Sep 28 2011
A baby great white shark is caught by fishermen in Venice, California off the pier and brought to the beach. The fisherman and surfers help to pull the hook out and rescue the shark, releasing it back in the ocean. Amazing video. Let’s hope the shark remembers the kindness of strangers when he’s 18 ft long and weighs 2 tons!
Sep 04 2011
Crazy photo taken on Wednesday August 30, 2011 at Swami’s outside of San Diego California. Swami’s is a popular point surf break in Encinitas. Ralph Collier of the Shark Research Committee estimated the shark to be a 10-12 ft long Great White. No surfer was touched by the shark and few seemed aware of it’s presence.
One of the lifeguards in the news report suggests it’s the leg of a surfer, what do you think shark or surfer? Add your comment below.
Check out all the latest shark news on surftherenow.com here.
Aug 13 2010
Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.
Chuck Patterson, on a stand-up paddle board at San Onofre, films two juvenile Great White sharks. Great footage.
Check out all the latest shark news on Surftherenow.com here.
Oct 27 2009
Pretty impressive stuff.
Check out all the latest shark news on Surftherenow.com here.
Mar 13 2009
Diver Craig Clasen grapples with a 12ft tiger shark to protect a friend
Craig Clasen was hunting yellow fin tuna with fellow fisherman Cameron Kirkconnell, photographer D.J Struntz (DJ Strunz’s portfolio) and film maker Ryan McInnis in the Gulf of Mexico when a 12 ft. Tiger Shark aggressively approached and circled Ryan McInnis in deep waters south of the Mississippi River’s mouth. Regarded by many as two of the world’s best free diving spearfishermen, Craig and Cameron have come into contact with thousands of sharks.
Craig Clasen immediately swam to his friend with his spear gun.
‘I positioned myself between Ryan and the shark and I tried to watch it for a second, hoping it would pass us by,’ explained 32-year-old Mr Clasen.
‘I noticed that the shark was getting tighter and tighter and just kept trying to get a back angle on us and behaving in an aggressive manner.
‘The shark made a roll and looked like it was going to charge us so I just went ahead and took the conservative route and put a shaft through its gills.
‘Cameron and I have been around sharks for years and we all have a lot of experience with them but this encounter had a different feel to it.
‘Down in my core I really felt the shark was there to feed. I didn’t want it to come to that.’
Craig spent nearly two hours wrestling with the giant 12ft shark, spearing it seven times and even attempting to drown the beast before eventually finishing it off with a long blade knife.
Craig Clasen uses his knife to kill a 12 ft. Tiger Shark
‘Once I shot it in the gills I felt a moral obligation to finish the job,’ says Craig.
‘I didn’t want it to go on any longer than it had to. I shot the fish like I would do any other fish and worked it up closer and did my best to kill it as humanely as possible.
‘I speared it in the gills which I knew would kill it and from that I tried to put a shaft into its brain as quickly as possible.
‘I shot it six times in the head with a spear and I wasn’t having much luck – it was a slow drawn out process.
‘Sharks are so resilient and so tough from millions of years of evolution they are just survivors.
‘The best way and quickest way to finish the job and kill the shark and recover it was to get a rope around its tail, drag it from the back of the boat and attempt to drown it.
‘In the end we had put a knife its skull once I got lose enough to it and use a long blade knife even after trying to drown it.’
Story at DailyMail.co.uk Transworld Surf
UPDATE:
When I wrote this post over a year ago, I had no idea it would garner such a big reaction and so strong opinions. Ryan McInnis, the photographer at the incident, recently discovered the post and left a comment and his reaction. As for everyone else, please keep it civil. I will delete any flame comments, so far I’ve had to delete multiple comments. Ryan, thanks for your comment and for clarifying the story.
Here’s Ryan’s comment reprinted from below:
Wow… I stumbled across this thread today and am amazed that 2 years after the incident there is still discussion about it. I’ll try to be brief:
– Spearfishing is the most ethical and sustainable way to provide seafood for oneself. We were there to take tuna and wahoo.
– We were also there to capture video and images of a new product line for a company. Businesses need promotional material of their gear in action.
– There was a combined 100 years of ocean experience in the water at the time this happened. 2 of us are from North Carolina where sharks are present on EVERY dive. I personally have spent hours outside a cage with big great whites. In other words, we know sharks.
– Our boat was over 50 yards away when this happened, getting out of the water would have been the first option of course. But this event happened faster than the boat could get to us, and swimming away from an aggressive sharks is the last option.
– Once the decision had been made and the first shot fired (which was a mortal shot), there was no other choice but to finish the fish. They are tough and yes it took many more shots to end the struggle. We took pictures and video because the initial danger was over.
– The mood was more than somber and the event cast a dark shadow on what was otherwise a great trip. Killing a shark is an awful thing, and this was the first time in all of our years that it had been necessary.
– One of us was working on a story with Outside Magazine, they ran a photo as ‘what you hope never happens’… then the national media caught it (10 months later) and before we knew it wild rumors and lies about the event began to spread.
And here I am today, still trying to explain why this happened. What got lost in all of this is that I was nearly attacked by a fish twice my size and my buddy came to my rescue. It’s no different than a grizzly bear in Alaska being shot for charging a hiker. It’s terrible but it’s part of sharing the outdoors with the natural residents.
We don’t hate sharks but we do love spearfishing. We did not benefit from this event at all, quite the opposite.
RM, underwater videographer
Check out all the latest shark news on Surftherenow.com here.
Mar 06 2009
A 19-year-old French surfer was killed by a shark today as he surfed off New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific. The surfer’s arm was torn off and his leg bitten as he tried to board a boat with his friend. The man’s friend managed to get him to shore, but he was dead by the time emergency workers reached him.
The surfer, who was studying in the New Caledonia capital, Noumea, died shortly after being transported to shore. It is not known what type of shark was responsible.
The incident took place in an area popular with surfers and was the first fatal shark attack in the territory since September 2007, when a young nurse was killed.
New Caledonia is an area of islands located in the Melanesia area of southwest Pacific. It catches the same South swells that hit Tahiti and Fiji as they travel up from Australia and New Zealand. Map and guide to breaks on Wavehunters. And more on WannaSurf.
Check out all the latest shark news on Surftherenow.com here.
See Other Top Posts:
Most Amazing Photos You’ll Ever See of Waves
Diver Fights and Kills 12 ft. Tiger Shark (Photos)
Mar 01 2009
Although the recent shark attacks in Sydney do not seem to be any indication of the trend, a reknowned shark researcher, George Burgess, has suggested that the recession is resulting in fewer shark attacks. (link) In spite of all the hype and string of attacks in Zihuatanejo, New Smyrna Beach, and San Diego last year, shark attacks have been the lowest in a decade.
Sharks attacked 59 people in 2008, the lowest number of attacks since 57 in 2003, according to George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, part of the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. There were 71 attacks in 2007.
Fewer people, especially outside of the United States, have the resources to go to the beach, he said.
“To have a shark attack, you have to have humans and sharks in the water at the same time,” Burgess said. “If you have a reduction in the number of people in the water, you’re going to have a reduction in the opportunities for people and sharks to get together.”
“We noticed similar declines during the recession that followed the events of 2001, despite the fact that human populations continued to rise,” the ichthyologist said.
Sharks killed four people in 2008, Burgess said: one in California, one in Australia and two in Mexico.
Forty-one of the 59 attacks worldwide came in the United States, and 32 of those occurred in Florida.
Surfers accounted for 57 percent of shark attacks, swimmers and waders were the targets in 36 percent of the attacks, and divers the rest, he said.
Check out all the latest shark news on Surftherenow.com here.
See Other Top Posts:
Most Amazing Photos You’ll Ever See of Waves
Diver Fights and Kills 12 ft. Tiger Shark (Photos)
Mar 01 2009
They say bad things happen in groups of three. Seems like this has been the case with shark attacks in the last year. In April last year, Zihuatanejo was hit by a string of shark attacks over the course of three weeks including one fatal attack (link).
Now, sharks are striking fear in the surfers and swimmers at Sydney. A 15 year old boy has been mauled by a shark on Sydney’s northern beaches, in the third shark attack in Sydney in less than three weeks. (Times UK Article)
The boy was surfing off Avalon Beach early on Sunday morning when the shark attacked, inflicting severe lacerations to his upper left leg. He underwent four hours of surgery to repair the injury (link).
Nick Miller from the Avalon Surf Lifesaving Club said the surfer was in the water with his father when the shark attacked.
“The father and son were out surfing this morning,” Mr Miller told ABC Radio.
“It got him around the top of his leg and his calf muscle and the father came in and dragged him in. ”
Witness Dylan Cram told Sky News: “I saw the two of them paddling in and frantically screaming ‘shark’. It was a pretty bad thing to witness.”
Other beach-goers said the boy, who had bites to his calf and thigh, was able to walk out of the water. His father used his t-shirt as a tourniquet while an ambulance was called, and he was airlifted to Royal North Shore hospital.
A hospital spokesman said he had wounds to his upper left leg, and he was in a stable condition. His leg had not been severed.
It is believed the shark is around five to six feet, but it is not yet known what type of shark it is. Helicopter searches of Avalon and neighboring beaches, which are popular with Sydney surfers have failed to spot the shark.
Richard Andjelkovic of Sydney Surf Lifesaving told The Times the number of shark sightings on Sydney beaches had increased recently. “Last weekend we closed a large number of beaches after a shark was spotted,” he said. “The number of shark sightings have been up in the last while. We’re not sure why, it might be because the waters are cooler and there are a lot more fish around.”
Nearly three weeks ago, navy clearance diver Paul de Gelder was mauled by a 2.7-metre bullshark in Sydney Harbor, causing him to lose a hand and leg.
Just a day later, in the first attack off Bondi beach in nearly 80 years, 33-year-old surfer Glenn Orgias was attacked by a 2.5m great white that shook him and nearly severed his left hand.
Check out all the latest shark news on Surftherenow.com here.
Feb 12 2009
The First Shark Attack at Bondi Beach Since 1929
A surfer was attacked at Bondi Beach, Australia. It was the second shark attack in two days after navy clearance diver was mauled off Woolloomooloo, in Sydney Harbour. The surfer, known last night only as Glen, 33, of Dover Heights, suffered deep cuts to his arm when he was attacked by the shark while surfing the break off South Bondi about 8pm. The attacks are likely to cause shark hysteria down under. It was the first shark attack at Bondi since 1929.
Check out all the latest shark news on Surftherenow.com here.
Jan 28 2009
A mass of plastic in the Pacific, increasing tenfold each decade since 1945, is now the size of Texas and killing everything in its wake. Currently, there is six times more plastic than plankton floating in the middle of the Pacific. (Link to Article) The plastic is poisoning our fish and sealife and killing the Oceans. The plastic passes along toxins to humans through fish we eat.
– Each day, North Americans throw away more than 385,000 cellphones and 143,000 computers— electronic waste is now the fastest-growing stream of garbage. Lead and mercury are seeping from this waste into ground water. Some of the e-waste, however, is winding up in the sea.
– Each hour, North Americans consume and discard about 2.75 million plastic water and soda bottles; that’s 24 billion a year.
– Globally, 100 million tonnes of plastic are generated each year and at least 10 per cent of that is finding its way into the sea.
– Worldwide, each year 113 billion kilograms of small plastic pellets called nurdles–the feedstock for all disposable plastics– are shipped and billions are spilled during transfer in and out of railroad cars. Those spilled nurdles are ending up in gutters and drains and eventually carried into the ocean. Nurdles resemble fish eggs or roe. Tuna and salmon feed on them indiscriminately. Around 2.5 billion humans eat fish regularly. Plastic and other man-made toxins are polluting the global food chain and it’s rising at an unprecedented rate.
– Each year, a million sea birds and 100,000 sharks, turtles, dolphins and whales die from eating plastic.
Oceanographers and conservation biologists believe the only way to contend with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is to slow the amount of plastic flowing from the land to the sea.
Buy six organic cotton shopping bags. Use them instead of supermarket plastic bags. Make it a habit to return those bags to the trunk of your car after unpacking groceries.
Reuse your plastic water bottles. If you can refill one bottle for a day then why not attempt it for a week.
See Other Amazing Posts:
The Most Amazing Photos You’ll Ever See of Waves
Diver Fights and Kills 12 ft. Tiger Shark (Photos)