Is Japan going to stop killing whales?

I know it’s not really about sharks, but wow! How could anyone that cares about anything in the Ocean not be excited about this! Japan has agreed to stop killing whales in the Antarctic!The BBC reports that “The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ…

Is everything what it seems?

My last blog sure has stirred up some emotion and sparked some debate. Some people have taken it very personal and have ripped, not just the activity, but also the character of Jean-Marie Ghislain. I always try to be fair and tell things the way I see …

So what is really going on at Guadalupe?

You don’t need to go outside a cage to be close to the sharks!Yesterday I wrote a blog, talking about those idiot who dove outside the cages at Guadalupe Island. I used a couple of pictures that are posted on flickr, showing the incident. In response t…

Response to “What’s going on at Guadalupe?”

I got this response from the person who says he took the photos that I posted in this blog. Here is what he said: “Hello Martin, I am the owner of those images and I was very surprised to see them on the blog article you posted. I would like to ask y…

What is going on at Guadalupe?

The secret is “out of the cage” now! The news has traveled all the way to Fiji!  “da shark”, just wrote this blog on diving outside the cage and manhandling great white sharks at Isla Guadalupe.It has gotten worse and worse over the last few years…

The killers just off our shores!

Here is another stellar piece of journalism! The “Mail Online” has an article with the headline The killers just off our shores” 

Now what creature do you think they are talking about? Shark diving, swimming with sharks,  
…. yep, a blue shark. In the article they state two things. 

1 “The recent heatwave is thought to have brought killer blue sharks closer to the coast of Cornwall than ever before” 

and

2 Swimmers aren’t in danger from these sharks. They are highly unlikely to bite humans.” 

Hmmm, say what? Killer blue sharks that are not a danger to swimmers!? Now I know about sensationalistic headlines, but contradicting your headline in your article seems to be something any self respecting journalist should avoid!

The article also has plenty of pictures of those “killers”, calmly swimming amongst humans. 

The article also incorrectly states that 4 people have been killed by blue sharks in the last 5 years. According to the international shark attack files, there have been 5 fatal bites since 1910! So aside from contradicting his own headline, the author shows a complete lack of interest in getting his stats correct.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO
Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

Another whale shark caught, sold and chopped!

A lot of people are diligently working to get sharks protected. Unfortunately, enforcement of these laws can be spotty, to say the least. Shark diving, cage diving, diving with sharks, shark adventure, bucket list, shark week, shark diver, eli martinez, shark conservation, great white sharks,

Slaughtered whale shark, photo Dawn.com

Here is report, by DAWN, of a whale shark being auctioned off, not in the dead of night, at a secret location, but out in public, with people posing for pictures with the slaughtered animal. Bull shark diving in Fiji

The article states “This is an illegal catch as we have received information that the trawling was being carried out within 12 nautical miles of Balochistan coast which is banned under the law”

All the laws in the world don’t help, if the enforcement is not there. Along with the enforcement, educating the public is also of vital importance. I’m sure that most the people watching this scene, had no idea that it was illegal, and are most likely not aware of the importance of these animals to the Eco-system and their endangered status.

So spread the word and hopefully we will hear fewer of these kinds of stories.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO
Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Could our love for sharks be killing them?

How could our loving sharks possibly hurt them? After all, we want to protect them and are fighting those who are hurting them. Why would I even suggest such a ridiculous thing?shark diving, cage diving, swimming with sharks, Guadalupe Island, Great Wh…

Man attacks shark! Sharks are demanding “man cull” to mitigate the danger!

According to an article in the Daily Telegraph, a man was attacked by a wobegong shark. The article states that “Mr Porter had no advance warning when he was attacked.
“I had no idea what was happening — it just clamped on and that was the first I knew about it,” Mr Porter told The Daily Telegraph today. “It sort of bit through the flipper and went through to my foot.”Shark diving is fun. Diving with Great white shark. Swimming with Bull sharks, cage diving with Tiger sharks

Wait a second, the shark “attacked” Mr. Porter? Wobegong sharks are carpet sharks, that usually rely on their camouflage to hide from prey, so they can ambush it. So most likely what happened is that Mr. Porter stepped on the shark, which bit him in return.

Wouldn’t it be more accurate to have a headline that says “Port Macquarie shark bites man after being attacked by him”? Shark had no advanced warning, when Mr porter viciously stepped on it’s head!

Injuries caused by shark bite

And the injuries to the man you ask?  Here is a picture of the “severe” wound the “shark attack” has left on the “victim”

Now this type of human/shark interaction is really what I call worthy of newspaper headlines. There are thousands of people who step on a stingray each year and get stung in return, in some cases causing injuries more severe than the ones caused by this shark bite.  Do you recall any newspaper headlines describing those incidents? As soon as a shark is involved, there are headlines, it’s always characterized as an “attack” and it almost never states that it was provoked.

Where is the harm in having headlines like this? You may be aware of the shark cull that is going in Australia right now. It is mostly based on the public’s fear of sharks and has very little to do with actually protecting the people. Headlines like these, perpetuate that fear and can cause real harm, not only to the sharks, but the entire ocean Eco system in turn.

I know I’m banging my head a against a wall, but had to get this off my chest.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO
Shark Diver

 About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdivercom.