There has been a bit of a stink in the blogosphere--whatever that means--about the Monterey Bay Aquarium's attempt to get another live juvenile White Shark to exhibit. The aquarium's White Sharks--the aquarium claims--come from rescued bycatch from compensated commercial fishermen. Others claim that this is propaganda spread to hide that the aquarium bribes Shark fishermen to specifically target juvenile White Sharks in order that the aquarium may put them on display.

This from Ken Peterson, an aquarium mouthpiece:

Since 2002, we and our university research colleagues have handled 30 young white sharks in Southern California waters. Of those, 29 were caught accidentally in gear used by commercial fishermen as they were fishing for sea bass or halibut. The 30th was caught hook-and-line by our staff, and was one of three young sharks brought to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Of the 29 caught in commercial gear, five died. Some of those deaths undoubtedly were the result of injuries the sharks sustained in fishing nets before we received them. (There's no definitive way to say in how many cases that was a factor.)
We do know that, because fishermen are willing to alert us when they accidentally catch a young white shark, we've been able to tag and track more than a dozen animals and learn more than has ever been known about their movements in waters off Southern California and Baja. You can find the published data from the initial tagging work here.

[LA Times]

Who you gonna believe? Do you really think that only five of the supposed 29 Sharks died? Do you really think that the commercial fishermen were only fishing for "sea bass or halibut?" Which member of the aquarium "staff" was responsible for catching the 30th Shark hook-and-line? If you pay a trophy fisherman to catch you a Shark, doesn't he in fact become aquarium staff? The aquarium likes to give a lot of lip service to their tagging programs. Can't these Sharks be tagged and released without penning them in Malibu and bringing them all the way up to Monterey to but on display for drooling tourists?

Enough words...here are some pictures.

A freshly captive juvenile White Shark:

Same Shark after he becomes stressed:
Notice the squashed rostrum? That is from bumping into the sides of his enclosure.

Squashed Rostrum:

Close up:

On Sunday, a juvenile male White Shark was released from the captivity pen off Malibu after six days, because he wasn't eating. But, there is late-breaking word that a juvenile female White Shark caught off Ventura on Monday is already in the captivity pen off Malibu. It looks like the Monterey Bay Aquarium is really working overtime to get a captive Shark just in time to capitalize on that late-summer tourist revenue.

Read.

Stamp out greed and hubris.

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Great White Sharks, Shark Fishing, Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Malibu, bycatch, aquariums, Halibut, Sea Bass

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What part of the Shark bites will continue until the Shark tournaments cease don't people seem to understand?

There was another Shark party last Thursday. This one was at Isle of Palms, South Carolina. A 37-year-old man was swimming in the breakers when a 5-foot Shark grabbed his hand and took a taste. He required medical attention, but his hand will be fine...the guy probably wasn't a Shark fisherman. There are no pictures so we are going to have to fake it again.

This is more permanent than the damage done in Isle of Palms.

Two people were jammed at the Isle of Palms on the same day last August. They didn't report the Shark species back then either.

Read.

The war will continue until the Shark fishing stops,

--Sharky

technorati tags: Isle of Palms, South Carolina, Sharks, Shark Bites, Mako Sharks, Shark tournaments, tattoos

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Jennifer Cation was jammed on the leg on Friday morning while wading in chest-deep water off Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Fernandina Beach Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Jeffrey Bunch:

“(She was) in between waves in about chest-deep water when something came up and bit her leg right above her ankle,” Bunch said. “It was pretty severe, (the bite) appeared to be to the bone.”

[source]

The beach was never closed--sweet! There is also no word on the species...hmmmm...Bull Shark?

Since no pictures of the incident have been released we will have to show an unrelated leg jam. We seriously doubt Jennifer's was this bad:

We also doubt that her Shark "incident" was this cool:

Remember, the Shark jams will continue until the bullshit Shark fishing tournaments cease!

--Sharky

technorati tags: , Florida, Fernandina Beach, Sharks, Bull Sharks, Shark bites

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[source]

It took John Vasbinder 40 years of surfing before he got Shark jammed. On June 7, he finally graduated as he was paddling out in Cocoa Beach, Florida. His bite required 45 stitches. Some have said his jammer was a Bull Shark. But it looks like he got off pretty easy for a Bull Shark.

I am predicting that this statistical upswing in Shark incidents will continue until decadent macho Shark tournaments cease in the United States. The 22nd annual Star Island Yacht Club Shark tournament happened last week in Long Island, New York. Twenty four Sharks were hauled in and hoisted aloft for the crowd of drunken spectators to gawk at and smell. The yacht club claims that the tournament is “environmentally sensitive” because they have weight limits. Big deal. Frank Mundus--the king of Shark killing himself--says that out of 12 Sharks caught and released, 10 end up dying do to hook damage to their stomachs. "Environmentally sensitive" indeed. Some of the anti-Shark tournament protesters have received death threats. Classy!

This asshole's Blue Shark murder didn't count because it was under the weight limit. Nice job, cocksucker.

Civilized people showing their support for common sense.

The three species most targeted in these tournaments, Blue Sharks, Mako Sharks, and Thresher Sharks are all threatened.

Read.

--Sharky

technorati tags: Shark fishing, Long Island, New York, Shark Bites, Cocoa Beach, Florida, Fishing Tournaments, Montauk, Frank Mundus, Blue Sharks, Thresher Sharks, Mako Sharks, Bull Sharks

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This is Jackson Shaw, he is a 19-year-old who is lucky enough to have parents that own a home off a canal in Palm Beach on Australia's Gold Coast. He caught what goldcoast.com.au calls a "monster." It was just a 5-foot Bull Shark, get over yourselves.

"Finally, I pulled it on to the jetty and got some photos but I thought it was going to get off because it was so agro. When I got it in, I was just in shock and Dad was gobsmacked. He had been hassling me the worst and he didn't really have much to say after that."

LOL WUT!

Jackson wanted to keep the Shark for a trophy but luckily his mother was a lot smarter than him and made him release it. Thanks Mom, but your son did not inheret your even-mindedness.

Here is one more picture of Saturday's lucky Shark Partier from Mexico--Bruce Grimes. He plans on going back in the water once his arm heals. I hope so as he owns a surf shop close to the party area. Oh, and he did lose this thumb after all. There is video here. He says it was a 9-foot Bull Shark. Told ya so, told ya so!

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Shark Attacks, Mexico, Australia, surfing, Bull Shark, Australia, Zihuatanejo, Shark Fishing, Gold Coast

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