Farallones - ABC News Investigates Tagging Disaster

ABC News I Team investigated the ethics of invasive tagging techniques and the controversy surrounding an extreme white shark tagging mishap at the Farallones. The event was documented by a reality television crew who also fund the research and provide the logistical support for the capture of white sharks.

As far as we know this is the first time in white shark research history that reality television film crews also act as quasi research team members and research funding sources.

We covered our thoughts on this matter in a previous post.

ABC I Team blog coverage post/read comments.

Farallones Tagging Mishap - RTSea Productions

However you want to characterise last weeks tagging incident at the Farallone Islands many within the shark community have unanswered questions.

RTSea Productions added their voice and overall assessment yesterday:

Controversy is now dogging the white shark tagging efforts of Dr. Michael Domeier of the Marine Conservation Science Institute. The SPOT (smart positioning or temperature) tagging began in Isla Guadalupe under the eyes of a film crew for a National Geographic Channel program to air on the 19th. It involves a technique whereby the shark is hooked and reeled on board, aerated with a water hose, while the crew literally drills and bolts a satellite transmitting tag to the shark's dorsal fin.

This is a rather elaborate tagging technique that has generated much concern within the shark conservation community (click here for prior posting about the Isla Guadalupe taggings, and here are two from other sites: click here and here).

Now, Dr. Domeier has moved northward to the Farallon Islands and, with the approval of Maria Brown, superintendent for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, has been tagging sharks there but with less than optimal success. Apparently, one shark swallowed the hook deep into its throat causing the bait's float to become lodged in the shark's jaws, thereby blocking access for the aerating water hose and requiring the cutting of the hook by working straight through the shark's gills. All in all a disaster in humane animal treatment as far as I'm concerned.

While there are concerns about the stresses this type of tagging places on the shark, there is also the question as to the need for more data acquired in the Northern California area. Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford, Dr. Pete Klimley of UC Davis, and others have amassed a considerable body of data that tracks the migratory patterns of these animals. They and their colleagues just recently issued a detailed report that can be viewed in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, published online on 11/04/09 in the Biological Sciences section ("Philopatry and migration of Pacific white sharks").

I always felt that this particular tagging technique was a more elaborate mousetrap than necessary. Now its efficacy has become controversial, the California data may ultimately be redundant, and the National Marine Sanctuary must defend a decision to allow catching a protected species in a manner that would most likely not be allowed for, say, a protected marine mammal.

Too many questions, too much controversy. . .

Read article in Bay area bohemian.com.

Tagging Disaster at Farallons - Foul Hooked Media

For the past few days we have been receiving an ongoing series of emails and phone calls from a variety of sources concerning an invasive SPOT tagging effort at the Farallon islands.

There was an apparent "tagging accident" this week covered in graphic detail by Bohemian Magazine.

SPOT tagging is a white hot issue within both the commercial shark diving community and shark research community. The SPOT tagging technique employs crews to catch white sharks with large hooks and to drill tracking tags into their dorsal fins.

A person identified as "Chris Fischer, owner Mothership Ocean, Expedition Leader," has been refuting and then negating the seriousness of the alleged tagging accident by responding to question asked of him by posters at this blog:

"On the anchor at the Islands now. Happy to report in that the first shark has pinged in 4 times and seems to be doing well. The second shark has also pinged in. Both are still in the area."

"We hooked two sharks this week. We were concerned about the first shark because the hook was a little deep. It was in the back of it's mouth, not gut hooked. We were able to cut the hook in half so it could roll out backwards, and left a part of it in the shark."

The Making Of Media Disasters

This is a classic example of a media disaster in the making for the tagging team at the Farallons and one that could be addressed by getting ahead of the negative and extremely graphic media that is surfacing around this incident.

Two issues need to be addressed immediately.

1. The full extent of the tagging mishap. Images, video, and a full accounting of this event as it transpired with nothing held back.

2. The role film and television productions had in this event if any.

The event was witnessed, photographed, and video taped by multiple sources so it cannot be hidden or downplayed. At stake is the reputation of a well known shark researcher and National Geographic television show about this teams tagging work set to air Nov 16, 9pm Est/Pacific.

The tagged shark is said to be "doing well" by this team. With the abject lack of transparency about the mishap to date we're now asking for "proof of life" to be added to the media list with the inclusion of a recent tracking map of all animals tagged including the first one.

This data should be independently verified by resident shark researchers from TOPP.

In a moment of media foresight this week we pointed to the unprofessional image of this group "high fiving and smiling" around a grounded shark at Isla Guadalupe and suggested "in the end these images will dog your continuing efforts for years to come."

Shark researchers have as much responsibility for media handling as any group that interacts with charismatic mega fauna and in the case of the team at the Farallons doubly so. We're not the only ones to point this out see also Mark Harding has a point.

Media transparency surrounding this event is critical for the sake of continued research with white sharks and for the public perception of invasive techniques for animal science.

The End of Shark Diving - Farallones?

The commercial and political winds of change are blowing again.

The Farallones Islands are one of the west coasts hot spots for simply titanic sized great white sharks. After years of legal wrangling the anti shark diving folks at the Farallones have succeeded in a series of new regulations guaranteed to all but kill this shark diving site - according to local news sources:

As part of the changes, great white sharks are now protected from people who want to get a closer look at them. There is now a prohibition against getting closer than 50 meters - or 164 feet - of a white shark within 2 nautical miles of the Farallon Islands. The rule also bans the practice of using decoys or chum to lure sharks.

"We have had cases where people in vessels come charging up to the sharks, scaring them away from food they have just caught," said Mary Jane Schramm, spokeswoman for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. "These activities threaten the health of the species."

"They have been working on the regulations for some time and put a lot of effort into it," said Terri Watson of San Rafael, executive director for the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association. "I'm confident they heard all the issues from all sides."

Sanctuary officials will work with the U.S. Coast Guard as well as researchers to help enforce the new rules. Violations are subject to citations and fines.

"There are many things affecting the sanctuaries: tourism, proposals for wave energy, invasive species, oil spills, they need to be better protected," Schramm said.

Regulations here.

Richard Theiss-Industry Analysis Chumming Perceptions

From the RTSea Blog this morning a critical look at the Farallons commercial shark chumming decision along with the usual stunning shark video:

Recently, federal regulations involving California marine sanctuaries were finally put in place, ranging from expansion of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to tow-surfing at Maverick's to an expansion of the "no chum" zone at San Francisco's Farallon Islands, as reported by Ken Weiss in the L.A. Times.

Regarding the "no-chum" zone, there was a statement made by William Douros, western regional director of the National Marine Sanctuaries program that disturbed me. About the chum regulations, he said, "We just think it was a bad idea for white sharks to associate humans with blood in the water."

While this makes for an interesting news bite (one that the L.A. Times highlighted in the front section as a "quote of the day"), my concern is whether this is anecdotal or supported by solid quantifiable research. I am afraid of the implication that divers participating in shark diving in sturdy cages are somehow exposed to greater danger because, due to chumming, the shark is viewing them as a food source and would consider attacking or breeching the cage specifically because it wants to prey on a caged diver. This is not a behavior that I have witnessed in five years of filming these animals. And this has been supported by people like Rodney Fox and others.

As a professional nature filmmaker who has spent considerable time filming white sharks, my experiences would be in contrast to the conclusion that William's statement implies. I have yet to see a white shark, made curious by a chum slick or hangbait, exhibit any predatory tendencies specifically towards the divers in the cages. In fact, as a professional I accept the calculated risk of exposing myself to the sharks beyond what is deemed appropriate for the "paying tourists" and have yet to see anything beyond heightened curiosity on the shark's part - not heightened aggression.


Now, I'm no fool. I clearly respect these sharks for what they are: powerful, apex predators - not cuddly puppydogs. And I am a strong advocate of stringent safety protocols and conservative baiting techniques that do not over-stimulate the shark. These are animals with complex sensory systems that respond to scent, vibration, visual, and electrical stimulus - many factors that come into play before a white shark makes any kind of predatory move. It is too simplistic to say: blood equals human prey.

My biggest concern is what William's statement says about shark diving as a whole. His choice of words could be fuel for opponents of shark ecotourism - an activity that both educates people to the importance of sharks and provides an economic alternative to their destruction. There are valid reasons that the Farallon white sharks should be isolated and I wish he had addressed those issues rather than make a statement, whether cavalier or calculated, that could be used to damn shark ecotourism as a whole - right when such activity could do the most good.

Devils Teeth-Ron Elliot-Who is He?

In the world of shark diving "originals" there's those who self-promote and then there's the true professionals.

Our world, that of commercial shark diving, rarely pays homage to those who make a living not from these animals but beside these animals. They are without a doubt pioneers in every sense and becoming rarer as each year passes.

We would like to introduce you to one-Ron Elliot, right about now you're saying Ron Who?

Off the coast of San Francisco the Farallon Islands holds one of the world's largest populations of Great Whites. By large we mean simply massive animals in the 18+ foot class. This site is also a commercial shark diving site with limited success rates. While the commercial shark diving efforts are relatively new-a solo urchin diver Ron Elliot has made these cold, low visibility, shark infested waters his home for the past 15 years.

Ron's been diving this treacherous site without any protection into waters that he can see only 20 feet on a "good day" with predators that the rest of us would never consider diving with...without a cage. Recently a short documentary was made of Ron at this site. The visuals are simply stunning. Almost unknown to anyone outside the diving community here in California, Ron and this new documentary features underwater footage of these massive sharks as they glide past him on a typical day harvesting the urchins he makes a living from.

All for about $10.00 a pound.

Hat Tip: Shark diver Sean Kendrick for sending this in.

White Shark Researchers Have All The Fun

The shark guys over at TOPP's seem to have the all the fun when it comes to white shark encounters at San Francisco's Farallone Islands.

This unique site is home to some truly giant white sharks. The problem is since new rules and regs curbing everything from towed decoys to how close you can actually get to a fresh seal kill, the site is just not as fun as it used to be.

Still, if this latest video is any indication, the science guys out there are not limited to the same rules the commercial guys are. Wonder how much they charge for a full day of serious sharking on their boat?

Cheesy music aside, this was what it used to be like years ago: