Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
Swimmers were warned that a "monster shark" was prowling off a popular Australian beach, one that nearly bit a 10-foot great white shark in half last week, London's Daily Mail reported.
Based on the bite marks, experts say the larger shark must be twice its victim's size.
The smaller - relatively speaking - great white was hooked on a baited drum line when it was attacked, and was still alive when it was hauled onto a boat off north Stradbroke Island in Queensland.
The fatally wounded shark was found just a few miles away from the island's popular beaches, a haven for surfers and bathers.
"That cannibal thing is what great whites do; they'll eat anything, including their own kind," Hugh Edwards, a local shark expert, told Australia's 7 News. "It would be sensible not to swim in that area for a little while."
Though shark attacks worldwide dipped from 71 to 59 between 2007 and 2008, according to the International Shark Attack File, and few of them were attributed to great whites, the large shark had been vilified even before Steven Spielberg's 1975 thriller.
Speculation is that this "Jaws"-sized shark has been lured to the area by the rotting carcuses of three whales that were trapped in anti-shark netting surrounding the Queensland coast.
But Queensland Fisheries Minister Tim Mulherin told Australia's Courier Mail that the grisly find shows why those nets were still essential.
Five people were fatally attacked in the late '50s, the Courier Mail reported, but only one since the nets were put in place in 1962.
"Whatever attacked and took chunks out of this big shark must be massive," surfer Ashton Smith, 19, told the Daily Mail. "I've heard about the big one that's lurking out there somewhere.
By Anna Valmero INQUIRER.net First Posted 19:25:00 10/28/2009
MANILA, Philippines— A whale shark, locally called “butanding”, was found dead on Manila Bay by local fishermen on Wednesday morning, according to the local arm of conservationist group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
WWF Philippines information officer Gregg Yan said the possible causes for the butanding’s death include disease, gear entanglement, exposure to organic pollutants and ship strikes.
Measuring 15-feet long, the female whale shark bore a few scars, including small cuts on its tail possibly caused by a rope and strange injuries to both eyes, with the eyeballs missing when the carcass was found along the South Harbor at 1:30a.m., said Yan.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Manila Ocean Park and WWF went to the site where the dead whale shark was found to document the carcass.
A necropsy will be conducted to examine its cause of death, while the carcass will be immediately buried in the town of Dagupan in Pangasinan province, where the remains of other large sea creatures are buried.
The whale shark is the third largest marine animal to have died in Manila Bay over the past three years, said Yan. The first two include a dead baleen whale found floating beside a passenger ship moored in Manila Bay on December 2008 and another baleen whale carcass was found floating on August 2007.
Whale sharks can grow up to 40 feet long, with a maw wide enough to swallow a person. However, they feed only on planktons, acting as living filters to improve overall water quality in the seas.
Classified as a vulnerable species or close to being endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2000, the global population of whale sharks continues to decrease, said Yan. 14-foot whale shark found dead in Manila Bay, to be buried in Pangasinan By Evelyn Macairan (The Philippine Star) Updated October 29, 2009 12:00 AM MANILA, Philippines - As people troop to cemeteries to honor their dead kin this weekend, officials of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will visit a graveyard in Pangasinan to bury a two-year-old whale shark.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo yesterday said that the whale shark, locally called butanding, was found floating in Manila Bay by fishermen.
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is believed to be only two years old. The average life span of whale sharks is between 10 to 20 years.
Fishermen Melchor Cariño, Benzar Jara and Sadat Jara were on board the M/B Romar when they spotted the creature some 50 miles off the Manila Yacht Club at around 4 a.m. yesterday. At first, they thought it was just a large log floating on the water. They pulled it to the breakwater and called the media and authorities when they found out that it was a butanding.
Tamayo dispatched a rubber boat to tow the 5.2-meter whale shark to their headquarters. “But the whale shark was too heavy for them that they had to call for a second boat for assistance,” he said.
Upon reaching the PCG’s wharf, Tamayo instructed 15 of their draftees to pull the animal to the wharf, but they were no match for the two-ton fish. The PCG tried utilizing the crane from their Marine Environment Protection Command truck, but since its maximum capacity is only one ton, they were apprehensive that the crane would break if they persisted on pulling in the giant fish.
Tamayo instructed the crew of the rubber boat to bring the whale shark to a vessel with a bigger crane docked nearby. Once lifted from the waters, the whale shark would be turned over to BFAR for examination and disposal.
Edwin Alesna, BFAR-Fisheries Quarantine Regulation and Wildlife chief, said they would conduct a necropsy on the whale shark to determine the cause of death.
“We need to examine its belly to know what it ate. The Manila Bay is a polluted area and the pollutant might be a contributing factor,” Alesna said.
Tamayo hinted at the possibility that climate change could have caused the giant fish’s death.
Alesna, however, said that they are still exploring the possibilities. A quick check showed that the whale shark did not bear any serious injury and had only bruises that might have been sustained while it was being dragged.
It was also possible that the whale shark was already feeling ill and decided to stay close to shore.
The Manila Bay area is also teeming with plankton, the whale shark’s food, and the creature may have only wanted to feed.
“They go where the food is,” Alesna said.
The butanding are tropical fishes that are considered endangered species and are often found in Donsol, Sorsogon and in Pamilacan, Bohol. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) information, education and communication officer Gregory Paul Yan said they have so far tracked 280 whale sharks in Donsol.
But there were signs that its migratory patterns are changing. The BFAR official said there were sightings in Atimonan in Quezon province and in Batangas.
“These whale sharks come in groups called pods. So there is a possibility that there would be more sightings of whale sharks in Manila Bay,” he added. Read more...
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
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