Ultimate Shark Quiz!

Beat that! :)

And whilst yer at it.

Do take the time to explore Sharks4Kids, by far the best resource for aspiring Shark conservation advocates.

Well done!

Color Changes in Mantas - Paper!

These are birostris, but the same is being described for alfredi and cf birostris. Click for detail!

Who would have thought!

Turns out that Mantas can change their color.

And this not gradually over a long period of time but instead, within minutes! According to this paper, coloration may indicate their mood but perhaps also be linked to communication - whilst making visual species ID just a tad more difficult!

Fascinating - and great observation by Csilla Ari!

Michelle!

Well, NOW we're talking!

This is as good as it gets.

We've been big fans of Michelle ever since noticing her gleeful deconstructing of the dipshits with an opinion and a keyboard, and I can only commend the Gills Club for having added her to the lineup of Shark Heroes.

Well done!

TGIF - Croc and Tourist!

Crocs only want to hug - sez Higher Learning!

Story here and here!

And here comes Kara!

Well well - what can I say.

From this lab.

Who are doing this (= milking the Shark cull?) and especially, who are lending academic gravitas to this shit - but having said that, so is Ryan Kempster for whom I have a lot of respect!

Tricky tricky!

So far, undecided!

Boat Followers!

Little Tunny?

This is crazy cool video!

"Story" here.

Apparently filmed in the Gulf of Carpentaria - and if so, would those be limbatus or tilstoni?

JSD?

Enjoy!

And this is number five!

Again, good choice.
Here she is, explaining the Great Eggcase Hunt.

Ali - Shark Hero number four!

This is a real good choice.

The Shark Trust is one of the very best Shark NGOs.

They do great work on the ground, and this is an real important initiative. Especially all European Shark conservationists should consider lending a helping hand.

Well done!

Melanie - number three!

Surprise surprise!

We've just met!

And I can attest to the fact that she's one cool lady!

If I understand it correctly, she is principally concerned with supplying the science for the implementation of sustainable fisheries - but then I find her among the co-authors of Yannis' epic Tiger Sharks migration paper, and world on the street has her conducting Reef Shark research in remote Hawaiian atolls!

Anyway, once again, great job by Ed & Co of EDNA!

SW - all that Outrage is backfiring!

Guess what - it totally matters not! Source.

And I cite.

This Shark Week, we’re seeing a massive spike in interest around their less-than-factual productions.

And

David Shiffman (has) made it his personal mission to publicize the television event’s misinformation.

And

You might wonder why we bother doing this. It’s certainly not for the glory or the thrill of moderating thousands of hateful comments or the actual violent threats. It’s because, believe it or not, we love Discovery Communications...
So as long as Discovery is spitting out garbage, we’ll be right here shoving it back in their faces.

And they are loving you right back!

Let me try and re-formulate this so that maybe, just maybe it permeates all those layers of outrage, righteousness and self importance. Because really, it's so obvious to be painful: you are being played.

And the evidence is right there for everybody to see.

But you got to look in the right places, like here. Or here. 

And especially, here and here!

That's the only metric that counts - the numbers!

Sorry for having to break the news: it matters not at all what you write, it matters not whether your countless tweets, FB posts, articles, open letters and op-eds etc are positive or negative - the only thing that matters is that you write and especially, that you mention those search words! Which translates into numbers. Which translates into ratings. Which translates into advertisements. Which translates into money for DC!

That simple.

And this.

Those guys are pros. Why do you think they have doubled down on the mockumentaries despite last year's outrage - because they didn't hear you? No, it's because it has become glaringly obvious that the worse the shows and the more outrageously stupid the assertions, the more you will tweet and write! Correct?

Case in point: accurate deduction (YES they do troll you, actively!), wrong reaction!

Get it?

And trust me, I'm not being disingenuous here. 

They are really that calculating and callous.

So, Think!

You may want to consider toning it down several notches and reserving your ammo for one single scathing review at the end. Or, you can choose to continue doing what you are doing - and next year we'll be graced not with two but with three mockumentaries.

And that's a promise!

Shark Hero number two!

Source.

Behold!
And as so often, I stand corrected!
She obviously masters the unsurpassed conservation skill of taking selfies!

IGFA Records - great Paper!

Dead Goliath Groupers in 1957 - source.

Bravo!

Great to see a paper looking into this.

Those all-tackle weight records have been a personal gripe of mine for years (and here and here). In brief, the IGFA is sanctioning and certifying the deliberate targeting of the biggest individuals = inevitably, the oldest and possibly pregnant females that are the most prolific breeders and thus the most valuable individuals. This is especially true for Sharks where their life history compounds the problem - but in general terms, this generally applies to all Fishes.

Please read this paper.

Doesn't get much clearer than that - but should you still have any open questions, here are more answers by David.

Well done!

And the IGFA?

Why do they continue to hang on to those hopelessly archaic and unethical practices?

Hearsay has it that there was a movement from within the IGFA to gradually switch from weight- to length records that would not have automatically implied killing the Fish. Apparently, some Southern Hemisphere chapters threatened that if so, they would leave and thus break up the Association, at which the proposal was quietly shelved.

Dunno if 100% accurate - but certainly plausible.

And incidentally. 

I just realized that I never followed up on the trailer posted in one of the above links. This is the finished product - not 100% directly related but certainly worth watching.

Lindsay - first Shark Hero!

What's that on the wrist of the Shark Hero - would that be, gasp, an ORCA? Click for detail!
Brilliant cartoon by EDNA Interactive!

Nice!

Certainly a million percent better than that week-long orgy of fraud and mental midgetry I'm trying my best to ignore!

And of course we here love love love Lindsay!

But I must say, I'm frankly disappointed.

I've now spent the better part of the last hour going over the Gills Club's website, blog and FB page and the result ha been zilch, nada de nada: not a single measly video of any of those gals swimming loops around, let alone hugging and riding (!) a perplexed Elasmobranch - and above all and most disappointingly, zero bikinis!

And don't get me started about those pictures!

No makeup and hair stylist, no avant-garde logowear, accessoires and technical gizmos, once again zero bikinis - nothing!
Plus - ever heard of selfie, shaka sign, black duck wings?
Now THAT's what I call REAL conservation!

I mean, seriously!

Ladies - how will you ever be able to Make a Difference if you're so glaringly unwilling to dispel the myth of those misunderstood animals that only want a hug!

With that science shit?
Really?

Anyway.

Like I said, nice - but you can and must do better!

BRUVS' in Beqa Lagoon - cool!

Baby Silvertips are the cutest Sharks, ever - iconic pic by Mark!

El Diego has posted another one!

After the teenage Tiger on steroids, now this.

Last week did yield one big Tiger overhead, one small nosy one, one whopping Lemon, a beautiful Zebra and the cutest tiny Silvertip, ever! All of course part of Projects Abroad's stellar Fiji Shark program.

Enjoy!

TGIF - a little too much Magnesium!

Enjoy!

Accolades for DaMary!

DaMary in Fiji - everything the bikini bimbettes are not!

Finally!

Mary O'Malley is the March 2014 Sea Hero.

Yes I know, I've totally missed it when it happened - but now that I know, I really must congratulate Oris for having chosen the very best possible candidate. DaMary is of course my Most impressive individual Shark Conservation Advocate for both 2012 and 2013, and this public acknowledgment of her tremendous contribution to conservation could not have been more deserved.

Attagirl - I'm proud of 'ya!

Finned Sharks leaking Ammonia?

Most coastal sharks are landed, not finned - source.

And talking about crowdfunding scams.

So far, Collier has managed to rope in 25 suckers.

The thousand bucks will go a long way to fund his stellar Shark Conservation and Education Seminars where the enthralled public will be treated to such pearls of erudition as, and I cite when the discarded bodies of finned sharks are thrown overboard, they sink to the bottom where ammonia leaking from their ravaged bodies destroys coral communities.

And here. And here.

Wowza!

And since we're at it - let's also get rid of all those ammonia-excreting Fishes! Obviously, it is they that are the main perpetrators of the ammonia onslaught, not the small proportion of the caught coral-dwelling Sharks are that are actually being finned. Oh, and then there would be the ammonia pollution by the Corals themselves (!) - damn!

Detail detail!
But who cares about the pseudoscientific BS - as long as it's for the Sharks, right?

Anyway.

Save the Corals!

New Shark Repellent Scams!

Source.

Have you seen this?

Right.

After a decade of scientific research (see any mention of the specific research undertaken by NoBite Technologies?), no less, and a swim in California, surrounded by hundreds of sea lions engaged in a feeding frenzy, in an area known to be frequented by great white, tiger (!!!), and mako sharks, those guys are so confident in the technology that they are giving a $1,000,000 No Bite Guarantee!

Wow!

But they don't have the 175,000 to finish producing the gizmo?

But the video is great!
A pal writes.

• Sound bytes grabbed from quasi shark alliance bumper stickers - check 
• Scared looking surfers - check 
• Technology derived from sketchy research - check 
• Footage of a bunch of reefies looking bored - check 
• Let's do this shi... Now, strap it on and be vewy vewy quiet. Avoid splashing and sudden movements ... 
• Disclaimer: not a guaranteed or proven shark deterrent. Do not immerse for longer than a few seconds. May not work on sharks trying to hug you. Practice aloha and dolphin noises.

And this shit?
Yes they want your money, too - and plenty of it! But fear not, this must obviously be totally legit because they got none other than Collier and Ritter (!!!) as consultants - need I say more!  :)
Through extensive testing, the signal for the SharkStopper' “Personal Shark Repellent” (PSR) has been proven to repel sharks up to 60 feet away, with a minimum protection of approximately 20 feet. 
Really? Show me the fucking data!

I say, these are once again nothing but brazen scams.

To be convinced otherwise, I would have to be presented with evidence = as in a peer-reviewed paper about the testing of, as a bare minimum, a) the success of the gizmo emitting specific Orca sounds in repelling a variety of Sharks, vs a control b) habituation effects c) the effects of hundreds of aquatic recreationists beeping away simultaneously in the ocean. Or failing that - how about producing a suitably verified test protocol!

Yeah I know - never gonna happen!

Incidentally, the bible states.

Crucially, most sounds can elicit withdrawal if they start suddenly and/or rapidly increase in loudness, including medium-frequency pure tones and even low frequency pulsed sounds that would otherwise attract sharks.
...
It is important to note that sharks quickly habituate to both attractive and repulsive sounds (Myrberg et al. 1969; Myrberg et al. 1978), which would mean that for any auditory-based shark repellent to remain effective it would have to be deployed only for short durations rather than being left on permanently. 

And in related news.

Remember Marine Dynamics' zebra decoy?

Check out the pic at the top - there it is, doing what it does best: attracting GWS!

Bad News for the Vaquita.

Fish bladders - driving the Vaquita into extinction.

Read this.

Poor Vaquita.

Since that post 4 years ago, the situation has become all-but hopeless - not because of targeted persecution but as collateral damage of the hugely lucrative and criminal trade in yet another, now critically endangered species favored by the Chinese cuisine and medicine.

And the SSCS, self proclaimed saviors of Cetaceans?

Still nowhere in sight - there is no blood and gore = television ratings to be had here, so why would they bother. Instead, they continue to waste time and scarce donor money in Taiji - and yet, not a single one of those Dolphins is threatened with extinction.

Predictable GWS?

Great pic by Ozzie Sam - source.

From a recent message by a friend.

He runs caged commercial dives with GWS.

Had a very large super female at about 5.5m.
She was an absolute animal and every single dive we did she basically wanted to eat the occupants of the cage. A very very very dangerous animal. Pretty much the only shots I have of her are directly down her maw.

And how about this video.

Story here.

“In what are most likely predatory attacks, sharks take advantage of the clear water to lurk in the darkness below the vehicle, then swim up suddenly and bite it on the tail or mid-section,” researchers explained. 

Indeed.

Most GWS attack survivors report that they never saw the animal, meaning that totally unsurprisingly, those Sharks are wily and know exactly how to surprise their prey. Think that in those situations, those puny pokey sticks are gonna be of any help whatsoever?

So don't be stupid.

The season at Guadalupe is about to open, and the usual gang of suspects are going to be promoting those illegal out-of-cage expeditions to the adrenaline junkies and the naive Shark huggers alike. Hopefully, this year, the authorities are going to step up their supervision and finally get rid of the transgressors - but Mexico being Mexico, this is far from being a certainty.

Should you be on the fence about joining - Think!

I correspond with numerous people who run commercial dives with GWS - and the above message is but one of many similar ones. If there is one thing everybody agrees upon, is that those Shark are nothing like those people would want you to believe. Yes "they" are not out to get us - but they differ substantially on an individual basis, and some of them are very dangerous and will certainly try to exploit a perceived opportunity.

Going cageless is a fool's bet - and the fool would be you.

Nuff said.

PS - Martin about the same topic here.
       Safety over $$$ - that's why I respect the man.

This video shows, what I've been telling our divers all along. "It's not the shark you see, that will get you, it's the one you don't see". Anyone going outside a cage to ride or hug a shark, to show you that they love us, is either a fool or just interested in self promotion. If you claim to love the Great White Shark, you have to respect them for what they are. Awesome predators that are neither out to get us, nor are they harmless pets. Any promoter or operator telling you that you can safely dive outside of cages at Guadalupe either doesn't know what he's talking about, or just wants your money.