Great White shark's close encounter with teenage surfers in New South Wales!

A group of teenagers on the New South Wales far south coast say they'll keep surfing despite a big white pointer shark crusing the area.

The young surfers came within a metre of the 5m to 6m shark that has been sighted between Merimbula's bar and Pambula Beach over the past week.

One of the surfer's fathers, Pambula Surf Lifesaving President Don Hay says the boys were unsettled by the incident but realise it is a risk they take.

"As the boys said, if it'd wanted to eat them, they couldn't have done anything about it", he said.

"So it was obvious that the shark saw them and didn't realise it was dinner time, I suppose, which is obviously a great thing".

Jessica Alba will not be charged for vandalizing advertising to raise awareness of Great White sharks

Jessica Alba will not be prosecuted for her role in vandalizing a Lamar Advertising in a stunt to raise awareness of the dwindling great white shark, according to the AP.

The actress had plastered a Lamar board — being used by charity group United Way — with a giant picture of a great white. The protest was organized by blogger White Mike, who travels the country plastering shark pictures everywhere in hopes of getting people to sympathize with the scary but endangered beasts.

After complaints came in, Alba — no guerilla activist, she! — immediately apologized:

I got involved in something I should have had no part of … I realize that I should have used better judgment, and I regret not thinking things through before I made a spontaneous and ill-advised decision to let myself get involved with the people behind this campaign. I sincerely apologize to the citizens of Oklahoma City and to the United Way for my involvement in this incident.

Oklahoma City’s Parks and Rec Dept filed a complaint with police and photos of Alba committing the act appeared briefly — and where then removed — on White Mike’s blog.

To add insult to injury, the board had been donated to United Way by Lamar for free. The AP:

Lamar Advertising, which owns the billboard, also said the company doesn’t plan to pursue charges, said Bill Condon, general manager and vice president of the company’s Oklahoma City office.

“I think her comment and what she released seemed pretty sincere,” Condon said.

Three sharks caught off the Malta coast were mistaken as Great White sharks

Three sharks which Maltese fishermen recently caught close to the island were wrongly described as great whites even if they were the much smaller and less infamous short-fin makos.

Inspectors from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority investigated claims about the catch and found it was not the case, a Mepa spokesman said.

Besides the effect the report could have on bathers and tourists wanting to visit the islands given the bad reputation these marine predators have been given, catching great whites is illegal because the species is protected.

The reports originated from a chain e-mail, which spoke of great whites having been caught but actually carrying an image of a Mako caught four years ago, shark enthusiast Alex "Sharkman" Buttigieg, said.

The last great white catch recorded in Malta was the much-publicised female that was fished in 1987 by Alfredo Cutajar.

Sharks rarely swam into Maltese waters and, when they did, they generally did not approach the shore, Mr Buttigieg said.

He pointed out that, although all shark populations in the Mediterranean were dwindling due to over fishing, the mako was not protected. Other sharks, like the angle, were in much more immediate need of protection.

In fact, Shark Alliance, a coalition of non-governmental organisations dedicated to science-based conservation of sharks, which Mr Buttigieg forms part of, was lobbying for better protection at EU level.

Earlier this year the EU announced a plan of action for the conservation and management of sharks. The plan protects sharks from finning, the practice of killing sharks for their fins, which are used for an oriental soup. Although there was no finning in Malta, there was no guarantee that there would never be, Mr Buttigieg said.

Shark fishing has been growing rapidly since the mid-1980s, mainly driven by expanding demand from Asian markets. Between 1984 and 2004 world catches of sharks grew from 600,000 to over 810,000 metric tonnes annually. The EU fleet now takes about 100,000 tonnes of sharks and related species each year.

The Sharks brothers will offer a "Sharks Clinic" to kids in order to demystify sharks

The Shark Brothers - actual blood brothers who share the same last name - will present "Sharkstravaganza" at a free children's clinic in the Bay Walk area at noon Saturday as part of 2009 Shark Fest today and Sunday on Fort Myers Beach.

Sean and Brooks Paxton are catch, tag and release shark fishing specialists from North Port. The brothers are known for their biography on Frank "the Monsterman" Mundus, the Captain Quint character on which the movie "Jaws" was based. Mundus was the captain of the Cricket II boat that was responsible for the largest shark ever caught on rod and reel. Angler Donnie Braddick caught the 3,427 pound great white shark.

"Our underlying theme and goal of this is for people to come down and leave with a greater understanding, broader appreciation and respect for these animals," the brothers Paxton agreed.

The Paxton Brothers will show some of the memorabilia they have collected from the show as well as a Monsters from the Deep traveling exhibit. They also will entertain festival goers with a shark show and tell.

They will have some special artifacts and specimens including teeth from the largest shark ever caught. They will pass around skin samples of sharks because they are made up of millions of tiny little teeth. They'll have tiger jaws that were proven to be responsible for several attacks in Hawaii in the 1990s. They'll also have lots of video that supports the type of work they do and footage of the largest shark ever caught on rod and reel.

The brothers will be indirectly involved in the Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge 3, the catch-and-release shark tournament where teams of anglers from around the country begin their full moon, overnight competition at 8 p.m. Saturday to grab the prize for the biggest catch.

With the format change to all catch-and-release, they will go out before the tournament and pre-tag and release five sharks. Those tags will have cash and prize awards attached. So, should an angler catch one of those sharks and snip that tag off and retrieve it, they can win big money in cash and prizes.

The tagging process does not harm the sharks.

They will use platform boats using traditional methods like circle hooks, line and bait where one of the two will use a tag stick with tags specifically provided by the National Marine Fishery Service. The tag will be applied to the skin right next to the dorsal fin, "sort of like a shot for a human being with the same amount of discomfort."

The Shark Brothers then explained what happens if the tagged shark doesn't get hooked and the tag remains on its skin.

If the tags are not retrieved, the benefit is that these tags will go into an international data base for the National Marine Fishery Service to propagate shark research, they said.

Shark Fest 2009

Tournament Director Jack Donlon - also the festival founder- and the Bay Walk Group at Times Square are hosting the inaugural Shark Fest, a combination boat show, street fair and shark contest. On Saturday and Sunday, Old San Carlos Boulevard will be closed from 3rd Street to the waterfront to make room for new and used boats that will be on display on land as well as the Back Bay during the festival; more than 80 vendors featuring nautical, educational and shark merchandise; live bands; a bounce house for the kids; and a mechanical shark ride for the adults.

The Bay Walk Group - including Snug Harbor Waterside Restaurant; The Matanzas Inn and Waterfront Restaurant; The Smokin Oyster Brewery; The Yucatan Beach Bar & Grill; The Ship Wreck Motel and Treasures; and Surf Pie - will run specials during the weekend at their respective businesses.

The Yucatan Beach Stand, one restaurant in the group, will be having a MAKO Vodka promotion as well as Landshark beer specials, live entertainment, giveaways and JAWS trivia on both days of the event.

"We at the Yucatan are pleased with the recent changes to event making it more eco-friendly," said Yucatan General Manager Stevie DeAndelis. "The open container law has been relaxed so festival goers can stroll through the event grounds and see all the festival has to offer and enjoy a cold beverage at the same time. As a member of the Bay Walk Group, the Yucatan looks forward to more festivals and family friendly events in this venue."

Snug Harbor Waterside Restaurant, another Bay Walk eatery, will have a festival booth on the fountain side of his restaurant for take-out fare.

"It really is exciting to be able to use this space for the first time it was designed to be used," said Snug Harbor General Manager Mickey Ferry. "Under the gazebo, there will be a 12-foot (SharkTron) screen. The anglers will bring their picture and video cards (for viewing). People can see what is going on at the tournament."

Top beaches for shark attacks...including Great White sharks!

North America is home to dozens of beaches where swimmers and sharks intermix, even though the humans may never know it.

According to George Burgess, an ichthyologist at the University of Florida who maintains a database called the International Shark Attack File. When the rare attack happens it's usually a predatory mistake. "In the surf zone, where many attacks happen, sharks need to make quick decisions," he said. "Humans on surfboards-hands splashing, feet kicking - can trigger a shark to think there's trouble or a wounded animal, and it looks like an easy meal."

But according to Laleh Mohajerani, executive director of the shark conservation organization Iemanya Oceanica, sharks are not looking to interfere with humans in the water. Our shark-attack fears are irrational, she said. "You are more likely to be hit by lightning."

Indeed, there's no arguing the numbers. Of the millions of people who enter the ocean each year, almost none are touched.

But for most people, fiery emotions override even the coldest numbers. A single scary story - be it on the news or in an effects-heavy Hollywood production - will destroy the efforts of hundreds of scientists trying to communicate on research and logic.

Take a dip if you dare.

New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Due to its thousands of annual - as well as its toothy inhabitants that hunt offshore - New Smyrna is the shark attack capital of the world. That's according to the International Shark Attack File, which cites 210 attacks in the beach's home county of Volusia, Fla. But miles of white sand and consistent surf breaks continue to draw vacationers and locals alike into New Smyrna's waters.

North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii
No. 2 on the International Shark Attack File for unprovoked attacks is Oahu, where tiger sharks, Galapagos sharks and sandbar sharks congregate in high numbers, especially near beaches on the island's north shore. This doesn't stop surfers, who flock to Velzyland Beach, the Leftovers Break and dozens of additional wave-beaten beaches where sharks search and swim.

Long Beach Island, N.J.
Source material for "Jaws," a 1974 novel by Peter Benchley - and later a movie by Steven Spielberg - came from incidents at this New Jersey beach in 1916. In an unprecedented 11 days, five major shark attacks took place along the Jersey Shore, four of which were fatal. Reports cited blood turning the water red and sharks following victims toward the beach. Today, sharks are rare, but the legend lives on in the surf and swells of these tepid Atlantic waters.

Stinson Beach, Calif.
In the shadow of Marin County's Mt. Tamalpais, Stinson Beach is a spot where great white sharks swim into the shallows. Patric Douglas, owner of Shark Diver, an ocean guiding outfit in San Francisco, said he has sighted them at Stinson - which is a neighboring stretch of sand east from Bolinas Beach (No. 3 on the list)- in less than 20 feet of water. "They're coming to feed on seals, though it's not uncommon for surfers to see them," he said.

Beaches of Brevard County, Fla.
In the past 100 years, there have been 90 reported shark confrontations on beaches in this county on Florida's east coast. Visitors head east from Orlando to the ocean to dip toes in the tepid waters at Cocoa Beach, Jetty Park and Klondike Beach, a 24-mile-long wilderness beach accessible only by foot in Canaveral National Seashore preserve.

Horry County, S.C.
South Carolina has seen more than 50 total shark attacks over the past century, according to the International Shark Attack File. Of those, 16 attacks are recorded off the beaches of Horry County, where the town of Myrtle Beach is famous as a tourist destination. The good news: The International Shark Attack File cites no fatal shark attacks in South Carolina since 1852.

Solana Beach, Calif.
A freak great-white attack in 2008 at Solana Beach in San Diego County, Calif., killed a 66-year-old swimmer. He was on a morning swim, training with a group when the attack occurred. Solana Beach, home to a population of seals, is at the periphery of the corridor where great sharks commonly roam.

By Stephen Regenold, Forbes Traveler

Maltese fishermen caught 3 Great White sharks

Maltese fishermen are said to have landed three Great White sharks recently, caught on trawl lines that are several miles long and laid in the sea to fish for tuna and swordfish. One of them is said to have been caught some 10 kms off Gnejna. Tuna and swordfish fishing, using mackerel among other bait, is usually done in long fishing trips that last several days. The Great White shark is known in Maltese as pixxiplamtu, though Aquilina in his dictionary refers to the pixxiplamtu as the Porbeagle Shark.

Great White shark sighted in action, near Perth

A great white shark has been sighted circling a whale carcass near a popular Perth beach.

Floating about six nautical miles west of Scarborough Beach, the carcass is believed to have attracted the shark, which was spotted on Sunday.

WA Department of Fisheries spokesman Tony Cappelluti said he was concerned the dead whale would float closer to the shoreline.

"While the carcass is a long way off any Perth beaches, it is important that boat users or divers are aware of the potential increased shark activity near the carcass," Mr Cappelluti said.

"There has also been another shark sighting this morning at Strickland Bay on Rottnest Island, where warning signs were erected several days ago after sightings made during the week.

Bill Donovan, the Basketball coach will swim with Great White sharks

No one has ever questioned if Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan can swim with the sharks in the brutal world of college hoops.

Now he's going to take a dip with the real thing.

Donovan's wife, Christine, organized a trip to South Africa where only a cage will separate the UF coach from great white sharks for several days during feedings.

"My youngest boy (Bryan, 12) loves sharks and we had talked a bunch about going to South Africa and getting in the cage with white sharks," Donovan said while attending the Southeastern Conference's spring meetings. "My wife said, 'I'm tired of all the talk. All you guys talk, but you don't do anything.' And she got on my calendar and she said, 'You're free for these days.' And she booked the whole trip."

Donovan, along with Bryan, Donovan's mother and a friend from Lexington, Ky., and his daughter, are taking the trip.

"We're leaving (today), it's an 18-hour flight," Donovan said. "We'll be in Cape Town for four days, and then we're going to Kruger National Park for four days."

Donovan and his son will go under water in cages, for protection from the sharks.

"I've never, ever scuba-dived," he said. "I think they give you a snorkel mask and the cage is like three-quarters of the way submerged. And then, four straight days we're going to watch them breach, jump out of the water. I got a great e-mail from the lady doing the trip and she said there's a lot of shark activity right now. I'm excited about it, I really am."

He said Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley wanted some assurances.

"Jeremy Foley wanted to know that there would be no hands or limbs or anything else out of the cage while this is going on," Donovan said with a sheepish grin. "Yeah, that's what he told me. He said he needs some type of insurance policy there will not be any limbs outside the cage."

While Donovan was in Sandestin, however, Christine was dealing with another headache. Donovan found out Monday his passport had expired and she was scheduled to drive to Miami on Wednesday to pick up a replacement.

"My name is not real big at home right now," Billy Donovan confessed of the passport blunder.

Why take the trip now?

"The guy from Lexington that we're going with, his wife passed away four months ago with brain cancer," Donovan said. "She was my wife's best friend. My wife was like, you know what? Money, time, nothing can take the place of you and your son doing this experience-wise. And I'm not a great organizer. . . . She did the whole thing. (Bryan is) really, really excited and it's going to be a great time. He's really pumped up about this."

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Contact Jones at 242-3682 or djones@floridatoday.com

Whale scavenged by Great White sharks

Kina Scollay/TREVOR ROBB

BIG BLUE: The 27-metre long, 150-tonne blue whale carcass found about 7 kilometres south of the Whanganui Inlet, at the southern end of Farewell Spit, on Tuesday.

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A massive blue whale that washed up on a remote West Coast beach had several shark bites, but experts said it was unlikely the sharks killed it.

Paua fishermen found the 27-metre long, 150-tonne carcass about 7 kilometres south of the Whanganui Inlet, at the southern end of Farewell Spit, on Tuesday.

Nelson paua fisherman Philip Walker said most of the tail had been chewed off and there were other bites on the whale's body.

He said Department of Conservation (DOC) staff had confirmed the bites were made by great white sharks. "It's the biggest one I have seen," Walker said."It was huge."

Another fisherman at the scene, Kina Scollay, was attacked by a great white shark, which took a bite out of his leg, off the Chatham Islands in 1995.

Whale expert Anton van Helden, collection manager of marine mammals at Te Papa in Wellington, said it was likely the bites were made after the whale died. A tissue sample would be taken for Auckland University's whale database.

Two unexpected Great White sharks participate to scientific study!

Two hungry sharks feeding on the rotting carcass of a whale off the Perth coast yesterday unwittingly joined Australia’s biggest research project into the predators’ behaviour.

WA Department of Fisheries spokesman Tony Cappelluti said a research vessel was heading north yesterday morning when its crew spotted a 3.5m great white shark feeding on the carcass about six nautical miles west of Scarborough.

Shark expert Dr Rory Macaulay went to investigate and a second, 4.5m-long shark was soon spotted. The scientists seized the opportunity to tag the sharks for a continuing, Australia-wide research project into when, where, how often and for how long great white sharks visit metropolitan beaches.

Leaning into the water only a metre or so away from the feeding beasts, they shot a dart-tipped spear into the back of the sharks near their dorsal fins.

This embedded tags that will monitor their movements for up to 10 years and set off alarms when they near the coastline.

“There’s hardly any reaction from the sharks — it’s almost like hitting them with a fly-swat,” Mr Cappelluti said.

He said with the prevailing weather conditions, the sharks were unlikely to present much of a risk to beachgoers.

“Those sharks will probably clean it up over the next few days,” Mr Cappelluti said.

“We’ll probably not see that whale carcass come ashore and it therefore won’t attract any sharks to the coast.” A third shark was spotted by a surfer at Rottnest yesterday morning.

New protective laws for the Great White shark

Great white sharks, seagrass in Tomales Bay and other parts of the aquatic environment off Marin's coast will enjoy more protection under new federal rules that took effect this month.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees federal marine sanctuaries, developed the regulatory changes after years of study, planning and public comment.

As part of the changes, great white sharks are now protected from people who want to get a closer look at them. There is now a prohibition against getting closer than 50 meters - or 164 feet - of a white shark within 2 nautical miles of the Farallon Islands. The rule also bans the practice of using decoys or chum to lure sharks.

"We have had cases where people in vessels come charging up to the sharks, scaring them away from food they have just caught," said Mary Jane Schramm, spokeswoman for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. "These activities threaten the health of the species."

Tomales Bay's seagrass, which helps species such as herring, will get special protection. Seven buoys will be placed in the bay to protect eelgrass and other seagrasses so boaters do not drop anchor or moor over the areas, which can damage the grasses or prevent them from getting sun.

The grasses help trap sediment, reduce nutrients and pollutants in the water and improve water quality. Seagrass also provides important habitat for migratory birds, such as shorebirds.

Marin has two parks just a short boat ride away: the Gulf of the Farallones is a 1,255-square-mile area made up of tidal flats, rocky intertidal areas, wetlands, subtidal reefs and coastal beaches. The sanctuary is home to thousands of seals and sea lions, hosts great white sharks and the largest concentration of breeding seabirds in the continental United States.

The Cordell Bank Sanctuary sits beyond the Gulf of the Farallones, 52 miles northwest of Marin's coast, at the edge of the continental shelf. It encompasses 526 square miles. Endangered humpback whales, porpoises, albatross and marine species flourish in the marine environment. Part of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary also bumps up against coastal Southern Marin.

Other new rules for sanctuaries prohibit:

- Harmful discharges from cruise ships and other large vessels.

- Discharges beyond the boundaries of the sanctuaries that enter and damage the sanctuaries' resources.

- Abandoning vessels.

- Introducing non-native species.

- Disturbing or killing sensitive wildlife like marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtles.

"They have been working on the regulations for some time and put a lot of effort into it," said Terri Watson of San Rafael, executive director for the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association. "I'm confident they heard all the issues from all sides."

Sanctuary officials will work with the U.S. Coast Guard as well as researchers to help enforce the new rules. Violations are subject to citations and fines.

"There are many things affecting the sanctuaries: tourism, proposals for wave energy, invasive species, oil spills, they need to be better protected," Schramm said.

Contact Mark Prado via e-mail at mprado@marinij.com

Face to face with a Great White shark!

THIS is the moment extreme sports adventurer Paul Leneghan, of Laxey, came face-to-face with a great white shark off the coast of South Africa.

Paul, who was in an underwater cage in an area known as Shark Alley Gansbaai, near Cape Town, during a trip to South Africa, was travelling with his 15-year-old son, who, not surprisingly, chose to stay on dry land during this adventure.

Paul said: 'They tie tuna heads on to lines and bait the sharks to breach and snap at them just in front of you.

'But when it was our turn the tuna head bait was too close to the cage and when the great white closed his jaw on to what he thought was the tuna head he actually snapped shut on the cage!'

Paul added: 'It shook the whole cage with five of us in it – no problem. I was scared to bloody death, that was not in the script!'

In future, Paul hopes to swim with bull sharks.

Discovery of the fossil of the ancestry of a Great White shark

This four-million-year-old fossil has taken some of the bite out of the great white shark's supposedly menacing ancestry, a new study finds.

The specimen—which includes part of the spinal column, the head, jaws lined with 222 teeth—is the most complete fossil known of an ancient great white shark.

Scientists had long assumed that great whites—which can reach lengths of 20 feet (6.1 meters)—were close kin of the prehistoric "megatooth" sharks, frightening creatures that grew up to 50 feet (15.2 meters) long and had jaws more than 9 feet (2.7 meters) wide.

But a new look at the fossil suggests that great whites are more closely related to the less fearsome and smaller mako shark, which belonged to a genus that still exists today.

If true, megatooths and great white sharks may have hit jumbo size independently, said study lead author Dana Ehret, a graduate student at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Competition between great whites and megatooths may have contributed to both species' growth, said Ehret, whose study appears this month in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The well-preserved specimen, found in 1988 in southwestern Peru, was donated to the Florida museum in 2008.

"It's really outstanding—not like anything we've seen in the fossil record in the past," Ehret said.