Shark pulls man from pier

By billrini

Jul

13

Mark Coghill was relaxing Monday afternoon, fishing on his vacation on Fort Myers Beach, but a shark changed all that.

Coghill, from Greencastle, Ind., said another fisherman, who was fishing on the other side of the pier, hooked a 6-foot blacktip shark and didn’t let go. The shark pulled him off the pier into the water.

“The shark was kinda pulling him around,” Coghill said. “It was pretty exciting.”

The man, whose name Coghill never got, didn’t speak English very well, but motioned to onlookers that he couldn’t swim.

“No one helped,” he said. “I said, ‘I guess that’s my cue.’ ”

The News-Press: Local & State

Neighbors discover 4-foot shark while on daily desert walk – Hesperia Star

By billrini

Jul

12

Neighbors Richard Doornbos and Al Embry have stumbled upon numerous mysteries of the Mojave Desert, but never anything like this.

Last week, while walking in a large vacant field across from Sultana High School near G Avenue, the two found a 4-foot-long and ominously unmistakeable shark. The fish, which appeared to have been dumped just hours before, bore large spotted markings.

Neighbors discover 4-foot shark while on daily desert walk – Hesperia Star

Heatwave attracts Basking sharks

By billrini

Jul

11

Basking sharks have been spotted swimming along the Cornish coast, attracted by the warmer seas.

Also known as the bone shark, they are the second largest fish after the whale shark and can reach a massive 36 feet in length.

But swimmers can stay in the water, as the sharks only feast on tiny marine animals and it is rare that they come so close to the shore.

Heatwave attracts Basking sharks

Recent shark attacks and sightings no cause for alarm says expert

By billrini

Jun

18

A shark expert says there’s no reason for the public to be alarmed.

“It’s their ocean basically,” says John Naughton, Pacific islands environmental coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service. “People if they use common sense they should minimize the chances of encountering sharks.”

Recent shark attacks and sightings no cause for alarm says expert

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | New shark discovered in US waters

By billrini

Jun

12

A new type of hammerhead shark has been discovered in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, marine scientists say.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | New shark discovered in US waters

Sharks Not Biggest Threat for Divers

By billrini

Jun

7

When it comes to sharks, researchers say Hawaii waters are teeming with tiger sharks. In 10 years of diving the South Pacific, film maker and free diver Kyle Nakamoto has had many close encounters with sharks, tigers included. He knows the warning signs.

Sharks Not Biggest Threat for Divers

15-foot tiger shark gets mouthful of boat

By billrini

Jun

7

A massive, hooked and tied female tiger shark attacked an inflatable boat Saturday during shark-tagging operations off this remote reef.

No one was injured, and the rigid-hulled inflatable was damaged but not disabled.

15-foot tiger shark gets mouthful of boat – The Honolulu Advertiser

Swim With Sharks In Kuala Lumpur Aquarium

By billrini

Jun

7

It’s getting so you can swim with sharks in virtually every aquarium – or so it seems. Bangkok’s new aquarium came complete with a swimming with sharks feature, which I mentioned a few months ago – and now Kuala Lumpur’s Aquaria is offering you the chance to get up close and personal with our toothsome friends. There is a article from the Malaysia Star newspaper that describes a non-diving journalist’s experience of trying to dive in the shark aquarium tank – unfortunately he couldn’t get below the surface as he kept panicking. Oh well, at least he got to see the sharks from above if nothing else.

Swim With Sharks In Kuala Lumpur Aquarium – divehappy.com: Scuba Diving In Thailand and South East Asia

Shark-Saving Magnets Pull in $25,000 Prize for American from International Smart Gear Competition

By billrini

May

23

Grand-prize winner Michael M. Herrmann from SharkDefense — a research company in New Jersey — beat out more than 80 other contenders for the Smart Gear prize with an original idea that uses a shark’s ability to detect magnetic fields as a way to protect them. Herrmann found that placing strong magnets just above baited hooks on a longline repels certain shark species, averting potential harm to the shark or the fishing gear. He was awarded $25,000 to further test and develop his idea.

Shark-Saving Magnets Pull in $25,000 Prize for American from International Smart Gear Competition

Shark nets ‘best’ beach protection

By billrini

May

6

Sometimes tough choices have to be made.

“The reality is the nets and the current program is the safest option available at the moment,” Mr Beattie said.

“I know that there will be some in the conservation movement who are not going to be happy about what happens to whales and to other marine animals like turtles, but the Government has to make a choice.

“It is an ugly choice between people and marine animals and we have chosen people.”

Whale Shark Surprise Dive Buddy

By billrini

Apr

22

Great story of a couple of divers who were joined by a whale shark while diving a wreck in Brunei. Most people go out of their way to dive with these gentle giants but this time the shark came to them.

Bangkok Mall Attraction Lets You Swim with the Sharks

By billrini

Feb

27

Although the story seems a little hyped up, it looks like the Bangkok Aquarium is now allowing divers to dive in the aquarium as part of their Deep Ocean exhibit. The reason I say hyped-up is because many other aquariums let you dive with sharks, Disney World Epcot being one so while this may be a new attraction for Bangkok, it’s certainly not as amazing as they try to make it sound.

Regardless, it may be something Bangkok divers might want to slip into their next visit to the Land of Smiles.

Hat tip to DiveHappy

Stalked By A Great White Shark

By billrini

Feb

27

Divehappy has a nice little summary of the story about Aussie football star Josh Francou and his father being stalked by a great white.

When couple took the plunge, sharks were part of the wedding party

By billrini

Feb

20

When couples promise each other for better or for worse, they probably don’t think the “for worse” part could happen as soon as the wedding ceremony. But Barbra Anderson and Jason Skubitz took that chance when they got married in the shark tank at the Mall of America’s Underwater Adventures aquarium on Valentine’s Day.

More . . .

More Than 60 Nations to Protect Sharks

By billrini

Dec

18

More than 60 countries agreed Sunday to ban the killing of sharks for their fins in the Atlantic Ocean, a move that conservationists hope will increase protection of threatened species around the world.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas drew up the agreement at its annual meeting being held in New Orleans. The group, which oversees management of many Atlantic fish species, acted on a proposal by the United States.

Read the rest at ENN

Santa Swims With Sharks

By billrini

Dec

10

Santa dove into the shark tank at the Aquarium of the Pacific hoping to get kids interested in marine life. In addition to seeing Santa, children watched as other animals were treated to special holiday treats, including icy candy canes and cookies.

Read it here.

Bamboo sharks released at Cape Panwa

By billrini

Dec

6

Bamboo sharks released at Cape Panwa

CAPE PANWA: The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PBMC) and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization pooled their resources and released 99 Indonesian Bamboo sharks yesterday in a gesture to mark the birthday of HM King Bhumibol Adulyedej.

The sharks – between six and 12 months old and measuring up to 50 centimeters long – were bred at the PMBC.

Harmless to humans, these creatures – which reach around a meter long when fully grown – can, surprisingly, live out of water for up to 12 hours.

Although bamboo sharks are not classed as endangered, there is concern that accidental or deliberate fishing may soon begin to take their toll on the species.

Brought to you by:
The Phuket Gazette
12:01 local time (GMT +7)

Dolphins saved us from shark, lifeguards say

By billrini

Nov

24

A pod of dolphins is being credited with saving a group of lifeguards from a circling great white shark.

Lifeguard Rob Howes, his daughter Niccy, 15, Karina Cooper, 15, and Helen Slade, 16, were swimming 100m out to sea at Ocean Beach, near Whangarei, when seven bottlenose dolphins sped towards them and herded them together.

. . . via The New Zealand Herald

Chances of Shark Attack

By billrini

Nov

8

“You are more likely to be killed by falling airplane parts or be hurt by using a room deoderizer than be attacked by a shark.”

– Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, Ca.

Taken from the Nov. 2004 edition of Scuba Diving Magazine.

Watching out for sharks

By billrini

Dec

19

Well written story about the Pelagic group which seeks to protect sharks.