The Sharkives

Save the Sharks. Please.

The SharkLab Experience

Check out this fantastic account of volunteering at Bimini SharkLab (@sharksneedlove)

OCEARCH Global Tracking Central

Here you can observe the navigational pattern of sharks that have been tagged with satellite tracking technology all for the purpose of shark conservation.

World’s Largest Shark Sanctuary Established : Discovery Channel

The world’s largest shark sanctuary was just established by French Polynesia.

Roughly 1.5 million square miles of ocean — critical environment for 21 species of shark, including the previously unprotected mako shark — are now completely off limits to shark hunters.

bull

From the photographer:

We’ve been putting satellite tags on bull sharks over the last two years to get a better idea of where they are going and what they are doing in their summer habitats.

Satellite tags, like this one, collect real time date on temperature, depth, and position. They newer ones even collect salinity. After a set amount of time, the tag pops off, floats to the surface, and beams the information that it collected to a satellite. Then, the satellite sends us an email and we go download it.

The water is that color because of where we were sampling (gulf-side of St. Vincent Island, FL .. where the Apalachicola River dumps out) and what type of bottom we were over (mud). We were only about 3 meters (9 ft) deep. This shot was taken earlier in the morning so that may have something to do with it, too. 
Sharks eat all kinda of things. This is a bull shark. Not a lot of comprehensive diet stuff has been done on bull sharks .. they are larger and harder to catch with gear that wouldn’t bias the data (e.g., gillnets versus hook and line with bait). But, most large sharks eat fish, shrimp, crab, and molluscs.

We’re wearing gloves because although shark skin is pretty smooth when you rub from nose to tail, it is very rough when you rub from tail to nose. Think road rash. We try to take every precaution when playing with these guys. If this shark were to thrash around, there is very little we could do to hold him still .. even with that tail rope on him.

This, by the way, is a juvenile female .. about 150 cm fork length (tip of the nose to the fork in the tail).

US Shark Fin Soup Appalling and Widespread

EU Ends Shark Finning

tiger

Swim For the Sharks- Angel Island is Next

On Friday October 19 six swimmers from the world famous Dolphin Club braved the currents and cold waters of the San Francisco Bay and successfully rounded Alcatraz and back in a 3.5 mile swim.

We swam to dispel the myth about sharks, decry the practice of shark finning and emphasize that sharks are important to the balance and health of the Bay and world ocean. 

Urgent Need For Shark Sanctuary--Before It's Too Late

The Semporna region is one of the few areas in the world where a devastating shark decline is still preventable, but this won’t be true for long. In the very near future, even Semporna’s shark species will have declined so severely that they cannot be saved
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Thousands of Gulf Sharks Caught During Annual Fishing Ban

It is illegal to catch sharks from the beginning of January to the end of April in the United Arab Emirates and yet thousands of them are landed during that time.

Costa Rica passes ban on taking of shark fins

Costa Rica on Wednesday passed a blanket ban on shark finning, in which the fins are sliced off sharks, often while they are alive, before the fish are thrown back into the ocean to die.

Australia to Kill Sharks in Bid to Protect People

Regular followers can quite easily guess what I think of this plan. Perhaps the state of Western Australia could spend AUS$6.85m over the next four years preventing drunk driving which injures and kills exponentially more people per year than sharks have done in the last century…

South Africa man poses with illegally caught great white shark...

This occurred almost a year ago now, but it speaks to how difficult conservation efforts can be, even in areas where great white sharks are legally protected.

mad-as-a-marine-biologist:

Dear Cathay Pacific,

 I applaud you for your decision to ban the transport of shark fin products on your carriers and subsidiary airline Dragon Air.

Anti-shark fin campaigners estimated that you flew 50% of the air cargo trade into Hong Kong each year, equating up to 650 tonnes of shark fins. You claimed it was less than this, but no matter how much it was, you’ve stopped. Thank you.

Whether it’s because of the petition that was signed in July, or your years of research into the matter, you’ve stopped. Thank you.

Your decision means that you’ve restricted the availability of shark fin products in Hong Kong and mainland China. It means you are part of many companies that are helping to turn the tide against the unsustainable shark fin industry. Once again, thank you.  

Yours sincerely,

Everyone (because saving sharks is saving ourselves).