Mick Fanning's media feeding frenzy - who's the real victim here?

Earlier this week my newsfeed was inundated with posts about Mick Fanning's recent encounter with a shark in South Africa, For those who might have missed it, 3 times surfing champion Mick Fanning was competing in the J-Bay Open surfing competition in South Africa when a shark popped up next to him and snagged his leash. As the shark dived, the leash was broken and Mick was knocked off his board; he was picked up by rescue boats which were laid on for the event and whisked off to safety. You can review the whole thing here.  

Whilst a shark popping up at a pro surfing event is most definitely news worthy, the real news in this story is how sensationalised this event seems to have become. Once again the media appears to have taken this as an opportunity to showcase sharks in a bad light. The Australian reported that a "large shark stalked and attacked" the champion surfer, The Guardian claims that Fanning "fought off a shark attack" whilst a host on Fox News suggested that officials should be clearing the waters of sharks before an event of this nature!

It may feel as though these over hyped media pieces are all just a bit of fun but in reality they are having a detrimental effect on how the world views sharks. At a time when global shark populations are so vulnerable owing to over fishing and hunting for shark fin soup, shark conservation needs all the public support it can get. Journalists should also have a moral responsibility to report accurately on events, instead of sensationalising their articles in an attempt to get newspapers off the shelf.    

Whilst accurate global shark attack statistics are tricky to pin down, the Department of Ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History is attempting to do so with their International Shark Attack File. In 2014, they documented just 3 fatalities from unprovoked shark attacks - and whilst that may seem like 3 too many, if you compare this figure to fatalities from road traffic accidents, alcohol or tobacco, the risk of dying from a shark attack pales into insignificance. Yet most people's perception of the risk of being killed by a shark is much higher owing to the poor media image given to these animals. 

In fact, the bad light cast on sharks by the media is so detrimental to their conservation that researchers at the University of Sydney and the Mote Marine Laboratory's Center for Shark Research in Florida have now proposed a new classification system to describe all shark interactions. Currently the majority of news articles which involve sightings or encounters with sharks will be touted as an "attack" - even if the shark simply swims up to someone then swims away. For the sake of accurate reporting, the Neff-Heuter study group has proposed 4 new terms to be used for all shark encounters: Shark sightings, Shark encounters, Shark bites and Fatal shark bites. In this way they hope to separate fact from hype and ensure that the public gets the most accurate record of events.  

Thankfully the majority of people who use the oceans - divers, surfers, swimmers - recognise that we are the visitors in the shark's world and are advocates for protecting the marine environment - including the species which live there. This still doesn't excuse sloppy media reporting and an attempt to villify a group of species simply to sell papers.  

Shark news - Gulper shark specimen caught off the coast of Norway

A specimen of the little gulper shark (Centrophorus uyato) has been caught in the eastern North Atlantic, off the coast of Norway. This represents the northernmost example of this shark species, which previously had only been reported as far north as Portugal.

The specimen was caught on longlines set by a commercial fishing vessel and has been deposited at the University Museum of Bergen. Owing to the fact that most sharks are poikilothermic (have no way of regulating their internal body temperature) there are very few examples of sharks inhabiting the polar regions. The blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastromus), the velvet belly (Etmopterus spinax) and the greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) are the only other 3 species commonly encountered this far north.

The little gulper shark inhabits water up to 1,400 m in depth and feeds on bony fish and squid. Very little is known about the biology of this shark and the taxonomy is in need of revision. In the IUCN Red List, there are 12 species of gulper shark listed of which 3 are considered Vulnerable, 2 Near Threatened, 1 Endangered, 5 Data Deficient and only 1 Least Concern.  

Whilst this is the first confirmed sighting of this species this far north, it is not yet known if this is simply a stray individual or an indication of the expansion of this species into colder waters. 

References

Link to the paper 

Shark Research - Whale Shark Genome Just As Big As The Human Genome!

Researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Aquarium have now completed their sequencing of the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) genome. This is the first time a nuclear genome of an elasmobranch has ever been sequenced.

The estimated genome size of the whale shark was 3.44 gigabases (Gb) which puts it on par with our own genome (Homo sapien) at 3.3Gb (1). One barrier to sequencing the genomes of cartilaginous fish is that their estimated genomes tend to be rather large; the genome of only one other cartilaginous fish, the elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii), has been sequenced and this was an attractive candidate for genome sequencing as its predicted genome was less than 1Gb (2). Genetic data for a bony fish, the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), is also available and at 1.9Gb this genome is smaller than that of the whale shark (3).

Using predictive software, the researchers estimated that the whale shark genome has 23,594 protein coding genes, which is very similar to the human genome which has 20,000-25,000 protein coding genes. As might be expected,the smaller genome of the elephant shark has only 18,872 protein coding genes.

Genomic studies like this are important as they not only help us understand more about how the underlying genetic code works to make an entire organism function, but they can also be used to deduce the evolutionary relationships between organisms with a greater degree of accuracy than morphological data. Genetic analysis of whale sharks has already proven that there is not just one global population of whale sharks - as was previously thought - but at least 2, genetically distinct populations.

Whilst this genome is just at the draft stage, the researchers hope to secure funding to continue their work and delve deeper into the genetic data of the whale shark in order to help us learn more about this ocean giant - so watch this space!

The draft genome is available at http://whaleshark.georgiaaquarium.org/.

Shark news - Shark Sanctuary Created in Madagascar!

The Government of Madagascar have created their first ever shark sanctuary in Antongil Bay, North West Madagascar. Covering 3,750km² of ocean, the Order has been put in place after lengthy consultation with fisheries, community fishermen, local authorities and NGOs and will protect this extremely rich area of biodiversity.

The area of the shark sanctuary. Image from Mongabay

The Order aims to empower village communities to manage their fishing activity, whilst ensuring that any exploitation of the fisheries resource is carried out sustainably and has three main objectives:

1) The preservation of the environment to ensure the sustainability of the ecosystem
2) The establishment of a sustainable fishing resource to improve the living standards of coastal populations in general and fishermen in particular, and
3) More equitable distribution of wealth created by fisheries by enhancing the part of the local population against the interests of the municipal economy, regionally and nationally

Whilst sustainable fishing is encouraged within the sanctuary, shark fishing has been entirely banned. 19 species of shark are found in Antongil Bay of which over a third are threatened with extinction.

The announcement was made jointly with the Wildlife Conservation Society (English) and the Ministry of Marine Resources and Fisheries Madagascar (French)

Shark Research - Fisheries analysis reveals high shark bycatch in longline fisheries

A recent paper published in Marine Policy has carried out the first analysis of global elasmobranch bycatch patterns in commercial fisheries.

Bycatch - where species other than the intended target species are caught in a fishery - is a global problem. Many of today's commercial fishing methods, such as trawling or long lining, have few ways to ensure that only the intended species is caught.

By examining current fisheries data, the researchers assessed the quantity of elasmobranch bycatch across 4 commercial fishing methods: longlines, trawlers, purse-seines and gillnets. Of these 4 fishing methods, they found that pelagic longlines are responsible for the largest amount of shark bycatch - in fact in some instances the quantity of sharks caught in pelagic longline fisheries may exceed the intended catch. The majority of the shark bycatch was made up of blue shark (Prinace glauca) which is classified as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List.

Long line fishing is a type of commercial fishing whereby a main line is laid out with hooks hanging off the line at intervals. Whilst longlines are intended to catch a target species - such as swordfish - the baited hooks also attract other species such as seabirds, turtles, other fish and sharks. Worse still, if fishing gear is discarded at sea the equipment can continue to catch and kill marine life - something known as ghost fishing.

This paper does not draw conclusions about the direct threat to sharks from these high levels of bycatch, but instead emphasises that the large numbers of sharks unintentionally caught and discarded by the commercial fishing industry is concerning and more research is required to understand if it is sustainable. The authors also highlight a need to implement management plans for elasmobranchs on a global scale.

 

 

Shark News - Megamouth Shark washes up in the Philippines

It seems as though all rarely sighted shark species are keen to make an appearance at the moment with a megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) washing ashore in the Philippines. This species is so rarely sighted that it is classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List.

The 4.6m, male specimen was stranded on Pio Duran, Albay. Interestingly, this site is just a stones throw from Donsol - a natural aggregation site for whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). Like the whale shark, the megamouth shark is a filter feeder and could possibly have been attracted to the area by an abundance of Euphausiid shrimp - an important component of the diet of both the whale shark and the megamouth shark. In 2009 another megamouth shark was reported from Donsol, suggesting that this area could be frequented by these sharks. Megamouth sharks have been found at depths ranging from 5m to 4,600m and they may follow the diel vertical migration patterns of the Euphausiid shrimp - spending time at depth during the day and returning to the surface at night. This could explain why the sharks are so infrequently sighted. 

Photo courtesy of Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines. Photo credit Rosalina Sariola

This shark is thought to be circumglobal but a large number of sightings have been from Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. The specimen has been nicknamed "Toothless" and has been stored on ice by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Bicol to await a necropsy. 

Shark Research - Saudi Arabian Shark Fisheries not sustainable

A recent article published in Fisheries Research sheds light on our knowledge of shark fisheries in Saudi Arabia and indicates that these Red Sea fisheries are unsustainable.

The researchers, from King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, spent 2 years collecting samples from the Jeddah Fish Market (JFM) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). During this time the team collected 2,724 individual samples across 37 species of elasmobranch. Seventy three per cent of the entire sample was made up of only 5 species: the spottail shark (Carcharhinus sorrah), the grey reef shark (C. amblyrhynchos), the silky shark (C. falciformis), the black tip shark (C. limbatus) and the milk shark (Rhizoprionodon acutus). Of these 5 species, 4 are classified as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List.

Sharks for sale at the Jeddah Fish Market. Image from the daaamnblog

Perhaps most worryingly, the researchers discovered that a very large percentage (c. 81%) of the males caught had not yet reached sexual maturity. This is a cause for concern as if too many juveniles of a species are removed from a fish stock then the stock itself will be unable to replenish itself and will risk collapse.

The sharks were landed whole and whilst the fins were removed, this was done when the shark was back on land and the meat was then sold; however, the team noted that the cost of shark meat, compared to other fish, appeared to be very cheap in the KSA.

Whilst in many countries sharks may be considered more valuable alive than dead, owing to a boom in the eco tourism industry, the distinct lack of tourism in the KSA has not incentivised the government to implement and enforce policies regarding shark protection, despite the fact that the resources to carry out adequate shark management should not be unobtainable for the KSA.

Shark News - Rare Frilled Shark Caught in Australia

A lot of excitement seems to have been generated today by the capture of a frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) off the coast of Victoria, Australia. The frilled shark is an incredibly rare species and one of only 2 in its genus (the other being the South African frilled shark Chlamydoselachus africana.)

Image from SETFIA http://www.setfia.org.au/item/living-fossil-captured.html

Don't worry though - despite the portrayal of this amazing species in most media stories as a "terrifying frilled shark from the deep", this shark isn't actually considered harmful to humans. For a start their principal diet consists of squid and crustaceans...and secondly they are a deep water species most commonly found at 500-1,000m.

Very little is known about this shark, which is why the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFA) have reported that the animal was offered to the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for data capture.

This animal has been classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List as it is occasionally caught as bycatch - primarily by the bottom trawl and deep-set longline fisheries (which is why it is not overly surprising that this specimen was caught in trawler nets). There is concern that the frilled shark would be vulnerable if deepwater fisheries are expanded.

The frilled shark doesn't really have many close relatives still living today, but it is classified amongst the Hexanchiformes - an Order which includes several species of rare and wonderful shark such as the six gill and seven gill sharks. The frilled shark itself also has six gills making this group a little different from the rest of the sharks - most of which have 5 gills.

I wanted to include a nicer picture of a frilled shark rather than the - quite frankly unflattering one! - which has been attached to these news stories.

Image from Arkive http://www.arkive.org/frilled-shark/chlamydoselachus-anguineus/image-G38906.html