Latest Shark Stories
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Josh Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, issued the following statement today in response to French Polynesia announcing comprehensive and permanent shark protections. The announcement was made on Dec. 6 during the annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Manila, Philippines. "We applaud the government of French Polynesia for its bold decision to establish the world's...
WESTBURY, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Electro Industries/ GaugeTech (EIG) announces its cUL/UL listed Shark® meter in NEMA enclosure. This assembly lets users expand switchgear capability without expensive and time-consuming redesign. The assembly comes pre-wired and configured in either a 120V or a 277V (for 277/480V systems) voltage configuration. The Self-Enclosed Shark® Meter Assembly is the perfect retrofit solution in environments where there is no available...
STRASBOURG, France, Nov. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Conservation groups are celebrating today's European Parliament vote to close loopholes in the European Union ban on shark finning (slicing off a shark's fins and discarding the body at sea), the culmination of six years of campaigning and debate. Members of the European Parliament voted 566-47 in favor of the European Commission's proposal to impose the best practice for finning ban enforcement: a prohibition on removing...
BRUSSELS, Nov. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The European Parliament voted today to strengthen the European Union's ban on shark finning, the practice of slicing off a shark's fins and discarding the body at sea. 566 members of the European Parliament voted in favor of the European Commission's proposal to close a loophole by requiring that fins be left naturally attached to all sharks landed by EU fishing vessels globally and by all vessels landing sharks in the EU. (Photo:...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online One of the largest living predatory animals and a magnet for media sensationalism, the great white shark has a misunderstood evolutionary history. Paleontologists have debated that history for the last 150 years, originally classifying the great white as a direct relative of megatooth sharks. A new study from the University of Florida, published in the journal Paleontology, describes and names an ancient intermediate form of the...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The treatment of sharks in the media and popular culture has been historically rather harsh. A new study from Michigan State University reveals that this negative image is affecting their survival. The findings of this study, published in the current issue of Conservation Biology, reviewed worldwide media coverage of sharks and found that the majority isn't good. News articles from the U.S. and Australia are more likely to focus...
NOUMEA, New Caledonia, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Research published today in the journal Conservation Biology presents the most comprehensive assessment of the status of Pacific shark populations to date. The paper, authored by Dr. Shelley Clarke and a team from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in New Caledonia, shows significant declines in catch rates for blue, mako, and oceanic whitetip sharks, as well as declining average sizes of oceanic whitetip and...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online The shark with the most powerful bite isn't the Great White or the Hammerhead, scientists have discovered -- rather, it is the Bull shark that bites with the most force relative to its size, according to a new study. Marine biologists, including Philip Motta and Maria Habegger of the University of South Florida (USF), measured the bite strength from 13 different shark species, according to Dan Vergano of USA Today. They...
WASHINGTON, DC, October 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At least 37 countries, including the United States and Mexico, have proposed protections for ten shark and ray species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The U.S. will join Colombia in leading an effort to secure trade measures for the oceanic whitetip shark. In cooperation with at least five other countries and the European Union, Mexico is pursuing protections for three species of...
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Seven species of vulnerable sharks and manta rays have now been submitted by 35 countries for consideration for protection next year under an international treaty concerned with regulating wildlife trade. Governments met the deadline today and formally submitted their proposals for the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in March 2013. The recommendations include...
Latest Shark Reference Libraries
The slender bamboo shark is a bottom dweller found in shallow coastal waters where the ocean floor is sandy or muddy--around bays, inlets, and coral reefs. Found mainly in the Indo-West Pacific waters from the Arabian Sea to India; also in Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines, and Solomon Islands. It is occasionally found in freshwater of the Perak River of Malaysia. The body of this species is brownish in color covered with dark splotches above and cream colored underneath. The mouth...
This harmless shark is native to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Indonesia, it is also found in coastal waters from Japan to India. It lives on the ocean floor in shallow areas around coral reefs, hiding during the day and feeding at night. In Taiwan and Madagascar the whitespotted bamboo shark is used for food. Occasionally this species is kept in home aquariums as pets. The young whitespotted bamboo shark will have a black body covered with white and light blue spots and dark vertical...
The Barbeled houndshark (Leptocharias smithii) is a species of bottom dwelling shark and sole member of the Leptochariidae family. It is a fish found in the Atlantic Ocean, inhabiting coastal waters of Africa from Mauritania to Angola and found at depths up to 246 feet. It is occasionally found as far north as the Mediterranean Sea. Its habitat is typically muddy water around river mouths. This fish can grow up to 32 inches in length, and is characterized by its long, slender body,...
The Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata) is a species of hound shark found in the coastal waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, along the coast of North America from Oregon to Baja California. Its habitat is rocky areas, rocky reefs, kelp beds, sandy areas and under piers. Tagging has revealed that stock is mostly resident in San Francisco Bay. However, about 10 percent of the population migrate further out into the ocean seasonally. They swim mainly at depths of 10 to 250 feet. They prefer...
The Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci) is a species of bullhead shark that ranges from central California to the Gulf of California, Mexico, and possibly Ecuador and Peru. Its habitat includes rocky reefs, kelp beds, sand flats, crevices, and caverns at depths from 7 to 490 feet. It is mostly nocturnal and is rather sluggish in the daytime. The adult can reach a length of 4 feet and weigh about 22 pounds. It is brown with black spots. If harassed it may bite. It has poisonous spines on...
