Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Dichotomy on April 17, 2014, 04:14:03 PM

Title: Shark Tagging
Post by: Dichotomy on April 17, 2014, 04:14:03 PM
The article is interesting http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/enormous-tagged-great-white-shark-grabs-spotlight-in-western-australia/  the comments got the beer on the monitor treatment  :devil
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Nwbie on April 17, 2014, 07:09:56 PM
Your'e gonna need a bigger boat........
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: SmokinLoon on April 17, 2014, 07:56:34 PM
That is one big fish.  Wow.
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Gman on April 17, 2014, 07:57:29 PM
Interesting link, tyvm OP.

I've been following the tagging program at Ocearch for a few years.  Great Whites are one of my primary interests, I've been studying them since I was in single digits, ever since I saw one pulled from the St. Lawrence river network in Ontario, Canada back when I was a kid.  It had made its way in from the ocean somehow, and survived at least a day or two in the river.

http://www.ocearch.org/


Paul Walker, the actor who recently was killed in that Porsche crash had a degree in marine biology, and was specifically interested in the white sharks as well, and had worked with the Ocearch program, helping tag and document great white behavior.   It's pretty interesting data they're putting together on the white sharks.  Recently, when a large pod of killer whales was spotted in an area where a lot of tagged white sharks frequent during that time of year, every tag once it resurfaced showed that the white sharks dove deep and rapidly left that area, like 1000ft or more, when the orcas were in the area.  Interesting stuff.



Last year's "shark week" had an episode where a group of biologists were trying to tag a white with a beacon, and have a torpedo like "shark cam" follow that beacon, getting autonomous video of a sort.  It worked great, and they were able to identify the shark by its markings (usually the rear side of the dorsal fin, it's like fingerprinting for humans in a way) - it was the same one that was in the famous picture/video that stalked the guy in a kayak near Boston's waters.  A big fat 17 foot female, probably at least 3000 pounds.  When they harpooned/tagged it initially, it was so PO'd that it thrashed itself almost completely clear of the water, quickly reversing course and taking off before settling back down.

Near the top of the bucket list is cage diving in Guadalupe - it's got super clear waters and a ton of large white sharks during the right time of year, and a couple of fantastic ships/boats that do the tour.
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Dichotomy on April 17, 2014, 08:40:09 PM
so......... we're not reading the comments on the article are we?
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Gman on April 17, 2014, 09:24:13 PM
They deleted many of the comments, I suspect the interesting ones are gone now.
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Dichotomy on April 18, 2014, 06:38:23 AM
 :mad: it was hysterical
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Lusche on April 18, 2014, 07:00:00 AM
:mad: it was hysterical

Religious 'debates' sparked by an article about sharks  :bhead
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Scherf on April 18, 2014, 08:34:14 AM
"So mate, what did ya do today?"

"Ah, just grabbed a five-meter white shark, flipped 'er over and tagged 'er, mate."









"Same as always, then."
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Rich46yo on April 18, 2014, 08:36:42 AM
Its immoral to kill these things just so the tourist industry can swim along.

Dont want to take a chance getting 'et then stay out of the water.
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Scherf on April 18, 2014, 08:41:25 AM
There's a very vocal anti-cull movement down here.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-01/shark-protests-wa-catch-and-kill-perth/5232480

^That was a couple of months ago.
Title: Re: Shark Tagging
Post by: Gman on April 18, 2014, 01:51:26 PM
IMO the whole culling idea is insane, considering there is NO way to know how many white sharks there are.  They were just saying not long ago, less than a decade, that they were still endangered, so now because their numbers MAY have bounced back, leading to a few more attacks on swimmers/divers due to simple math/statistics, it's wise to "cull" their numbers for public safety?  WTH?!

There are large dangerous things in the water, and if you aren't willing to take the risk of them interacting negatively with you, stay on the boat or on shore. 

There are studies in the last few years suggesting the shark tourism industry has begun to acclimate these very instinctual fish to humans, and may even be starting to make them link humans in the water with free food (the chum and fish on the line used to lure in the sharks, and make them  feed near the cages).