybody - not for them, not as a message to the Fijians for some of which this is highly disrespectful, and certainly not for tourism.

Shark Dancer!

This is just great.

But of course there has to be a but!

Cristina is not a Shark dancer - were it not for the scores of nobodies that have already self-appropriated the moniker, she is the only one fully deserving of being called a Shark whisperer!

But I'm of course digressing.

Amazing, inspiring and intriguing as always, and great cinematography by Juriaan.

Enjoy!

OSAM - Jillian!

Source.

Great Interview!

I got a lot of time for Jillian and Dunc.

Both have been educated by Doc, both do great stuff but above all, they are both some of the nicest, most humble and authentic Shark people around. And yes, having them say nice and insightful things about our project helps, too - tho if they again fail to haul their sorry asses to this year's DEMA they're both in for a massive spanking!

Enjoy Jillian's interview!

OSAM - Overfishing!

Great quotes by MPO!
Enjoy - and please don't forget the crowd funding campaign!

OSAM - Interview with Lindsay!

We here all love Lindsay.

Not the gal - the Shark!

Just kidding, haha.

After so many years, Lindsay the gal is obviously one of us, and it's great to observe her progress on the way to hopefully becoming a stellar researcher on top of already being a stellar educator!

Here's her latest interview, and it's obviously very, very BAD.

Enjoy!

Moce Brinkley!

Brinkley, Ty and some of the BAD gang - including the infamous Ledua gang and adopted BAD boy Charlie Charlie - click for detail!

We've just said farewell to Brinkley and Ty.

Here they are.

Yes I know it's obviously an advertising job - and yet, it very much reflects my impression of them insofar as to me, they are above all else authentic: no BS, no drama, no hype - just two young people discovering, experiencing and enjoying the ocean.

Plus, this is just beautiful, so enjoy!

Anyway.

I must confess that we were initially conflicted.

The landing picture on her website and  her apparent affinity to the Shark molesting Aloha crowd over in Hawaii did initially give us pause - but the pic is merely a modeling job and the affinity is merely perceived, and I must say that both I and Andrew are really happy to have overcome our reservations and given it a try.

What we've discovered is a lovely couple that despite of all the romantic surf culture aura, remain firmly rooted in reality and are traveling the world on a quest that could quite possibly, one day, lead to something remarkable. To me, there is, maybe, a bit of Valerie here - small, pretty, blonde, doing tough stuff among tough dudes whilst never losing touch with her humanity and artistry.
Maybe. We shall see.

Case in point, Brinkley's extremely popular Instagram page that far from being one of the usual pathetic solipsistic self-promoting sales jobs, is merely a simple travelogue, nothing more and nothing less - and yes we are grateful for the posts about Fiji, especially here and here, the more as we do know that they come from the heart.

So moce mada and godspeed guys.

Wishing you fair winds and following seas - and do come visit us again anytime!

Ralph Collier - quousque tandem?

Oh FFS.

Read this shit.

Yes he's still at it.

There has been a Shark attack on a surfer Shark encounter (right... I mean, seriously!) between a GWS and a surf board, and here they once again trot out California's token Shark bloviator.

Centrifugal force huh.

Interesting.... possibly Coriolis?

Michael is of course totally correct: GWS taking up residency and establishing a territory that gets defended against conspecifics is just simply ludicrous. This was most likely a predatory attack or maybe, an unusually assertive display of agonism - tho we will obviously never know!

Where I differ with Michael is the bit about the respect.

I ask, respect for WHAT? The serial pear reviewed pseudoscientific garbage? The denialism? The quackery and credulous pseudo- and anti-medecine? The shameless and callous conspiracy theories? The demented NRA garbage? The xenophobic fearmongering?

And check out these links! 

Respect?

Nah, not from me!

 

OSAM - BAD Boyz!

Not quite a boy - Dragonslayer and cat-herder Nani!

Behold!

Nice!

The Indiegogo campaign, alas, not so much, as all the big-ticket items are still up for grabs.

C'mon people - this is good stuff!