The same old Allegations

As so often, the Shark Divers have started a thread and I would like to pick it up as follows.

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa is a respectable institution and their Trademark, a coveted distinction for Tourism operators of that country. Among many other things, it implies that the people whose land, natural resources, labour, knowledge and culture are used for Tourism activities, actually benefit from Tourism.
Sound familiar?
Look now further than the Shark Reef Marine Reserve Project with its holistic approach to Conservation.

FTTA have decided to look into Shark Tourism in South Africa and have published this important position paper on the matter.
Before I unleash, let me categorically state that it is a good one: balanced, fair, unbiased, pragmatic, it explores the full scope of the issues at hand and draws the right conclusions. FTTA are the first ones to admit that they are no experts in Shark Tourism and carefully avoid taking any positions with respect to the usual controversies.
This of course is the way it should be and they need to be commended for that approach.

And yet, the usual allegations raise their ugly head unchallenged.

Let me try and sum up the current state of affairs, at least how most of us in the Shark Diving Industry see it. Yes I've already blogged about it but if left unanswered, these allegations will, and have already developed into Urban Legends, and then, the "Truth".
It's all about memetic Evolution - check it out, fascinating.

But first, lets get rid of the question whether Shark diving increases the risk of Shark incidents.
Duh?
Yes of course it does!
And so does swimming, surfing, spear fishing, whatever!
The simple reason for that is that Shark incidents have one precondition: Sharks and people have to be in the same place at the same time, that place being the Ocean. Equally obvious is the fact that there will be some correlation between the number of people frequenting the Sea and the number of incidents - thus, any increase in people implies an increase in risk.
This is so trivial, it is painful!

What to do?
Well, how about looking at the airline industry: aviation increases the risk of plane crashes (Hellooo.....). Confronted with such mind-boggling insights, do we run and close down the industry? Or, do we instead require that commercial airline operators conform to the strictest safety procedures possible?
This is precisely what has to be asked from us. And let me re-iterate that safety procedures will always remain species- and situation-specific and will always imply a judgment call by the operator.

Now, to the actual debate, this in order of increasing complexity.

Yes, many of us do use bait to attract the Sharks.
Although Shark diving in unbaited conditions is certainly possible, predictable encounters can only be expected where the species are resident (or maybe, territorial) - as in Grey Reefs and Silvertips; or, where the lay of the land, or special conditions aggregate the Sharks - as on the sea mounts in the eastern Pacific, during the yearly congregations of Whale Sharks in the Caribbean and Australia or at the cleaning stations of Thresher Sharks in the Philippines.
Other than that, one is left to the vagaries of chance encounters : great when conducting coral dives but just not quite good enough to justify mounting a commercial operation specifically targeting Sharks.

The issue this raises is that of Conditioning.
By that, one implies that luring in the Sharks will change their behavior - well, again, Yes........... Why otherwise would we bother doing it?
The natural behavior of most Sharks is not to approach divers unless specifically motivated to do so - and that's precisely what we are trying to achieve, to motivate them. Incidentally, in our specific case, we also try to condition our Sharks to follow a uniform and largely predictable routine and to stay away from the clients.

"Best practice" among cage diving operations apparently consists in just teasing, but never actually handing any bait to the Sharks.
Were I a Shark hugger, I would immediately object that letting the Sharks waste precious energy on fruitless "hunts" is to be rejected as it is likely harmful to the animals. But of course, that would be totally besides the point - the point being that common wisdom has it that this will prevent the Sharks from associating humans with food via so-called positive reinforcement. We shall come on to that later.

Apparently, according to the FTTA paper (and news to me), some quarters even contend that just teasing, but never feeding the Sharks could even be regarded as negative conditioning: the frustrated animals will learn to avoid those situations.
Sound plausible to you? Would the cage divers use that technique and bother to schlepp along all that bait if they believed it would eventually chase away the Sharks?
C'mon........

Leaves Conditioning via Positive Reinforcement, the big no-no.
Yes, I confess, this is precisely what we do!
We reward the Sharks whenever they approach, very much in the hopes that over time, more and more of them will turn up for a meal - which of course, being smart Apex Predators, they do!
We do so in order to show them to our clients - as opposed to, as I shall never tire to repeat, Fishermen who do exactly the same thing in order to catch and then kill them.
Get the hint? Who has the way biggest, and most negative impact on the animals? Are we going to abolish fishing as a consequence? I wish!

But now, the saga continues: apparently, feeding the Sharks teaches them to associate humans with food.
It is never said expressis verbis, but the subliminal message is that the so conditioned Sharks will not only associate, no, they will learn to regard humans as food and then start devouring anybody chancing to enter the waters they live in.
All intuitively plausible - but is it really so?
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Darwinist, so please allow me to cite the Great Man himself: "Vox populi, vox Dei, as every philosopher knows, cannot be trusted in science."

Why "humans"?
If we disregard the bait which is clearly the primary attractant and conditioning factor, is it not fair to assume that the strongest conditioning factor may well be the engine noise? Is it not so that some operators have learned to rev up the boat engines to "ring the dinner bell", and this with great success?
And if so, So What?

The "what" apparently is this.
This kind of signal, or even the mere presence of humans, are supposed to trigger a Pavlovian reflex: the Sharks will become excited, motivated and hungry and this will precipitate the abovementioned nefarious consequences, especially when no food is being offered.

And this is precisely the very point where Intuition is leading to Conjecture and Myth.

Nothing whatsoever, not the objective data about Shark incidents on, or in the vicinity of Shark feeding locations, nor the collective subjective perceptions of all Shark Diving Operators I've ever talked to supports in any way those allegations. This despite the fact that one would expect precisely that to happen, as a result of an increase of potential encounters and thus, risk - remember the first trivial argument?

To make an example, what we experience on our Shark Dive is this.
When we get to Shark Reef, we start by baiting the surface where the Trevallies, Rainbow Runners and Bohars (but never any Shark!) will hit the bait and, we believe, attract the Sharks to the resulting commotion. Upon getting into the water, we may, or may not, see some of our non-resident (at least not at the depth and location where we feed) animals: Tiger Sharks, Bull Sharks, Lemon Sharks and Nurse Sharks.
Have they been attracted by the engine noise? By the action at the surface? By us entering the water? Or did they just happen to be there anyway? Frankly, we don't know - yet. But we're working on it.
During the dive, the numbers of Sharks will increase as we continue feeding the big fish and later, the Sharks themselves. But once we decide to stop the feeding, the Sharks will retreat and disappear within minutes - not get frustrated and attack us in retaliation. This after close to ten years of positive reinforcement.
And when we go to Shark Reef without food, some Sharks may turn up for a quick cursory flyby but then disappear, never to be seen again.

Mind you, the above is merely our perception.
Interestingly enough, having once taken along an anti-feeding advocate and scientist, these very same observations did not dispel, but instead reinforce her reservations. As always, perceptions turn out to be highly subjective.

This can only be resolved by proper scientific research.
Remember the Scientific Method?

To the readers in general: watch this space!

To the colleagues amongst you.
Guys, we're in this together. This nonsense threatens all of us and needs to be stopped. We have the resources, animals, locations and opportunities enabling us to collect the relevant data. This may cost us some time and money, and we may well end up with answers we don't like - but if so, we will learn something new, as we should always be willing , and eager to do.
And we will get even better and safer in the process.

Let's do it - it's the only way forward.

The proper Way

I've recently ranted about frivolous and heartless science and about Shark "experts" proffering ludicrous opinions instead of doing what is to be expected from proper scientists, and that is, to use the Scientific Method:

• ask Questions
• make Observations
• develop a Hypothesis (that is, a theoretical Explanation)
• make Predictions and then
• collect, analyze and interpret the necessary Data (that is, the Evidence, often via Experiments) in order to verify or falsify (that is, to test) that Hypothesis.
• only then, publish the results (as a Model or Theory) and have them re-tested, often by peers.

That is the only acceptable Technique to separate Truth from Belief, Science from Opinion, Superstition, Myth and Religion, fact from fiction, wheat from chaff. Worth keeping in mind when confronted with yet another piece of unproven conjecture.

Apart from "our" very own Juerg and his research on Shark Reef, here are some institutions and individuals who do serious research on the topics of the past rants:

Mexico: Dr Leonardo Castillo from Mexico's National Fisheries Institute has begun equipping thousands of Sharks with satellite, radio and plastic tags to better understand the cause for a recent spate of incidents on the Mexican Pacific Coast. I look forward to his explanations after the results have come in, as it should be. Much more tedious than taking a quick trip to Mexico in order to give a few interviews - but oh so much more credible!

Greenland Sharks: Canada's three Oceans are frequented by up to 41 species of Sharks.
GEERG, the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group is currently conducting Research on 3 of them, the Greenland, Basking and Blue , and planning research on the four Lamnids Great White, Shortfin Mako, Porbeagle and Salmon Shark. As far as I can discern, no frivolous killing involved.
The Canadian Shark Research Laboratory conducts research on some of the same Sharks, mostly by examining catches by local fishermen.
Both websites are a treasure trove of information, along with a nifty interactive Shark identification key.




And then, there's of course TOPP, the herculean effort of trying to tag, and thus record the movements of the Pacific Predators, be it cetaceans, fish, Sharks, birds or reptiles. It never ceases to intrigue and amaze me, be it by its sheer scope or by the wealth of information it regularly unveils.

Plenty to discover, plenty to learn.
Enjoy!

Tiny

Readers of The Song of the Dodo know that Islands are often homes to very large (as in the Dodo, the largest pigeon, on Mauritius or Dragons on Komodo) or very small animals.

Case in point: the latest herpetological discoveries from the Caribbean.

A small island off the coast of Dominica harbors the World's smallest lizard whilst Barbados, the smallest snake.
So far, that is - as always in science, new discoveries are bound to loom.



Like this one: researchers report the discovery of more than 100,000, hitherto unknown Western Lowland Gorillas (the kind mostly kept in Zoos) from two areas in the northern part of the Congo. Yes, they remain threatened by habitat degradation, the hunt for bush meat and Ebola, but it triplicates the estimates for the species nevertheless.

Alas, no such good news for Sharks.
But still, a good day for anybody interested in Nature.

A good Man

When one is marooned in the Friendly Islands that are currently suffering from acute Coronation Fever, CNN remains the lifeline to what's happening in the world at large.

Imagine my surprise, and delight, when this special report popped up in the middle of a news program.
Well written, filmed and narrated, it features SOSF scientist Alison Kock and her groundbreaking research about Great Whites.
A further episode on Sharks, this time for Planet in Peril and featuring Mark Rutzen, has been announced for December.

Great to see such a piece on mainstream TV - Shark Conservation has sure come a long way! And: he may be CNN's prettyboy, but Anderson Cooper is obviously a good Man.

You can watch the special episode here and a video about the upcoming program here.
And then, there's this slide show by staff photographer Jeff Hutchens - and check out his blog for more amazing images!

Enjoy!

I hate Sharks!

This op ed from the Los Angeles Times is a must-read.

As so often, first spotted by the guys over there at Shark Diver.
Not because they're smarter - it's a matter of time zones. At least, that's what I believe.

Nothing to add: just kudos to Joe Queenan for an excellent piece!

To swim, or not to swim?

That is the Question!

As an aquarist, the following clip never ceases to amaze me.
At first glance, it's just an ordinary scene of a fish tank during feeding time, with some fish skimming the food from the surface and a frenzy of smaller critters scrambling for the sinking leftovers.
But upon closer observation, the surface skimmers turn out to be Whale Sharks and the frantic minnows below, Manta and Eagle Rays, Giant Trevallies and there are even several Giant Groupers like our Ratu Rua and Ratu Tolu!



I have to confess that my knee-jerk reaction upon seeing it for the first time was that of any old-timer elitist. That is, righteous indignation.
How DARE they imprison these wonderful animals, many of which necessitate habitats spanning whole oceans! How DARE they trivialize the magic of encounters for which yours truly had to travel the High Seas and brave the elements for years!

But then, did I raise the same ethical objections upon seeing my first Big Cats and Bears in the Zoo? Many of which equally face extinction or require equally large territories? And how about the Apes, many of which were intelligent enough to grasp, and were clearly unhappy about their captive status?
Of course, I didn't.
I had been, rightfully, sold on the notion that modern Zoos make a valuable contribution by raising the public's awareness of the need for Conservation and often act as repositories, or even breeding stations for the last individuals of particular species.

Could it be the same for such Aquaria?
The answer is unequivocally: Yes it is!
Like most Zoo visitors who will never join a safari, most Aquarium visitors will never learn to dive and this is their only chance to ever witness those animals in person and acquire a special affinity and appreciation for them in the process.

This particular institution, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan, has been successfully keeping Whale Sharks and Manta Rays since the late 80ies. One of their Whale Sharks has been on display for more than 10 years and recently, they were even able to announce the first-ever captive birth of a Manta Ray. All very convincing, and very impressive indeed!
And let's face it: any contribution to changing the perceptions of the ocean-pillaging Japanese in particular, and Asians in general can only be applauded!

Churaumi's pendant in the western hemisphere, the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, houses Whale Sharks, Goliath Groupers and even Great Hammerheads , along with a plethora of smaller fishes. They appear to be very active in Whale Shark Conservation and despite the indignant opposition of the tree-(or is it: algae-?) hugging faction of the scientific community, I must confess that I'm rather impressed by what they do.

But now, here comes my dilemma:
In their wisdom, the Aquarium has started a program allowing a dozen swimmers and divers a day to go swimming with the gentle giants. To put it in perspective, this compares with approx. 5,000 maintenance dives by the aquarium's staff each year. Obviously, the latter are necessary - but are the former?

Check it out:



The customers are obviously extatic and bubble with superlatives about their unique experience.
But the great Jean-Michel Custeau himself is not amused. Nor is the token Shark expert, supreme Shark attack, meteorological and now obviously, fish-keeping multi-guru George Burgess.

Normally, the latter fact alone would be ample justification for me to join the faction in favor of the swimming - but I remain skeptical.

Is there really any upside in throwing in a bunch of "divers" (check again...) at the risk , real or perceived, of harassing, or even infecting or otherwise hurting the already stressed captive animals?
Apart from satisfying the customers' curiosity, and egos - and obviously, generating additional income?
Is there anything to be learned from such an experience (thank you Jean-Michel)?
Will Conservation profit from it?
I mean, additionally?

Not a chance.
Let's be honest: it quacks like a duck and swims like a duck. To witness: "A diver named Kevin Chung broke into a flailing aquatic break-dance. " Indeed.
It's just cheap and gratuitous entertainment, a silly and frivolous circus, a stupid afterthought.
And demeaning on top of that.
I ask: where is the Respect?

Others of course disagree.
But then, upon closer inspection, all those arguments in favor just don't hold up. Those aims can be equally achieved by keeping the public where it belongs.

And that is, on the outside of the tank, to watch and not touch.
In total Awe and Amazement.

Absolutely Amazing Photography!

Have you ever dived the Pacific coast of the Americas?
As in Baja, Cocos, Malpelo, Galapagos, even the Marquesas?

If so, you may agree that diving there has a very special "feel" to its own.
The water is often black, the landscape is monumental but barren, there are ferocious currents and totally weird, and equally frigid multiple thermoclines, the weather is often challenging, the visibility often dismal. One would be tempted to argue that it's the very last place one would ever want to get back to, and yet I find myself going back time after time again.

Not only because of its absolutely fabulous wildlife comprising some of the most iconic animals like Sharks, big Rays, Sea Turtles and Billfish - but very much also because of the unique challenges it poses.

But despite squillions of dives and despite the fact that I've been an underwater photographer for decades before switching over to video, I've never quite been able to capture the eerie essence of those places. Yes, I have great silhouettes of schooling hammerheads and closeups of cleaning stations - but the reality is that most schooling hammerheads I've seen were not silhouetted, they were wandering along somewhere below in an spooky procession of tan bodies against a misty background, all much too difficult to be adequately captured I thought.

So far, that is - until I discovered this absolutely fabulous website.

Record free diver Frederic Buyle takes his images on a single breath of surface air, on available light and down to a depth of up to a whopping 55 meters.

Take for instance this picture of the Smalltooth Raggie from Malpelo: if you're very very lucky, you may see them at 200ft on the Bajo del Monstruo, a huge challenge for any diver - and yet Fred did obviously succeed in doing so whilst free diving!
Whow!

I'm quite frankly blown away.
I've taken the liberty of copy/pasting a few of my favorite images which you can click in order to see them in better magnification. Hopefully, they will result in some incremental business for Frederic.

Enjoy!

Shark Diving - some interesting Thoughts

From Shark Diving - "Vocation" or Sustainable Business? , a recent post by Patric Douglas, CEO of Shark Diver and Shark Diving:

"Shark diving is a study, a long term study of animal behavior.
Those in the industry who come to it looking to create a business quickly realize they are little more than wide eyed students-learning intricacies of shark behavior on a day by day basis. The teachers can be ruthless, but more often they reveal to us moments of grace and power based in lesson plans that were created over 100 million years ago. It's study that never ceases, school's never out for us, we learn from these animals each and every time we encounter them.

This is the nature of the business of commercial shark diving.

To make the bold statement that one is a "professional shark diver" is to infer that you have reached the peak of your career, that you know more about these animals than anyone else, that you have attained the level of "professional". It's a fools bet. Sharks always have something to teach us and while commercial shark diving operators have come to "understand" the animals they seek - to call us professionals would be incorrect. To be self styled even worse.

Do Buddhist monks ever call themselves professionals and carry business cards that boldly claim the same? No, they are monks, they continually grow and learn to become better monks, it's a lifetime understanding.

I submit to you that commercial shark diving is a similar lifetime understanding.
We are lucky to encounter these animals more than most folks, but we can never stop learning. If we do, if we declare a "shark vocation", then we divorce ourselves from what these animals have to teach us - and in the end will make critical mistakes that will lead to the darker teachings these animals are capable of."

Clowning around

I really had to restrain myself from choosing a title like "Discovery Channel - nothing more than a bunch of effing Clowns", or the like. But quite frankly, in the face of this, I feel kinda deflated and ranted-out.

The picture is advertising the Shark Week episode "How not to become Shark Bait". Guess it's true when they say it's worth a thousand words.

Well, the writing has been on the wall for quite some time.
And, you may want to check out this excellent review by Grant Butler.

Enough said.

About shooting Orang Utans

Have you read "The Malay Archipelago"?

First published in 1869, this captivating book chronicles the scientific explorations of Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist, explorer and biologist who traveled through the Malay Archipelago or East Indies (now Malaysia and Indonesia) to collect specimens for sale and to study nature. His observations of the marked zoological differences across a narrow strait in the archipelago led to his proposing the zoogeographical boundary now known as the Wallace Line. Wallace collected more than 125,000 specimens in the Malay Archipelago (more than 80,000 beetles alone). More than a thousand of them represented species new to science. While he was exploring the archipelago, he refined his thoughts about Evolution and had his famous insight on Natural Selection.

Among his fascinating descriptions of foreign landscapes and peoples and mysterious animals, we can read a meticulous account about how he hunted, shot, and the number of bullets it took him to kill several Orang Utans.

Not cool.

But only by today's standards.
Back then, people like Wallace were merely providing specimens for naturalist collections set up for the advancement of scientific knowledge. In fact, the rarer the animal, the more sought-after and valuable it was and there are documented incidents where some collectors commissioned entire hunting expeditions, and then prided themselves in owning the very last specimen ever recorded of a particular species. Killing, and even exterminating animals for scientific purposes in order to "preserve them for posterity" was perfectly acceptable.

According to Inuit myth, a urine-soaked cloth was once whipped from an old lady's hand and carried out to Sea, where it turned into a sea monster called "skalugsuak". Of its legendary peculiarities, skalugsuak lives for 200 years, has thousands of teeth, weighs over a ton, eats caribou whole, has skin that can destroy human flesh, and may even possess—in place of eyes—living, glowing creatures which lure its prey.
But skalugsuak isn’t a fable—it’s a real Shark, whose flesh is so packed with urea that it smells and tastes like urine. Commonly known as the Greenland Shark, the animal is the apex predator of the eastern Arctic. When their carcasses have washed up, scientists have opened their stomachs to find eels, sharks, beluga whales, sea birds, dog, horse, polar bear, reindeer, a human foot, and a lot of fish, and they’ve even been reported to hunt caribou in the manner of a crocodile ambush.
Very little work is currently being conducted on the smelly monster, and virtually nothing is known about its behavior.

In the name of science, University of Windsor's Aaron Fisk hauls monster Greenland Sharks out of the frigid Arctic depths, then guts them to see what they had for dinner. Research has shown they grow very slowly -- about one centimeter a year - so the Sharks Fisk has studied that measure three to four meters probably lived several hundred years.

Somebody has to do it, says Fisk.

Yeah - right (and yes, I'm about to embark on yet another rant....... again).
"Somebody" just has to go kill an animal that is several hundred years old in order to find out what it eats. With a name like Somniosus microcephalus, i.e. the sleepy tiny brained one, it's likely to be too sluggish, and too dumb to notice anyway.
After all, it's all being done for the advancement of scientific knowledge: thus in the Big Scheme of things, the small sacrifice of a few individuals is absolutely irrelevant.

Correct?

Try substituting "Greenland Sharks" with another arctic top predator and see how you feel about that. How about
"Beluga Whales"?
"Polar Bears"?
"Walruses"?

When i was a student in the 70ies, Biology was largely being pursued for the sake of increasing scientific knowledge per se.
All too often, the objects of the research were just that, Objects: to be examined in an objective , dispassionate, analytical way. Any emotional attachment, let alone Love and Awe for the animals was being frowned upon as being highly suspect of carrying the risk of unduly influencing the findings.
Thus, to make an example, killing a couple dozen Sharks in order to explore the anatomical peculiarities of their vision was perfectly acceptable, the same way as it was acceptable to kill a dozen Orang Utans in the 19th century.

But in the 21st century, the Big Picture I believe is this:

In this day and age where the Planet is going to shit largely because of us, Life is just too precious - even that of a greedy, ungainly, smelly, poisonous, stupid and ugly deep-sea monster.

Today, investing scarce and valuable scientific resources both in terms of brainpower and funds can only have one possible justification, and that is that to preserve what's left and hopefully, to reverse the tide of ecological degradation and species extinction.

Thus, I believe, modern age Biological Research has to be able to withstand the following double test:
- are the purpose of the research, and its likely results, aimed at achieving those aims?
- and, is the method employed to collect the required data the least invasive one possible?

Everything else is not only frivolous and wasteful, it is also profoundly unethical - especially when it involves killing wildlife.
And guys, please: show the Love and the Respect!

This is precisely why before engaging in Research on Shark Reef, we spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the Why and the How.
This is why instead of attaching our radio tags externally where they would be happily beeping away for years to come whilst however greatly irritating the skin, we prefer to feed them to the animals, this despite the fact that we will only be able to collect a maximum of two weeks' data.
This is also why when we deploy satellite tags on the Bull Sharks, we do it underwater, at the risk of losing the tags at a rate of several thousand dollars a pop. The alternative would be catching them, hauling them aboard and using a drill to secure the tags to the dorsal fin . Very effective for sure - but at what consequence to the animals?

Investigating a Shark's diet may conceivably allow for the formulation of better-adapted Conservation strategies and thus, contribute to its survival.
But is it equally cool to go out of one's way, undoubtedly at great expense of money and personal hardship, to go catch, and then kill them in person when there must already be thousands of available and equally valuable specimen caught by local fishermen? In a sub-zero environment where carcasses don't rot?

You be the Judge of that.

Shark Week - frightening swimmers right back out of the water

From the 2007 New York Daily News Entertainment Guide:

"The folks a Discovery Channel are at it again!
Just as the weather heats up, sending throngs to the beach, Discovery Channel kicks off its annual "Shark Week," which is sure to frighten some swimmers right back out of the water.
In keeping with that theme, the week-long bite fest begins tonight at 9 with "Ocean of Fear: Worst Shark Attack Ever," a two-hour special. (........)
"I get on the back of a hammerhead shark and get rammed by a great white shark," he says. "Wow, for me, it's almost euphoric. You think you're touching a beast that if it really wanted to could rip you apart.
"That, of course, is the concept of "Shark Week," playing off that fear."

Last year, we blogged about an open letter to Discovery addressing the principal grievances of the Shark Conservation community. It was an excellent letter (and one of my better posts) and quite frankly, I was encouraged and hopeful that something would change.

Has it? - You be the judge

Mithbusters: Do dogs attract sharks? Do the vibrations caused by a flapping injured fish attract sharks? Does chili powder repel sharks?

Surviving Sharks: While in South Africa, Les and marine biologist Jeremiah Sullivan conduct an analysis of the great white's bite, and test whether kicking and splashing attracts sharks, and if it's safer to stay in a group or tread water alone if stranded in the ocean.

Day of the Shark: Do shark encounters happen more frequently in the morning or night? This special chronicles six recent shark attacks that took place at different times of day. Top shark experts weigh in on what time of day is better or worse for avoiding sharks.

How not to become Shark Bait: In the process, viewers learn strategies for staying safe when in the water.

So, it's still all about Them versus Us.
Not about how We kill them by the millions, but about how They are lurking just off the beach waiting to devour us. And sorry, the fake Shark Conservation Blog by the Ocean Conservancy isn't fooling anybody - but nice try guys...

It's gonna be just like in 2007: playing off the fear and frightening some swimmers right back out of the water.

Enjoy........

New Manta Ray discovered!

Not even the most inveterate lover of toothy Apex Predators will escape the gentle charm of the beautiful and friendly Manta Ray, the more as it sometimes shares the same habitat as Sharks, like in Cocos, the Galapagos, Socorro and sometimes, even Shark Reef.

Like many of my fellow divers, I've often wondered at their massive range in size and coloration: quite small and lightly colored on the reefs of say, Yap and French Polynesia, much bigger and darker on the west coast of the Americas or in the cold waters around Komodo.
But despite the best efforts of the Taxonomists, even including illegal DNA sampling within Marine Protected Areas, no evidence could be found that the "Giant Pacific Mantas" were anything different than their fairer and smaller cousins. The difference in size and coloration was apparently merely due to environmental factors and nutrition. After all, the reason for the crystal clear azure water on coral reefs is its lack of nutrients which has forced corals to co-operate with algae; whereas in the Americas, the cold and dark Humboldt and California currents carry plenty of nutrients allowing for abundant plankton growth and thus, a much larger size of plankton feeders.
Thus, scientific wisdom had it that all Manta Rays belong to one and the same single circumtropical species of Manta birostris.
Until now it seems.
Now and again, there would be reports of truly whoppingly gigantic individuals, reputedly with wingspans in excess of six meters, and this mainly from coral reef habitats in the Indian Ocean. With the exception of a possible encounter in the Seychelles many many years ago when I was green and impressionable, I never saw such an animal, and this despite of hundreds of sightings - so I quicky started filing those reports under the category of urban legends.

Well, it seems that as so often, I was dead wrong.
It now appears that the behemoth not only exists, but that it even represents a new species!
Keep in mind that discovering such a large marine animal, and this on reefs and at depths teeming with recreational divers is nothing short of miraculous! The last such marine discovery, after the two Coelacanths, was the Megamouth Shark and those animals are found in deep-water and pelagic habitats people like us would never vist.

Here, a massive ray with a wing span of up to 8 meters (!) would have gone unnoticed but for the tireless efforts of University of Queensland's PhD researcher Andrea Marshall and her Manta Ray & Whale Shark Research Centre.
Situated in a small village on the coast of Mozambique, people in the know tell me that it's as remote and lonely as it gets and subject to regular natural catastrophes as floods and cyclones. To persevere in such an environment is a testimony to her dedication and some would say, obsession - but what a wonderful vindication to be able to come up with such spectacular results!
This is like discovering a new species of African Elephant in the middle of Kruger National Park after years of it perambulating in total impunity from detection among thousands of safari tourists.
Truly, a remarkable feat!

Apparently, the new species is much rarer and much bigger than the "usual" Manta and lives a migratory, more pelagic life in contrast to its more resident and reef-bound cousin. Alas, like in the case of the migratory pelagic Sharks, and Fish, it is the object of substantial fishing pressure owing to the difficulties in establishing collaborative and coordinated conservation and management practices in such a large and unregulated environment.

You can watch Andrea talk about her discovery on this webpage of her proud sponsor, the Save our Seas Foundation (Video #1) and you can learn more about her research on her Manta Ray webpage. With a possible third species in the works, the future looks bright indeed!

Paper here!

Be amazed and enjoy!

Olympic Shark Savers

The Beijing Olympics are less than two weeks away and the celebrations will undoubtedly include thousands of portions of Shark fin soup.

This dish is one of the principal causes for the global extermination of Sharks, at a staggering rate of somewhere between 40 and 100 million killed every year. As a result, the numbers of some species have dropped by as much as 80% over the last 50 years, with devastating consequences for the ecosystems they once lived in, where the food chains and the fisheries depending on them are collapsing .
A comprehensive and chilling summary of the Global threats to Sharks can be downloaded here.

Much of the trade in Sharks' fins is derived from fins cut from living Sharks; this process is called finning. Because Shark meat is worth much less, the finless and often still-living Sharks are thrown back into the sea to make room on board the ship for more of the valuable fins. When returned to the ocean, the finless Sharks, unable to move, die from suffocation.
Apart from being wasteful, the practice of Shark finning is brutal, cruel and unethical.
In case you've never seen it, you may want to watch the following clip.

Many Shark diving operators like us are trying to buck the trend via Sustainable Tourism, Habitat Protection , Education and by sponsoring Research, often with help from NGOs like in our case, the Shark Foundation and Save our Seas Foundation.
Other more powerful organizations operate mainly via media campaigns and by influencing legislation. Two of those, WildAid and Oceana have captured the occasion by airing a series of smart video clips featuring two of the best-known, and most charming American Olympic swimmers.
We say: Well Done and Good on You!

Here is Tara Kirk.



And here, Amanda Beard.

Juerg online!

You have to hand it to Juerg: despite the traumatic experience of his recent visit to Florida and despite the jitters about the imminent arrival of his first child, her keeps cranking out the goodies!

His latest creation is a completely re-vamped website where we can finally find all of his scientific papers, along with plenty of useful information about his pet animals, explanations about the methodology and technology involved in his research and obviously, a description of his very favorite Conservation project.

Much much more is in the works.
For some time, Juerg has been studying Whale Sharks in the Indian Ocean and I'm looking forward to his first paper on the subject. And, I hear, there will be a piece on something completely different: gay Sharks!

But most importantly, expect to see the first publications about his most recent research in Fiji: new behavioral observations, the first results from the ongoing radio-tagging small-scale movement study and a first evaluation of our enormous data base where we've recorded every single Shark Dive for the past five years.

And then, finally, there will be a piece about my very favorite topic.
I'm not allowed to spill the beans quite yet - but readers of this Blog will know what I'm talking about.

Keep watching this space!

Challenging the Uprising

According to a local blog, Pacific Harbour is the "Adventure Capital Of Fiji Brotha! Need We Say More?"

What was once a quaint and tired residential development built around an equally tired golf course is experiencing a veritable renaissance, this in no small measure owing to the selfless efforts of our landlord Jim and his co-conspirators from the Pacific Harbour Business Association.

Want to try out some crazy Adventure?
Look no further than The Uprising, Fiji's coolest Beach Resort and go check out the latest funky inventions of our hyperactive friends and creative geniuses Rene and Alfie! Their ever-growing Activities page brims with unusual and fun propositions, not least of which that of joining Fiji's very own BAD Boys and Girls on the Best Shark Dive in the World.
Obviously, all personally tried and tested. For the benefit of Tourism and not, as some would say, merely developed in order to continue attracting the creme-de-la-creme of shapely talent, local and foreign alike!

Everybody is now waiting with bated breath for the next big Grog session and subsequent rolling out of creative folly.
But: how on earth will they manage to top such iconic pastimes as Horse Boarding and Quad Bike Surf Skiing?

Quads? Horses? - Bah!
Now how about THIS for a challenge, guys!
Tell you what: you provide for the beach setting and the guy with the cojones, we throw in the bait and the critter!

Set?

Good on 'ya, Google!

The plight of Sharks continues unabated, as witnessed by these shocking statistics for Shark landings (that is, EXCLUDING finning where the carcass is dumped) for June in Ecuador - the same country already infamous for its ineptitude in managing the Galapagos National Park.
As always, well done to Shark Diver for having found and posted them.

But for once, where there's plenty of shadow, there is some light as well.
Whilst Yahoo's Alibaba portal continues to brazenly ignore the petitions by Conservationists and offers a "choice" of hundreds of sites selling Shark fins, one of its principal competitors has obviously decided to forgo those earnings in favor oft ethical considerations.

As of today, I believe, Google has updated its Advertising Policies that exclude the sale of products obtained from endangered or threatened species to explicitly mention Sharks.
This of course is not only laudable, but smart business sense as well, as anybody loving Sharks should, and probably will completely refrain from conducting any business with Yahoo and its despicable subsidiary but deal on Google instead.

Thank you Helen for he heads-up about this wonderful piece of news.

World Record Great White - and it gets even better!

Another tacky joke, I hear you ask?

You be the judge: first spotted by the guys over there at Shark Diver, this wonderful news tidbit from the beautiful land of Oz is spreading like wildfire across the ticker.

Incredible - but then again, why not..... in a country famous for its killer spiders, deadliest snakes, disemboweling birds, venomous egg-laying mammals, the most venomous marine animal known to mankind , the most lethal fish and mollusks and largest crocs, news of a lake harboring a 21 foot Great White may just be ordinary fare.

Although, according to Ozzie "expert" opinion, "a large shark like that would stick out like dog's balls". Right.....

But indeed - if true, that animal would be a veritable "Submarine", a world record fish weighing about two tonnes.
Of the kind an "elderly gentleman" could easily disentangle from his net. Mind you, all by himself.
And, as any fisherman, would refuse to talk about.

Mexico: Big Shark!

Two surfers have been killed and a third one injured in an recent spate of Shark incidents on Mexico's Pacific coast. The token Shark "expert" believes the reason may partially be "unusually cool sea-surface temperatures due to the La Nina phenomenon" bringing the Sharks closer to shore.

Well, yes: "may be".

Then again, "may be" not.
TOPP's fabulous real-time tracks sure point otherwise. And there have been plenty of "eventless" La Ninas between 2008 and the last recorded Mexican attacks in 1972-1973.
Aint "science" by experts just a wonderful thing.

In the aftermath, following a ceremonial shark massacre and community panic one expert described as "everything you saw with the movie 'Jaws,' only in Spanish," mania still flares.

Because as always, the locals know best: there's one helluva Big Shark lurking out there, chomping on Mexican flagged ships.
And on the token expert trying to flee the scene.

Mako Shark Predation finally filmed!

Source

History has been made.
With the aid of the world's fastest underwater scooter, "Animal Grappler" Erwin Marlin and his team have succeeded in capturing live video of a Mako Shark catching its prey at full speed in the open ocean!
This has to be seen to be believed!

Proudly powered by Moose Horn Beer.

Tiger Shark - and more!

One year, and 130,00-odd views later, Dominique's re-edit of some of my images remains a hot item on YouTube. I just love the comments!
For the record, I didn't choose that music and most images are from the "naughty file", a collection of unusual, albeit really harmless -and to us, rather endearing- situations from over 500 dives on The Shark Dive.



And here's another one of my all-time favorites by a group of intrepid Ozzie clients - really amazing, and very lucky too, especially considering the limited time they spent with us. As you can see, the Sharks are usually much more mellow!


Enjoy!

Shark Studies in Fiji

Winter has finally arrived along with balmy breezes and fabulous visibility - and our junior staff have suddenly turned on their very best behavior and sharkiest smiles.

Yes, Academic Treks' yearly gaggle of junior Shark aficionados have descended upon Pacific Harbour and Andrew is bracing himself for the usual mixture of adventure, charm, chaos, giggles and broken hearts.
May the Fun begin!

But seriously, welcoming a group like that could not be more rewarding.

When James, our senior Staff and I decided to embark upon this wonderful adventure called BAD in 2004, we agreed that our Project was to hinge on: Conservation, via the establishment of several Marine Protected Areas like Shark Reef Marine Reserve, the Fiji Shark Corridor and very soon, Combe Marine Reserve; Sustainable Tourism, via the direct involvement of the local Community and direct village payments to the tune of more than 30,000.00 dollars each year; Shark Research, by providing for the logistics and access to an ideal location allowing for largely uniform, predictable and safe encounters.

And Education.
In that regard, nothing quite matches the satisfaction of being allowed to transmit our love and awe of the Marine Environment to the next generation.

Locally, we try to achieve this via our Village Project where we train up, and hopefully then employ, three young prospects each year. Our Watisoni, Tubi and Peni are of chiefly stock and will once become leaders in their villages; Lo and Sivo are the daughter and son of native fishermen. All of them have already had a huge impact in their villages, by changing perceptions and helping to convince their communities that sustaining our Conservation efforts is in their very own best interest.

On the client side, we believe that anybody experiencing our Shark Dive will already leave with a new understanding and respect for those magnificent animals, this completely without the need for overzealous brainwashing from our side. For the more motivated, we also run special Shark Weeks where a select few can interact with scientists and contribute to their research.

Academic Treks' Shark Studies however go well beyond that, and we're proud in having been able to play a role in the development of the curriculum. On top of the fantastic diving and active participation in our ongoing research and conservation projects, it encompasses lectures in Shark Biology, Ecology and Conservation, but also village visits, cultural immersion and a great deal of sightseeing, relaxation and pure and simple fun. After last year's successful pilot project, the current program is already off to a great start.

Curious? If so, you may want to vicariously follow the kids' latest adventures through their daily web journal (click here for SS21) and check out their Fiji video.

Enjoy!

Shark Diving in the Med?

Whilst researching the previous post, I came across the above picture on, of all sites, Wikipedia's trusted Tiger Shark page, where it has replaced our very own Scarface.
A Tiger Shark in Antalya, Kaş - Turkey, as the caption implies? Maybe feeding on the rare Mediterranean Monk Seals, the World's rarest Pinniped, that frequent the area? But then, what about the small blue-and-yellow fish: Yellowtail Snappers? In the Med?
Yeah, right.......

That reminds me of this spectacular picture (click to enlarge), taken by my friends Pascal and Denis deep down in Tiputa Pass in Rangiroa. Remember the very similar cover shot on Michael Aw's Australasia Scuba Diver? Now, it hangs in a Fijian dive shop and clients are being assured that is was taken on a local dive. Not so.


But despite the obvious hoax above, Turkey is still well worth considering.
Every June, Boncuk Bay becomes a nursing area for Sandbar Sharks. No, Fatma, they don't "lay eggs" (they are viviparous), but they can be easily observed even on snorkel. And if you're really lucky, you may even stumble upon Eleonora de Sabata, Italy's own Shark Lady, and contribute to her ongoing research project, like you contribute to Shark Conservation when visiting our Shark Reef Marine Reserve.

And then, there's ........... Lebanon!
Lebanon, I hear you ask? Why on Earth would anybody want to go diving in THAT place???

Because of Odontaspis ferox.
Remember Malpelo's infamous Inzan Tiger and its "Tiger Ragged Tooth Shark", a "cross between a Raggie and a Great White"?
Well, it appears that you now have a choice: strap on your tech gear (or be outright stupid), brave Malpelo's treacherous currents and multiple thermoclines and dash down to 200 feet, only to spot nada de nada on El Bajo del Monstruo - or, strap on your bulletproof vest and head straight to equally infamous Beirut, where you may be able to spot some Smalltooth Sand Tigers at a place called Shark Point between July and September.
Decisions, Decisions...........

Anyway, plenty of links to check out!
Enjoy!

99.99%

Rome: A new scientific study funded in part by the Lenfest Ocean Program has concluded that all shark species assessed in the Mediterranean Sea have declined by more than 97 percent in abundance and “catch weight” over the last 200 years.

The findings of the study, Loss of large predatory sharks from the Mediterranean Sea, published in the journal Conservation Biology, suggest several Mediterranean shark species are at risk of extinction, especially if current levels of fishing pressure continue. There used to be 47 species of Shark in the Mediterranean, of which 20 were considered "top predators". Now, some of the big Sharks are virtually extinct.

Hammerhead Sharks have declined the fastest, with no recorded sightings in the Mediterranean since 1995. Hammerheads are estimated to have declined by 99.99%

Blue Sharks have declined by 96.53% in abundance and by by 99.83% in biomass in the last 50 years, with the steepest decline in the waters around Spain

The two Mackerel Sharks (Porbeagle and Shortfin Mako) have declined by more than 99.99% in both abundance and biomass over the last 100 years.

Thresher Sharks are the only species detected in coastal waters in recent times. Threshers have nonetheless declined by more than 99.99% over the last 100 years.

"Usually at the apex of trophic chains, large sharks are expected to play an important role in the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems .
Thus, the decline of large sharks may have marked ecological consequences. In the Gulf of Mexico predator and competitor release effects have been evident after the depletion of large sharks . In the northwestern Atlantic the decline of great sharks from coastal ecosystems has triggered a trophic cascade that collapsed a century-old fishery for bay scallops. Moreover, food-web models from the Caribbean suggest that large predatory sharks are among the most strongly interacting species, and that their overfishing may have caused trophic cascades that contributed to the degradation of Caribbean ecosystems ."

"Our analysis, combined with previously published information, indicates that the Mediterranean Sea is losing a wide range of its predator species. In addition to large predatory sharks, cetaceans, pinnipeds, turtles, and large bony fishes have declined similarly.
The wider ecosystem consequences remain to be investigated. Nevertheless, in various other systems, it has been demonstrated that predators can play an important role in structuring communities by controlling prey populations and preventing ecological dominance. Losing top predators can induce strong increases in midlevel consumers, shifts in species interactions, and trophic cascades."