Two stories that need to be heard...

They are from different oceans but are definitely related.  One is about the bull sharks of Playa del Carmen and fishermen decimating them at a popular dive site.  

The other story is about the Bahamas having an opportunity to preserve sharks and avoid the destruction of one of the last shark "havens".

Patric and Mike respectively covered each story in detail. Read their updates:

Playa Del Carmen - by Da Sharks Blog

The Bahamas - by Shark Diver  

Bulls seen from a gull's perspective

Jim Abernethy has got to be one of the sharkiest shark operators on earth. He passionately loves sharks, and he runs the by now famous trips to Tiger Beach in the Bahamas. When he is in Palm Beach in between trips, and not at home taking it easy, you can be sure to find this energetic and bubbly man high up in the air - watching sharks from above. He just can't get enough of them - no need to explain that to me.... :-)

Jim is a committed professional, and has loyal clients who would not switch operators. But he also has a new friend - me - who would not dive with him. Huh?? Say what?? Well, simple: Jim does not allow freedivers on his shark trips, and I do not have a license to scuba dive.

I tried to convince Jim to make an exception with me - he wouldn't; he tried to talk me into getting certified so I could join him - I most definitely won't dive with tanks, ever. Period. So we will not be diving together among sharks although we are both 110% shark fanatics. Too bad.... :-(

What we have done together, however, was observing schools of bull sharks in shallow water in Palm Beach. Jim very kindly invited me to a memorable flight in his ultra-light plane to do some shark watching from the lofty perspective of a gull.

To be able to identify large bull sharks against the sandy bottom from an altitude of maybe 500 - 700 ft was a truly elevating experience for a hard-core shark diver! It was most gratifying to see dozens, if not hundreds, of sharks, well and alive, knowing that they will in all likelihood live out their lives naturally, unharmed by humans.

Long live the tigers of Tiger Beach and the bulls of Palm Beach, and may the waters in both places be always as "shark infested" as I was privileged to see them, underwater and from above!

Next Generation of Killers

Is there any hope for the next generation, not when you have kids like Aidan Murray Medley. He caught (and indirectly) killed a 551 lbs bull shark off the coast of Florida. Is there not a "catch and release" (or tag for that matter) ethic when fishing? Sure Aidan's parents were proud of him - they should spend some time with little Aidan researching the current state of the shark population, in case they read this post:

http://www.npca.org/marine_and_coastal/marine_wildlife/sharks.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2616156
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/innews/sharkpopdecline2003.htm

Read full story here.

PS - Is Alibaba.com still distributing shark fins?

Bulls have balls...

I always hear people telling me that any shark they see is a bull shark, sometimes they may be right, but I have a feeling that most of the time they are wrong. In the Abacos I have only seen reefs, all the locals have seen bulls (in the same place I dive) - kids, grandparents, fishermen. I guess they hide when I dive. Same story in the Galapagos - I am not even sure they exist there.

Now the question is - do I ever want to see a Bull Shark: on one hand I do and on the other I don't. For the do: they are impressive, massive, dominant, and beautiful (see photo above). For the don't: they have balls and too much testosterone - more than me anyway. Here is an interesting article - I just wonder how big the boat and the shark was...

Credit to the picture above goes to Fiona Ayerst - have a look at her gallery, amazing photos - and yes those are real BULL SHARKS.