GW's Great White Blog

Great White at surface.

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:56:52 -0500

Great White at surface.

Guadalupe Mexico Cage Diving

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:54:37 -0500

Guadalupe Mexico Cage Diving

Population of California Great Whites 220 to 350

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 06:28:30 -0500

Sacramento — On February 6, 2013 the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously voted to advance the candidacy of the most feared predator in the ocean — the Great White Shark. They said that it should be studied as a potential endangered species, which means during a one-year study review it will receive the same protections it would if it were listed as endangered. Great White Sharks are internationally protected and already can’t be targeted for catch. During the review, the sharks will receive even more safeguards, and the immediate effect will be a ban on incidental takes by net fishermen, who opposed the review. Their population is estimated between 220 and 350 statewide.

"Not many appreciate the ultimate power and potential usefulness of basic knowledge accumulated by..."

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:31:43 -0500

“Not many appreciate the ultimate power and potential usefulness of basic knowledge accumulated by obscure, unseen investigators who, in a lifetime of intensive study, may never see any practical use for their findings but who go on seeking answers to the unknown without thought of financial or practical gain”

- Eugenie Clark is a world-renowned ichthyologist and authority on sharks who is popularly known as the SHARK LADY. Born in New York City (1922)

thesharkives: great white

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 14:14:04 -0500

thesharkives:

great white

San Onofre State Beach — On December 20, 2012 Taylor Murray...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 03:24:17 -0500

San Onofre State Beach — On December 20, 2012 Taylor Murray reported the following; “I was out today with my friend at Trail 4 South of the San Onofre Power Plant. The conditions were very clean. Air temperature was about 65 and water about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It was around 12:00pm. We had been in the water for 30 minutes. I was looking over my shoulder to see the next set coming in when I saw, about 30 yards away, a shark breach. It had a very large/broad black dorsal fin, and a white belly. The shark appeared to be about 7 – 8 feet in length. After looking at pictures online I’d say it was a Great White Shark. As soon as I saw the shark I turned and paddled for the shore and a wave came and took me in. I yelled at my friend to get out of the water. There were 2 other surfers in the water who did not seem to mind. As we were leaving several other surfers arrived and we told them what we saw. They said that it was a common sight and that it was probably a juvenile Great White.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Photo is of a different juvenile shark that breached a little too close to shore. It eventually made its way back out to sea according to the girl who took the photos.

Source: http://sanodaze.blogspot.com/2008/03/photos-of-trail-1-shark-and-just-in.html

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Sun, 16 Dec 2012 04:58:53 -0500

flavorpill: Awesome storyboards from your favorite films

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 11:37:26 -0500

flavorpill:

Awesome storyboards from your favorite films

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Sat, 01 Dec 2012 23:18:40 -0500

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Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:11:10 -0500

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Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:27:55 -0500

2nd great white attack on a surfer in California waters in...

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:24:00 -0500

2nd great white attack on a surfer in California waters in October. Fortunately the victim was able to fend off the shark that was about 9 to 10 feet and survived the attack.

An update on the recent fatal great white shark attack in...

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 04:59:00 -0400

An update on the recent fatal great white shark attack in California from Pacific Coast White Shark News.

thesharkives: great white

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:33:50 -0400

thesharkives:

great white

Fatal Shark Attack - October 23, 2012

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 23:39:00 -0400

Note: Fall months are great white shark season in California. Surfer’s know the risks.

Another factor involved in this attack is it happened in the same location as a 2010 fatal attack on a body boarder. There have been numerous white shark sitings this summer in Santa Barbara waters.

Surf Beach — On October 23, 2012 Francisco Javier Solorio Jr., 40, of Orcutt was killed by a shark off Surf Beach near Lompoc, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. He was bitten by the shark in his upper torso. Solorio’s surfing companion “saw the shark bite his friend,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Mark A. Williams. “His friend ended up swimming over and pulling him from the water where he received first aid.” The friend started first aid while another surfer called for help, but Solorio was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene. The beach has been closed by the authorities. They did not give a length of time for this action. This is the seventh confirmed unprovoked shark attack from the Pacific Coast of North America for 2012 and the fifth fatal attack since 2000. Our thoughts and

prayers go out to the Solorio family and friends. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

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Sat, 20 Oct 2012 08:06:52 -0400

Sharks near shore A 20-foot shark, one of the biggest ever seen...

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 07:44:58 -0400

Sharks near shore

A 20-foot shark, one of the biggest ever seen in the area, was reported by a Monterey Bay tour boat company last weekend near the mouth of the Pajaro River.

Sean Van Sommeran, the executive director and founder of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, photographed the shark near a pod of bottlenose dolphins, less than 200 yards from shore.

He said he also saw a 10- to 12-foot shark that was so close to a pier at Seacliff State Beach, east of Capitola, that “you could have literally cannonballed off the side into the shark.” Van Sommeran said he also spotted a white shark lurking around dolphins off Manresa State Beach last weekend.

“Usually, we see them around dolphins, which is an important safety tip because there are still a lot of people who think dolphins make you safe against sharks,” Van Sommeran said. “These big sharks eat dolphins.”

Close calls

So far this year there have been four reported shark encounters, according to John McCosker, the chairman of aquatic biology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The incidents included May attacks on a paddle boarder near Avalon Harbor (Los Angeles County) and a kayaker off Cambria (San Luis Obispo), and the bitings in July of a kayak in Santa Cruz and a surfer at Topanga State Beach (Los Angeles County). None were fatal, he said.

Eleven people have been killed by sharks off the California coast since the first documented attack on a human 59 years ago. The body of a probable 12th victim was never found, so he isn’t counted.

This fall, Stanford and aquarium scientists plan to take DNA samples and affix acoustic tags to at least 30 more sharks. They will also photograph the unique markings on the big fish’s dorsal fins.

Great white sharks, known scientifically as Carcharodon carcharias, average 15 to 16 feet in length but can grow to 20 feet and weigh as much as 4,800 pounds. The biggest one ever recorded was 21 feet long and weighed 7,300 pounds. It was caught in 1939.

Jorgensen said shark researchers have been taking photographs of dorsal fins since 1987 and have gotten so familiar with some sharks that they have named them. One 16-foot shark, named Tom Johnson after the naturalist who first photographed him, has been documented in the region for 26 years, Jorgensen said. He has grown 3 feet in that time and is believed to be over 30 years old.

“Three weeks ago, he returned on schedule to Tomales Point,” Jorgensen said. “This is now the longest studied white shark in the world. Every year, we congratulate him on another successful year.”

Windsurfer is 6th Unprovoked Great White Attack this year on the...

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 00:10:00 -0400

Windsurfer is 6th Unprovoked Great White Attack this year on the Pacific Coast.

Davenport Landing — On October 7, 2012 Gunnar Proppe was wind surfing about 450 yards from shore at Davenport Landing. He was using a 75 liter windsurfing board (227.5 cm long, 54.4 cm wide), 5 square meter sail clear with red and black and yellow, orange, and blue splotches on the bottom of the board. It was 6:30 PM and he had been on the water about 1 hour. It was sunny and warm with a few high clouds scattered to the South and the wind less than 15 knots. There were a few wind waves with a good swell. There were sea birds diving close to shore. No marine mammals were observed in the area. Proppe recalled; “I had a great session and was heading in for my last tack since the wind was steadily getting weaker. I was sailing pretty slowly (not planing) as I was heading upwind. I noticed sea birds diving near the beach and remembered that could be a sign of schools of fish under the surface, but I’d seen that before so I wasn’t too concerned. A couple of minutes later there was a tremendous jolt under my board which threw me into the air. At first I thought I’d hit some kelp but realized quickly that I hadn’t been going fast enough to have that kind of impact. I landed in the water, between my board and the sail, which had fallen downwind of the board. I simultaneously felt something brush against my right toe and saw a grayish tan fin, which my hand touched. All I saw was a fin grey/tan in color, 8 – 12 inches high sticking out of the water, but I don’t think I was seeing the whole thing. I flailed for a few seconds, trying to scramble onto my board. Eventually I made it onto it and looked to the right to find that the impact had broken the mast about 18 inches up from the base, rendering the sail useless. Knowing that the rig would make paddling impossible, I struggled for a few seconds, trying to detach it and finally got it loose. I lay on my belly and started the long paddle back to shore. My perception of time was probably really skewed at this point, but I estimate that this was about 5 minutes after the attack. At this point there was a surfer in the break and one last windsurfer downwind. I stopped a couple of times, sat up and shouted warnings at them as loud as I could but they didn’t seem to hear. After a few more minutes of paddling, I got close enough to the surfer to gesture and shout for him to head to shore, which he eventually did. Just as I was getting to the break, the last windsurfer, Ed, reached me and said he was keeping an eye on me. I managed to catch a wave on my belly, keeping a vice grip on the board, and rode the wave straight to shore, only stopping once I was in 4 inches of water. Once on the beach, I noticed that my toe was bleeding enough to pool up on the rocks. I don’t know if I’d already cut it on the reef or if the contact with the shark had sliced it when it brushed by.” This is the sixth authenticated, unprovoked shark attack from the Pacific Coast this year.

Please sign the petition to stop Australia’s government...

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 11:53:00 -0400

Please sign the petition to stop Australia’s government from killing great white sharks as a solution to five attacks which have occurred in the past year. This is not a good solution to the problem. It could give a false sense of security to beach goers and needlessly kill sharks which are needed in our ocean. Yes, OUR ocean all our oceans are connected so Australia should not be permitted to kill sharks when the rest of the world is trying to conserve the species!

Click on the image to be taken to the petition site.

Please reblog!

I was sad today to find out one of my favorite shark experts has...

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:35:00 -0400

I was sad today to find out one of my favorite shark experts has died. I guess it was nearly a month ago. Rest in Peace Ron Taylor 1934 - 2012.