23 replies to this topic

[Scuba_SI]

Apparently the surfing tourism is about to crash in the UK as a White pointer is spotted off St Ives.

Nothing on the internet yet, but apparently (according to the radio) there is footage of it breaching whilst following Dolphins...

Any other UK wetpixellers want to go and hire a boat to find it before some knuckleheaded Cornish fisherman kills it?

[pmooney]

White Shark Story

[Accipiter_13]

For a nice balanced piece of reporting you can always rely on the Sun

http://www.thesun.co...7350098,00.html

and a bit more information on sharks for people who want to know

http://www.thesun.co...7340896,00.html

And worst of all after all that scaremongering

http://www.thesun.co...7350091,00.html

[Scuba_SI]

bugger, i didn!t realise it was the Sun...

Nice interpretation of some dodgy footage!

Isn't it illegal to go fishing with the intention of catching a white?

[Giles]

I think it is .. if the country enforces the not fishing for endangered animals stuff. (or at least their are legal limits set in place on the trade of it's parts for sale)

I did see in Australia a few years ago .. right by Perth though where after a few attacks the local govt gave permission for it to get caught to make the waters safe as it was pressumed to be one shark hanging around. So helicopters, coast guard vessels etc etc (which had all been out trying to spot it before to keep the beaches safe).. were spending their time hunting for it .. about 2-3 days later ... BAM White shark caught .. unfortunately it was the wrong one according to it's stomach contents.

So that little story just kinda out their to illustrate that even though their maybe some legit reasons to want to give the ok to kill a great white ... you may not always have the right guy ! (i guess its the same as capital punishment .. your either for it or your not .. and geting the wrong guy sometimes is just the price they pay !)

[PRC]

Thankfully the local and national news were playing it down last night. Had a good interview from one of the (I think) aquarium operators who was using the all the soothing words "no danger" etc etc etc

The news shows then went in for a bit of not so subtle 'Sun' bashing which is a favourite standby for the media here. All in all if the poor shark is there then he may have got away with it.

Paul C

[Spazm]

“I’ve been constantly checking over my shoulder making sure it’s not behind me.”


I like this sort of reporting......It is as though as the Whitey is going to come up behind you and tap you on the shoulder and go "BOOOOO!!!..I'm going to eat you up now!!"...

[ScubaSapiens]

Great white my a**! That's a good, old basking shark if I ever saw one (actually, I didn't - but it shouldn't be to hard to differentiate between the two, looking at the dorsal fin).

And by the way, what is all this hokey-pokey about global warming, anyway? Some media reports that "global warming is making the great white go further north". Bull s**t! They exist in colder waters in South Africa, so it's definately not the water temperature that's holding them back.

You sure can tell it's summer in the news - they cook up these stories almost every year. Last year's white shark spotter in the UK was fifteen, but "very keen on becoming a marine biologist". Yeah, right.

I'll believe it when it bites me.

Chris

Edited by ScubaSapiens, 31 July 2007 - 02:20 PM.

[wagsy]

It sure does make you laugh how the media milk this kind of stuff to make money.

For those that have not seen it yet.
Here is our Great White Encounter that the media never got hold of and boy did they get angry...ha ha.....

[Paul Kay]

How anyone can believe that a reputable British newspaper like the SUN couild get a story wrong is beyond me! Quality British reporting at its very best!

[ScubaSapiens]

LOL

[ce4jesus]

Wags that footage is gold!!! Anyone catch the shark week episode last night where they show that Great Whites are attracted to some colors more than others?

[danielandrewclem]

Jeez. Sure looks like a basking shark. Tip of the dorsal fin looks too round to be a white, and basking sharks (hence the name) are seen at the surface a lot in temperate latitudes of the Atlantic.

This happens every summer, doesn't it? Recently there were a few basking sharks spotted off a beach near Boston, and like clockwork the media here milked it for a few minutes on the local evening news, calling in local shark experts to ensure that these were not maneaters, blah blah blah. As a rule, anything that looks like a great white IS a great white, at least for a few days. A few years ago, a charter boat captain off the Cape with some clients swore he saw a white shark just offshore while they were fishing for striped bass from his small boat. The Boston media ran with it (a 14-footer!) until cursory analysis of the captain's pics suggested that it was a mako and a lot less than 14 feet.

I love how the Sun features a graphic of the World's Most Dangerous Sharks that includes the nurse and sandtiger.

[Paul Kay]

10 days ago we were diving off the Inner Hebridean Small Isles in Scotland and could see about 25 Baskers around the area we were diving - glad the Sun reporter wasn't there or there might be talk of an invasion...... Nearest I could get (its a dcrop) is here.

[ScubaSapiens]

Boo-hoo, that's a whitey!

[vinny]

in our local paper today the front page is a picture of a great white from the front head out of the water(apparently taken 1 mile from newquay head )

it is such a good picture that it makes me suspicious ( especially a quick snap from 100 ft ) , here is the story at ( sorry no picture on the website )

http://www.thisiscor...tentPK=17980477

but a picture here

http://news.sky.com/...8,00.html?f=rss

this man has lived in newquay for aslong as i can remember and if it is a hoax he will get a lot of ribbing about it aswell as the skipper of the boat

one thing there's plenty of bait in the water this time of year especially as the sun has finally come out

Edited by vinny, 01 August 2007 - 02:20 PM.

[Scuba_SI]

Hasnt it been fairly rough seas down there recently though? my friend works in cardigan bay researching dolphins and it's been too crappy for them to see a great deal for months. Not very close to Cornwall, but should still get similar weather patterns.... That water looks like glass.

I hope thatis a stolen pic from someone here on wetpixel, they are about to get some pocket money!

[Paul Kay]

As Vinny says "it is such a good picture that it makes me suspicious ( especially a quick snap from 100 ft )"!

I know people who travel thosands of miles to get 'good snaps' like this. I'd be happy to shoot this at 100 feet away I have to say. All the EXIF data is missing too. I've been away in Scotland but my friends here in (North) Wales tell me that they have not had good weather over the last couple of weeks.

[tdpriest]

I caught the "Sun" article out of the corner of my eye as I walked into work...

... and thought "Why is there a basking shark fin on that newspaper?"

I laughed when, as expected, it was a "Great White" story, AND the "Sun".

It's the "silly season" for British journalists, and the time of year when non-stories and hoaxes flourish.

My only reservation is that the weather has been getting a bit odd, and that can bring some very unusual creatures into the English Channel.

Tim

B)

[vinny]

Apparently he has finally come clean and said that he took the photo whilst on his hols in South Africa !

i think he is south african

he is gonna get some ribbing about this
i can hear the Jaws music in the background already !!

At least its safe to go back in the water