A Jab to Jaws

Jake, a rat terrier, was attacked last Friday afternoon by a shark during his daily swim in the Worldwide Sportsman’s Bayside Marina pier in Islamorada, Florida. The five-foot shark surfaced and captured almost all 14 pounds of the terrier in its mouth. The dog’s owner, carpenter Greg Lenoir, witnessed this scene and immediately bolted into the water, and punched the shark, who then released the dog.

Despite punctured skin and muscle on his abdomen, chest, back, and legs, Jake is expected to make a full recovery.

Shark Gives Surfer Free Ride

An Australian surfer working the waves accidentally hitched a ride with a shark. Somehow, the ten-foot-long sharp-toothed sea creature (species unknown) got caught up in the line that attached the surfer's ankle to his board. As a result, the toothy critter, now turned tow boat, started dragging the surprised man out to sea, rapidly.

According to a report from the Associated Press, "John Morgan, a 51-year-old surf shop owner from the east coast tourist town of Byron Bay, compared his terrifying 170-foot ride off a local beach to being towed by a jet ski."

Shortly after the unexpected thrill ride started, the shark was freed from the line and disappeared into the depths, the report states.

Final Fin

Between restrictions on tuna fishing and now shark finning, Japanese cuisine must really be suffering.

The House of Representatives refined a prior bill which prohibits shark finning, when fishermen sever a shark’s fin and return the remainder of the shark to the sea. This improved bill bans "vessels from having custody, control, or possession of shark fins without the carcass." The bill clarifies that aboard fishing and other vessels at a U.S. port, shark fins must be naturally connected to the body.

Shark finning is driven by the profitability of shark fin soup, a delicacy in many Asian countries, yet it contributes to the massive decline in the shark population, a steep drop of approximately 80 percent since the 1970’s.

This bill will now go to the Senate.

Shark Week Is Coming

Ok all you fans of these sleek-swimming and sometimes snaggletoothed fishes, Shark Week is back at Discovery Channel this month. Everything you ever wanted to know (or didn't), about these phenoms of evolution will be covered during this annual homage.

Here are a few of the week's highlights:

MYTHBUSTERS: SHARK SPECIAL
Premieres Sunday, July 27, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Get a reminder.
Using their signature sci-tech style of explosive experimentation, the MythBusters hit the deep blue from California to the Bahamas to investigate myths about sharks. They are honing in on some doozies this year: Are sharks repelled by magnets? Do dogs attract sharks? Do the vibrations caused by a flapping injured fish attract sharks? Does chili powder repel sharks? And hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman create the ultimate SHARK WEEK build—a 16-foot-long robo-shark!

SURVIVING SHARKS
Premieres Monday, July 28, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Survivorman's Les Stroud hosts this look at how best to play it safe in the water, while testing popular theories of how to survive shark encounters. Les travels to the Bahamas and South Africa to test whether the behavior of Caribbean reef sharks and great whites changes depending upon the time of day. While in South Africa, Les and marine biologist Jeremiah Sullivan conduct an analysis of the great white's bite, and test whether kicking and splashing attracts sharks, and if it's safer to stay in a group or tread water alone if stranded in the ocean.

DAY OF THE SHARK
Premieres Monday, July 28, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Do shark encounters happen more frequently in the morning or night? This special chronicles six recent shark attacks that took place at different times of day. Top shark experts weigh in on what time of day is better or worse for avoiding sharks.

DIRTY JOBS: SHARK SPECIAL
Premieres Tuesday, July 29, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
With over 400 species of sharks, they don't all live in the warm waters of the tropics —some inhabit the freezing cold waters of the Arctic. And who better to introduce viewers to one our planet's most unsung sharks than DIRTY JOBS' Mike Rowe, who travels north to the edge of the Arctic Circle in search of the mysterious Greenland shark. These large sharks are slow-moving behemoths, and learning more about them will help scientists understand the rapid ecological changes affecting that part of the world, and how the Greenland shark impacts the food chain there.

Mike assists shark scientists with their research as they tag and release a large male Greenland shark. By the end of the trip, Mike gains a deep appreciation for the men and women who are studying this elusive shark in one of the most extreme climates known to humankind.

Octopus Vs Shark

This footage of an aquatic battle for survival is just too amazing not to post. Enjoy.

Man Bites Shark...Sort of

In true mob-mentality fashion, a harmless, toothless sand shark was taunted and manhandled by beachgoers off Coney Island over the Labor day weekend. Luckily, lifeguards save fish, too. The lifeguard noted that nearly 100 swimmers were surrounding the fish and some were hitting it. The shark's saviour swam out, took the fish from the unruly group, and then continued swimming to deeper water before releasing it. The sand shark, like the one seen here, is not a threat to man. I've caught and released many of these fish, and they're as docile as your puppy dog.


Granted, there was leftover hysteria from a report of a five-foot wayward thresher washing up on Rockaway Beach a day earlier, but even this shark while toothy and intimidating with its large whiptail, is not a true threat or maneater. In fact it's well-known that threshers come into the shallows during the summer to birth their litters on nearby reefs where food is plentiful for their pups.

Either way, Jaws was 30 years ago, and it's perfectly safe to go back in the water.

Great White Gaff Goof Could Cost

You should always look before you gaff.

That's the lesson being learned by a Delaware fisherman and his crew this week, when they killed a small great white shark this week. According to reports from the Associated Press, the fisherman, Michael Davisdon, was on the vessel Little One, when his crew hooked up the shark, which is a federally protected species. While it is currently permissible to play a great white on a rod and reel, it should be released not killed. The almost-200-pound fish, however, was gaffed and weighed. The crew reportedly claims they thought the fish was a mako shark. Charges could be filed against the angler for catching and killing the protected fish.