Shark Words

Thoughtful Sharks : Eye Gaze

2012-01-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

This series of postings entitled “Thoughtful Sharks,” which begins below, introduces cognition by first establishing that sharks know each other as individuals.

Recognition of others as individuals has long been established in fish and sharks, and is necessary for the complex social lives in which cognition is most evident.

The next posting in the series moved into the subject of self awareness. As well as knowing others, sharks demonstrate by their actions that they recognize themselves as being separate from others and observable. To this degree they are self aware.

This follow-up shows these qualities in their behaviour through their spontaneous gestures toward divers. They are interested in others and show curiosity toward other members of their submarine community, including divers who visit them, and who show interest in them. The interest is returned.

Thus it is possible through photos to capture the eye to eye gaze of these mysterious creatures of the deep, when for just few moments of their day, they meet us.

The Greeting Gesture

2012-01-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

The photo shows one of my shark companions coming to greet me when she found me in the lagoon. She looks at me with first one eye and then the other as she approaches with her gently undulating movement.

2012-01-24T21:41:00.001-08:00

She nearly touches my face with her's, then turns to swim away at an angle over my shoulder.

She looks back

2012-01-24T21:28:00.000-08:00

I gave her a treat after she had followed me for a long time, and snapped a photo as she accelerated away shaking her scrap. If you look closely, you can see her right eye looking back at me. Sharks, like horses, can look straight behind them as well as in front due to their serpentine motion.

Tiger sharks do this too.

2012-01-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

This tiger shark had come over to look at me and when she left, she turned and glanced at me behind her, with one eye after another.

Here a tiger shark had come to see me, then swam away and suddenly turned back.

2012-01-24T20:36:00.000-08:00

She swam straight back to me,

2012-01-24T20:27:00.000-08:00

And came much closer to look again

2012-01-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

This curiosity seemed to be associated with the shark's interest in the other large animals in the region. Her focus on my eyes is typical of all of the close approaches of this sort by sharks that I have witnessed.

I have often come across statements by people, especially fishermen, who were approached by a shark in this way, that the shark was "attacking," or "would have attacked" had the shark not been shot or blown up with a power head, or something like that. But the real reason for these close approaches is the natural, social curiosity of this intelligent animal.

Bull sharks will come for a look, too.

2012-01-24T20:07:00.000-08:00

So will Caribean reef sharks

2012-01-24T19:54:00.000-08:00

And Lemon Sharks

2012-01-24T19:48:00.000-08:00

If so many different species of shark will do this, the behaviour pattern is likely wide-spread among them. Curiosity that is not based on a biological need is a sign of intelligence, and in this case is apparently linked to a wish to socialize. In each case the approaching shark looked at me (or any object of interest) with one eye first, then on the next undulation, the other.

A powerful communication passes through a shared gaze in eye contact, and it seems important to sharks, given this common behaviour with divers, as well as to us mammals.

Thoughtful Sharks : Self Awareness

2011-11-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

As described in my former posting (below), the blackfin reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) I was able to study closely for many years, demonstrate that they know each other as individuals in a variety of ways, one of which is their tendency to travel with a preferred companion. This pattern of swimming with a companion may have facilitated their acceptance of me, permitting me to swim over long periods of time with different individuals and learn where they went and how they passed their days.

They spend much of their time in home ranges, familiar regions where they prefer to be. Such areas are not defended in the way that territories are, so sharks with overlapping home ranges know each other. When they travel, they often go with one or more of these “neighbours”. They follow circular paths hundreds of feet across, oriented in different directions so that from above, their path has the shape of figure eights or cloverleafs. Following such circling pathways, they repeatedly cross each others' scent trails and thus remain in loose contact while moving together, yet they are rarely within visual range of each other.

It became apparent through a variety of types of observations, that these sharks are accustomed to being in contact with others while remaining out of visual range.

Further, in a variety of situations they hid behind the limits of visibility to observe something without showing themselves. Sometimes, they came into view for a brief look, but other times they were capable of staying hidden for long periods, waiting, while I thought that they had left the area.

One illustration of this unexpected behaviour occurred during a period in which I was medicating a sick shark. Night after night I waited for him, holding his medicated food out of the water while encircled by a whirlwind of healthier sharks who wanted to get the treat instead. Each night I had to think up some new tactic to get the medicine to the sick one, because the others always seemed to be one step ahead of me.

Some of the sharks waited beyond visual range for me to throw the food, then zoomed in at top speed and snatched it the moment they heard it splash into the water, before the sick shark, or any others present, noticed what I had done.

Their actions indicate that they were concentrating on (observing) what I was doing from beyond the visual limit, and waiting in expectation for a signal that they knew. They were holding a mental representation of the signal in mind, with the intention of acting when it came.

On some days I travelled a long way looking for the sick shark. The rest of the group of fifteen to thirty sharks followed, remaining out of visual range until the right moment.

One juvenile shark always followed me from the moment I arrived in the lagoon until the moment I left, showing herself only about four times in the two hours I usually spent there, though I could check on her continuing presence beyond the veiling light, by ceasing to swim ahead, and waiting.

The sharks I knew always came straight up to my face when they saw me, in an apparent greeting gesture, while shy strangers waited out of sight, only briefly passing into view from time to time until they felt confident enough for closer approaches. Sometimes a shy shark would suddenly come from behind me for a close look. If I looked above the surface, that was when a curious shark would come up to me for a look or a sniff. They clearly used the knowledge of whether I could see them at a given moment opportunistically.

Once a lemon shark came early to a stormy evening session with my sharks, in which I was obliged to cling to my kayak to remain stable in the torrential current. He came and went as if I weren’t there, and it was easy to imagine that he had not seen me. He had been out of sight for fifteen minutes when I drifted away from the boat, whereon he immediately appeared, passing just within visible range to investigate the kayak. He had been aware of me, and keeping track of my location; he came to investigate my kayak as soon as he could do so while remaining out of sight.

Sharks are self-aware to the degree of being aware of being present and observable. Since any animal is a self-serving entity, seeking food for the self, protecting the self, saving the self, and so forth, it is logical that to be aware of the self, as distinct from others and the environment, would result in survival benefits. Thus, evolution, through natural selection, must favour self-awareness.

Much of our train of thought is automatic. We tend to think all the time, just as our hearts beat all the time. The predominant nature of thought in our subjective experience suggests that its roots are deep in our nervous system, and argues against the position that thinking is a recent evolutionary development. The way this automatic flow of thought tends to centre on the interests of the self, further supports the hypothesis that self-awareness and self-interest were selected for, and are likely primary in other species as well.

The originator of the scientific field of cognitive ethology, Donald R. Griffin (Animal Minds 2001), argued that when an animal hid itself from human view, it was demonstrating its awareness of itself.

He described how Lance A. Olsen had reported that grizzly bears sought places from which they could watch hunters while remaining hidden. Other observers had reported that bears tried to avoid leaving tracks. The researchers concluded that these bears were aware of being present and observable as well as creating effects―their tracks―through their movements, which could be seen by others.

The sharks’ habitual way of remaining concealed behind the veiling light until an opportunistic moment, or approaching from behind to avoid being seen, is in the same category.

Thoughtful Sharks : Knowing Others as Individuals

2011-08-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

In Tahiti, I observed the reef sharks inhabiting the nearby lagoon. They soon accepted me into their community, and by noting the behaviour of each individual in a variety of situations over a period of many years, I found an unknown dimension of their lives, never before observed or documented. This included much evidence that the sharks were using cognition, or thinking, in their daily activities, rather than the automatic stimulus/response reactions that had been assumed to control their behaviour.

To illustrate the difference between automatic behaviour and cognition, consider a calculation. The act of calculating, which is so easily and swiftly accomplished by computers, is analogous to automatic behaviour. But understanding the reason for the computation requires cognition, which the computer will never achieve.

Various domains of science use different definitions of cognition, but for me as an ethologist, the most straightforward definition is : the purposeful manipulation of mental representations. (For more information, see the section on cognition on my website at: www.theplayoflife.org or the chapter "More on Thinking in Animals" in my book.)

Recognition of others as individuals has long been established in fish and sharks, and is necessary for the complex social lives in which cognition is most evident.

In the sharks I observed, the tendency of the blackfin reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) to travel with favoured companions, was one indication that they knew each other as individuals. An unusual and telling example involved the visits of two elderly female companions to my study area each year for four years, during the dark of the moon at the end of April, and at no other time. They came together and left together, and I never learned where they came from, so it must have been very far away. For the last two years they were accompanied by a third elderly shark whose home range was about two kilometers farther along the lagoon. Unlike them, she returned every few months after her initial visit to the region.

I documented many other companionships, showing that both female sharks and the males, who lived in the ocean beyond the lagoon, had favoured companions of the same gender. Each individual was different. Some sharks often travelled alone, and others changed companions relatively frequently. Often, companions were joined temporarily by residents of the regions through which they travelled.

One shark who tended to be a loner, joined two companions whose home ranges over-lapped hers, when the three ventured into a new, and possibly uncertain, situation. They approached in triangular formation, the loner taking the position in front of the companions, who followed swimming side by side, equidistant from her and from each other. I saw the same three sharks take this formation on several occasions over the years, always in new circumstances.

Observations that at least some species of sharks and rays choose which members of the opposite gender with whom they wish to mate, provides further evidence that they know each other as individuals.

All fishes have elaborate forebrains, and the degree of forebrain development has been correlated with social behaviour and communication, abilities which are integrated with cognition. Fish continue to develop neurons throughout their lives and do so at a faster rate in a stimulating environment, indicating a link between experience and neural development. Studies indicate that the ratio of brain to body size in sharks overlaps that of mammals and birds, and learning is considered to play an important role in their lives.

Memories are invoked in learning, and the memories of facts that are available for mental reference are called declarative memories, indicating consciousness. Several researchers have concluded that learning in fish calls on declarative memories and that fish are conscious animals.

That a particular shark will seek out and return to just one other shark in its travels, among all of the sharks present, is one example of a situation in which the animal is referencing declarative memories—the memories of the companion. I have seen a visiting shark arrive with its companion, in a place where many other sharks were circling, and swim nose to tail, or in parallel with, one shark after another, socializing over long periods before rejoining the companion with which it had arrived.

But my observations were cut short when the population was finned for the shark fin soup market. While they were being massacred, I wrote down their story so that the world would find out what they were like and what happened. The exciting story of this mysterious community beneath the sea, that was terminated by a shark finning company from Singapore, is recorded in my book: "My Sunset Rendezvous : Crisis in Tahiti."

The sharks' capacity to think and feel provides another crucial reason to save them from extinction, as well as their importance ecologically. Knowing of their cognitive abilities, shark behaviour will never seem the same again, and the world-wide, barbaric massacre of sharks for the profit brought in by just their fins, becomes even more tragic.

References :
Bshary R, Wickler W, Fricke H (2002) Fish cognition: a primate's eye view. Animal Cognition (2002) 5 : 1-13
Butler, Ann B. and William Hodos (1996) Comparative Vertebrate Neuroanatomy: Evolution and Adaptation. New York: Wiley-Liss, 514 pp
Chandroo KP, Yue S, and Mocci RD (2004) An evaluation of current perspectives on consciousness and pain in fishes. Fish and Fisheries 5. 281-295
Gödel, K. 1931 “Über formal unentscheidebarre Sätze der Principia Mathamtica und verwandler System I” Monathshefte für Mathematik und Physik , 38 pp. 173-198
Gruber, S.H. and Myrberg, A.A. 1977. Approaches to Study of Behavior of Sharks. American Zoologist 17, 471-486.
Guttridge, T. L., Myrberg, A. A., Porcher, I. F., Sims, D. W. and Krause, J. (2009), The role of learning in shark behaviour. Fish and Fisheries, 10:450–469.
Kotrschal K, Van Staaden M. J. Huber R. (1998), Fish brains : evolution and environmental relationships. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 8, 373-408
Lovibond PF, Shanks DR (2002) The role of awareness in Pavlovian conditioning: empirical evidence and theoretical implication. Journal of Experimental Psychology 28 3-26
Overmier JB, Hollis KL (1990) Fish in the think tank: learning, memory, and integrated behaviour. Neurobiology of Comparative Cognition (eds Kesner RP, Olson DS), Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsday, NJ. pp. 205-236
Penrose, R, (1990) The Emperor's New Mind. Oxford University Press
Maren S (2001) Neurobiology of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Annual Review of Neuroscience 24. 897-931
Northcutt, RG. 1977. Elasmobranch Central Nervous-System Organization and Its Possible Evolutionary Significance. American Zoologist 17, 411-429.

Channel Twelve News on CBS

2011-05-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Due to the urgent need to save sharks from extinction, CBS here in Florida aired an interview with me on the subject.

You can see it on my website at :

http://www.theplayoflife.org/

Just click on the menu bar on the left hand side labelled "My Sunset Rendezvous" and you will see the link on the right.

Ode to Madonna

2011-05-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Shark Savers picked up my post in Memory of Madonna, for all of the sharks being finned, and published it at:

http://www.sharksavers.org/en/blogs/communityblog/741-in-memoriam-to-finned-sharks.html

Ode to Madonna

2011-05-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

"Ode to Madonna" was written during the period in which I was waiting for the sharks of Polynesia to be protected by law. I had to wait a long time.

Here in Florida giving presentations about them -- so that the world will find out, what they were like and what happened to them -- I arrive home remembering, and mourning again, Madonna.

Since this was posted so very long ago, I decided tonight to post it again for those who didn't see it the first time, in honour not just of Madonna, but all of the sharks who are being yanked brutally onto ships, having their tails and fins sliced off, and thown roughly back into the ocean, to face the end of everything they have known, as consciousness fades and they sink, sink, and writhing, sink into the abyss.

Ode to Madonna

"In just the last couple of months, waiting for the law to be passed to protect the sharks, the last of the older, mature females I first met some years ago have vanished from my part of the lagoon. This includes my number one shark, Madonna.

Madonna was the first shark to meet my kayak when I arrived in the lagoon in the mornings. She was nearly six feet long, steel grey, and heavily built. When I dove down and swam to her, she would come to me and look into my mask.

Meeting her by chance in the lagoon, she would swim to me when I called her, and circle, spiralling toward me til she was within arms' reach. But she did not like me to swim with her. She would set off on a sinuous path, and when I followed, she would come back, often turn sideways, accelerate and stop, or just vanish into the blue, but usually not before we had gone to meet up with one or two of her friends. Never could I detect the slightest sign between them as they passed, but I didn't think it could be chance that we had met up with them, knowing that they were her friends.

Beautiful Madonna was not one of our brightest lights. When I brought a treat for her, as I always did when she returned to her home range after breeding or birthing, I would sometimes have to throw it for her time after time before she could locate it, and often one of her friends would coil through the water to snatch it the moment it left my hand, a trick poor Madonna could never manage. Once I spent 45 minutes in terrible current just trying to get her treat to her.

Nevertheless, she would hopefully come to me for a bite. When I had nothing, and was actually promenading in the lagoon with her friend Martha, she would come charging in. I would fin backward, till we were swimming nose to nose, me on my back and her on top of me, while Martha circled us, watching. Madonna would finally give up when she realized I had nothing with me, and me and Martha would go on alone.

Madonna did this once when it was almost too dark to see, having arrived with a group of rather macho males from the ocean. She behaved as if she were starving to death, having just had her babies. When she soared up to my face all her companions did too, and while I could guide her around me with my hand, I didn't have enough hands to push away half a dozen sharks at once, and didn't want to be rammed by the strangers or have my mask knocked off in the dark.

Feeling sorry for my poor shark, who did look awfully emaciated after birthing, I returned as soon as conditions permitted, and trailed scent through her home range, followed by a tiny juvenile who always followed me, just out of sight, at that time. Finally, Madonna glided in, the juvenile now flitting excitedly at her side, apparently more confident in the presence of the big shark.

As she circled, I tossed the food so it fell to the side of her swimway, and saw her target it, but she slowed, allowing the excited juvenile to get it first. Luckily I had brought enough for both.

I spent so much time with Madonna, I can remember every gesture, every movement she would make in different moods.

We all read all the time about thousands of sharks being finned all over the world, but when the sharks meeting this shocking end are ones you have come to know, and with whom you have spent time for many years, sharks of whom you have grown fond, the psychological effect is more intense.

Just as it is disturbing to read in the paper that some dogs elsewhere were poisoned -- but if it is your dogs who were poisoned and died, you reel."

Ila

Press Release

2011-05-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

May 3, 2011

Author and shark behavior researcher

visits South Florida

Ila France Porcher, researcher of wild shark behavior, and author of "My Sunset Rendezvous," is in South Florida this month giving a series of informative presentations on the intelligence and social behavior of sharks. Her talk shares the excitement of her unique method of finding things out about sharks, which are often killed for science and studied dead.

From 1995 until 2009 she established never before achieved intimacy with the reef sharks that inhabited the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia.

During this intensive ethological study, she made some intriguing discoveries and had many strange and startling experiences. When the Internet became available, she began to connect with other scientists across the world, comparing her observations, while accumulating evidence about sharks that transcends common beliefs. Her book is the story of this study, set in the framework of life in the islands, and the shocking aftermath.

She and the late Professor Arthur A. Myrberg Jr., formerly of the University of Miami, found evidence of cognition (thinking) in sharks, and the degree to which they are social creatures.

Contacted by the BBC as a result of this work, she contributed her findings on shark cognition and social intelligence to the widely seen documentary “Sharks: Size Matters” for Discovery Channel’s "Shark Week."

In "My Sunset Rendezvous," the author takes you with her into increasing intimacy with each of the reef sharks, where new discoveries are laid out for the finding in the alien beauty of a coral lagoon. Her thrilling true story takes place underwater and the characters are the sharks, each identified by its unique appearance and markings. Learning about these fascinating creatures of the deep has become a memoir of a different kind in this remarkable account.

She hopes that animal lovers who had not considered sharks before, will finally appreciate the true nature of this misunderstood class of animals that is worth protecting from extinction due to overfishing.

New Zealand filmmaker Alan Baddock said of her book: “Your clarity of intent is stunning and beautiful. As a wordsmith, I recognise and acknowledge rare mastery. As a traveller who has picked up and cast aside the best of world literature in a thousand hostelries on half a dozen continents and countless islands, I recognise a book I would share with people I considered friends … Three chapters into a subject I am not especially interested in, I am waiting with a low, gnawing hunger for more. That alone tells me I have found something special.”

Porcher's calendar of events is swiftly filling, so if you would like to have her speak to your group or organization, or interview her, please contact her at: ilafranceporcher@gmail.com or 561 840 6571.

Notes to the editor:

For further information about Ila France Porcher's work, see her website at www.theplayof life.org. Click on "My Sunset Rendezvous" on the left-hand menu on the first page to hear her radio interview -- orange button at the top of the page -- which shows her abilities as a compelling speaker.

Ila France Porcher is known for her shark activism, her wildlife art, her new discoveries that illustrate the little-known intelligence and gentler nature of sharks, and for her articles on animal intelligence and cognition.

She was a driving force behind the "Year of the Shark" project in 2009, which used the power of internet to generate many new projects for shark protection globally. It resulted in a powerful grass roots movement for shark protection that is still expanding.

She published an article in the scientific journal "Marine Biology" describing the reproductive cycle of C. melanopterus and was commended by the reviewers on finding a way of studying sharks without killing them, which was said to be as important as the discovery of their gestation period.

The contact number for Ila France Porcher is : 561 840 6571

See the latest issue of Beyond Blue!

2011-01-12T05:46:00.001-08:00

There is a long article about My Sunset Rendezvous in the latest issue, issue 10, of the Journal Beyond Blue. You can download it at:

http://www.beyondbluemag.com/issues/

There is also an article on shark protection that strongly credits 2009, The Year of the Shark Project, with having given significant impetus to the initiation of many shark protection projects globally. It says that the influence of the Year of the Shark continues to this day.

This is certainly something to be pleased about, for those of us who worked so hard on it.

My Sunset Rendezvous is Published!

2010-12-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

Finally the story of my sharks has been released!

It's available through the following link:

http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/MySunsetRendezvous.html

as well as Amazon, etc.

The official press release is pasted below, so that you can get a better idea about it.

It is much more than a book about sharks--stories of other species are interwoven throughout, all relating to wild animal intelligence, and set in the often amusing framework of island life.

It was written to be enjoyed by anyone who loves animals and animal stories and I illustrated it to make the underwater events that occurred more real. They are writer - to - reader messages lovingly and loosely painted in ink and bleach with lots of water, to help make real some of the astonishing and funny things that happened.

This work of love was written because there was a story that had to be told, and now, its available. So I very much hope you will read it and thus complete the cycle for which I risked much, and laboured for years.

Here is the official press release telling more about it:

Contact: Ellen Green, Press Manager, Strategic Book Group - PressManager@StrategicBookGroup.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"Once upon a time,

before the sharks were finnned,

we met at sunset..."

Author Ila France Porcher is known for her wildlife art, her shark activism, and for her new discoveries that illustrate the little-known intelligence and kinder nature of sharks.

For years, the misconception has flourished that sharks are mindless, vicious creatures that we all should fear and avoid. My Sunset Rendezvous debunks these myths.

From 1995 until 2009, the author established never before achieved intimacy with the reef sharks that inhabited the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Her thrilling true story takes place underwater and her characters are the sharks, each carefully identified by its unique appearance and markings.

Learning about these fascinating creatures of the deep has become a memoir of a different kind in My Sunset Rendezvous. It is also a record in words and drawings that will hopefully save these reef sharks from extinction.

Over years of intensive study, the author made some intriguing discoveries and had many strange and startling experiences. When the Internet became available, she began to connect with other scientists across the world, comparing her observations, while accumulating evidence about sharks that transcends common beliefs. She and a scientific colleague, Arthur A. Myrberg Jr., found the first evidence that sharks can think and the degree to which they are social creatures. Professor Myrberg died before their paper on cognitive thinking in sharks could be published, so she honours him by including his last scientific article in her book.

Contacted by the BBC for her work as a cognitive ethologist, she contributed her findings on shark cognition and social intelligence to the widely seen documentary “Sharks: Size Matters” for the Discovery Channel’s famous Shark Week.

In My Sunset Rendezvous, the author takes you with her into increasing intimacy with each of the lagoon sharks, where new discoveries are laid out for the finding, all in the alien beauty of a coral lagoon. She hopes that animal lovers who had not considered sharks before, will now realize the true nature of this animal that is worth studying and saving.

New Zealand filmmaker Alan Baddock said of her book:

“Your clarity of intent is stunning and beautiful. As a wordsmith, I recognise and acknowledge rare mastery. As a traveller who has picked up and cast aside the best of world literature in a thousand hostelries on half a dozen continents and countless islands, I recognise a book I would share with people I considered friends … Three chapters into a subject I am not especially interested in, I am waiting with a low, gnawing hunger for more. That alone tells me I have found something special.”

MY SUNSET RENDEZVOUS: CRISIS IN TAHITI (ISBN: 978-1-60911-810-5) will be available on Dec. 17, 2010, for $29.50 and can be ordered through the publisher’s website:

http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/MySunsetRendezvous.html

or at www.amazon.com or http://search.barnesandnoble.com

Wholesalers please email BookOrder@AEG-Online-Store.com

About the Author: Ila France Porcher grew up in British Columbia, Canada. She spent much of her life as a wildlife artist under the name Ila Maria. The connections she formed with the sharks in Polynesia and the atrocities she witnessed happening to them inspired her to write My Sunset Rendezvous. She is now working on her next book about wildlife.

Strategic Book Group, LLC

www.StrategicBookGroup.com www.StrategicBookClub.com

www.StrategicBookPublishing.com www.SBPRA.com www.StrategicBookMarketing.com www.StrategicBookAgency

ABOUT: Strategic Book Group provides book publishing, book marketing, and e-book services to over 10,000 writers around the world, employing 150 people who live throughout the US and work virtually through telecommunication. Strategic Book Group is experiencing over 30% growth per year, having published approximately 3,000 authors with almost 100 new releases per month. Our books are available through Ingram, the largest book distributor in the world, as well as in bookstores, through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all online channels. Strategic Book Group attends and exhibits at the major book expositions in London, New York, China, and Germany each year.

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###

On From the Year of the Shark

2010-01-23T11:26:00.000-08:00

The International Year of the Shark powerfully strengthened our global network of groups and individuals linked in dedication to the protection of sharks, the hub of which is the Let Sharks Live group.

Due to the need for an improved, interacitve Internet outlet, we have created a site at

http://letsharkslive.wordpress.com/

Through it we will post information and news from all parts of the planet, so please sign up!

Anyone actively working for the protection of sharks, who would like to join this think tank network and contribute, is very welcome to.

Please contact me at:

ilafranceporcher@gmail.com

Here's to continued success in our joint efforts on into 2010 and the decade to follow!

The End of the International Year of the Shark

2009-12-31T07:11:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE

The Let Sharks Live Network

The Shark Group

December 31, 2009

2009:

THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE SHARK

ENDS

The International Year of the Shark, 2009, is ending, and the creators, The Shark Group and The Let Sharks Live Network, consider it a fantastic success.

It was inspired by findings of The Global Shark Assessment that at current rates of decline, the most threatened shark species will be extinct in 10 to 15 years. In large regions, species that were once numerous have fallen to 1% of their original numbers. The massacre is comparable to that of the buffalo on the North American plains 200 years ago, but on a much larger scale. Yet these highly evolved and intelligent animals, also called the 'Wolves of the Sea' are still fished intensively, and barbarically finned alive, their bodies thrown back to die, for the shark fin soup market. Shark finning has only been practiced intensively since the 1980's, yet has already nearly succeeded in emptying the oceans, reefs, and continental shelves of sharks.

Long-line fishing ships also loot the oceans, with lines of up to 50 miles long, and thousands of baited hooks. For every 10 pounds of fish killed, they throw away 100 pounds of marine life. This waste of fifty billion pounds of marine life yearly, including sharks, is casually referred to as “by-catch”.

"The International Year of the Shark" was launched in 2009 to draw public attention to the plight of sharks (a third of their species are endangered). This plea for protection has become a movement and is picking up speed as more and more people join in lobbying to save sharks from extinction. The banner of the Year of the Shark has been flown by dive clubs, conservation groups, and NGO's all over the world. The Shark Group produced material for educational purposes in 14 languages, which was used and distributed globally by the members of The Sharks Live Network.

The Year began with the decision of Alibaba, the largest Chinese Internet trading company, to stop facilitating the sale of shark fins on its web-sites. Wolfgang Leander of The Shark Group, initiated the intensive lobbying and was joined by many other conservation groups. Brian W. Darvell, our spokesman in Hong Kong, met with company executives over the seriousness of the shark finning issue, and finally announced, "I have been assured by the company that the intention is that all Alibaba group websites will be shark fin-free on January 1st, 2009." And they were, on the first day of the Year of the Shark.

A wide variety of projects designed to help save sharks were initiated.

In America, The Shark Free Marinas project began, with the goal of freeing all marinas from shark killing. Omar Mulla, Oceanic Defence’s Youth Ambassador, of just sixteen, lead the Destin shark campaign to change all tournaments there from "Catch and Kill" to "Catch and Release." (Destin is popular for its sporting massacre of sharks).

Laura Morris, of the Shark Research Institute, with the dive club, Ocean Blue, initiated a campaign in New York City to remove shark fin soup from Asian restaurants there. Cooperative restaurants were given ‘No Finning’ decals for their entrance doors and cards that could be clipped to menus, explaining their decision to patrons.

The Shark Finatics, a group of young students led by Robin Culler continued to work on educating the public about the plight of sharks. They have explained the finning process to people who didn't know of it, held local workshops for children on sharks, and given talks on shark conservation in regional schools. The Finatic program will be included in a book to be published about the school, and will continue in coming years.

The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education (COARE) began issuing certifications designed to give consumers confidence that their choices help protect sharks, under its Shark Safe program, and established the SharkSafe.org website in several languages including Chinese. This will help to reach key audiences more effectively. "The need for shark conservation is a global issue, so our efforts must transcend international borders, cultural differences, and language barriers," said Christopher Chin, COARE's Executive Director.

In accordance with this sentiment, the remarkable film showing the true nature of sharks and exposing their massacre for the shark fin soup market, "Sharkwater" was taken to China by its creator, Rob Stewart and his team, to help educate the consumers of the dish about its true origins.

In Africa, the hard-hitting documentary 'Sharks in Deep Trouble,' by marine and shark conservationist, Lesley Rochat, (founder of The AfriOceans Conservation Alliance (AOCA)) raised awareness about the truth of shark finning and won several awards on the International film festival circuit. Using the success of the film, Lesley is lobbying for improved protection of sharks in South Africa through a petition she will be presenting to the Minister in the New Year. She started the AfriOceans Warriors Campaign, as a related Community Project for youth. Inspired by Lesley, who is also known as 'The Shark Warrior,' this highly active group is expanding Internationally

In the South Pacific, Palau declared its waters to be the first Shark Sanctuary, an illumined and heroic precedent by the government of this island country, in the fight to save the last Pacific sharks. Fiji launched a "Shark Conservation and Awareness Project" broadcasting widely the spirit and meaning of the International Year of the Shark. (French Polynesia had already protected its sharks by law in 2006).

The European Union produced the Plan of Action for Sharks, which included total protection for angel sharks and 3 species of rays. As the Year draws to a close, porbeable sharks and dogfish are coming under the protection of the law, and Cites is considering the addition of several more species to its list of endangered sharks.

Katrien Vandervelde, working with an informal network of shark conservationists and groups in Europe and America, initiated a powerful drive to stop the sale of thresher shark spines as dog chew toys.

The Shark Group also worked on the grave obstacle to shark protection erected by the mass media, as exemplified by Discovery Channel's 'Shark Week.' We publicized how for a generation, the network has been generating intense fear and hatred of sharks by using them as objects of horror to attract viewers and gain huge profits, while meekly suggesting that sharks also need to be protected from extinction.

Marie France published a book called “Nurse or Nemesis” to inform the public about the plight of the Australian Nurse shark and other threatened species.

Ila France Porcher's book, "My Sunset Rendezvous," which tells how the local sharks in Polynesia befriended her, and details their behaviour and the story of their finning, will soon be published.

Countless other individuals and groups all over the world promoted the need to protect sharks, each in their own way.

Members of The Shark Group and The Let Sharks Live Network declare, "The oceans are vital to all life on Earth, and they evolved to the present with sharks as predators at all levels, not only at the top of the ecological hierarchy. Without them, the oceanic habitat will crumble and change into something else, something that may not support human life. We must all consider the plight of sharks, and the health of the oceans as we do our own."

The International Year of the Shark in 2009 started a powerful grass-roots movement to save these remarkable and ecologically-important animals from extinction, one that we will continue to expand into the future.

Ila France Porcher

Josef Baron Kerckerinck zur Borg

Tarryn Abrahams

for

The Let Sharks Live Network

The Shark Group

For further information contact: ilafranceporcher@gmail.com

Notes to the Editor:

The International Year of the Shark had the following goals:

Convincing the consumers of shark fin soup that shark finning is unsustainable and that the dish must be made using a substitute for the shark fins. Shark fin soup is a tasteless delicacy whose main use in the Far East is to display high social status. If there is no market, the slaughter will cease.
Educating the public regarding the true nature of sharks and their threatened status, to counter the effects of shark attack hysteria, as spread by the mass media, and which for years has posed a serious barrier to their protection.
Obtaining protection for threatened species.
Solving the problem of the slaughter resulting from the use of shark nets and drum lines, used to protect beaches in some areas.
Reducing by-catch losses, and the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits defined in fisheries law
Promoting marine protected areas, and enforcing protection of sharks within existing ones.
Persuading shark fishermen to practise tag and release only, rather than killing the sharks they fish.

We have worked faithfully on them all, though the problem of by-catch and shark finning remains overwhelming.

Alibaba Ceases Trade in Shark Fins

2008-12-21T12:26:00.001-08:00

Press release

December 21, 2008

In Honour of The Year of the Shark,

Alibaba Ends its Trade in Shark Fins

The International Year of the Shark gets off to a good start on January 1, 2009, as on-line trading giant, Alibaba, ceases its trade in shark fins.

The company has been in negotiations regarding the issue for the past year, since shark advocate Brain W. Darvell brought the problem to their attention. Urging Alibaba to cease the trade, which poses a major threat to the survival of the targeted shark species, has been one of the prime projects of The Shark Group.

As a result of the information they provided, and the numbers of organizations concerned by the company's involvement in the shark fin trade, Alibaba made the group-wide decision to disallow shark fins, and shark fin products, on any of their trading sites. They have encouraged their users to report incidences of shark fin trading, saying that perpetrators would be "suitably punished.”

The company's decision gives a strong message to others that ethical concerns prohibit the participation in the wasteful practice of shark finning, which is one of the most dangerous threats to sharks at this time.

“I have been assured by the company that the intention is that all group websites will be shark fin-free on January 1st, 2009. Essentially, the decision that was made for Taobao applies to the whole of the company,” Darvell explained.

While the development brings a ray of hope for shark conservation, The Shark Group remains concerned that the trade could resurface in other forms, and that demand for shark fin soup is still high.

Notes:

Online trade in shark fins accounts for a significant portion of total fins traded, with a number of suppliers claiming to be able to supply in excess of 2 tonnes per month (around 50,000 sharks).

The Shark Group was founded by Alex Buttigieg as an Internet platform from which shark advocates could tackle specific threats to sharks. From convincing Discovery Channel to promote shark conservation, to negotiating with Alibaba regarding their trade in shark fins, the group launched the Let Sharks Live Internet think tank and declared the International Year of the Shark in 2009 which has attracted support from all corners of the globe. One of its main objectives is to convince the consumers of shark fin soup that shark finning is unsustainable.

Shark Finning is the practise of taking sharks with nets or long-lining, hauling them on board, slashing off their fins and tails, and throwing the rest of the animal away to die slowly. Over 100 million sharks are slaughtered yearly to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup, and on-line trade represents only a portion. Open markets exist in many parts of Asia.

2009: The International Year of the Shark

2008-11-28T16:34:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE

The Let Sharks Live Network

November 29th, 2008

2009: THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE SHARK

As the hands of the clock approach midnight for sharks, organizations working for their protection have joined forces in a global communication network named Let Sharks Live, and declared 2009 The International Year of the Shark. The motion aims to raise global awareness of their imminent extinction and the oceanic crisis at hand.

Recent findings of the Global Shark Assessment indicate that at current rates of decline, extinction of the most threatened species of shark is forecast in 10 to 15 years. In large regions, species that were once numerous have fallen to 1% of their original numbers, in a massacre comparable to that of the buffalo on the North American plains 200 years ago, but on a much larger scale. For example, in the Mediterranean Sea there is a 97 to 99.5% decline in shark numbers. Studies of oceanic sharks estimate 80 to 90% of heavily fished species are gone. Yet these intelligent animals, also called the “Wolves of the Sea” are still fished intensively, and finned, usually while still alive, for shark fin soup.

“The oceans have evolved over hundreds of millions of years with sharks as apex predators, so their loss will destroy oceanic health.” Ila France Porcher, founder of the think tank network, explains.

Some of the issues to be addressed include:

● Convincing the consumers of shark fin soup that shark finning is unsustainable and that the dish must be made using a substitute for the shark fins. Shark fin soup is a tasteless delicacy whose main use in the Far

East is to display high social status. If there is no market, the slaughter will cease.

● Educating the public regarding the true nature of sharks and their threatened status, to counter the effects of shark attack hysteria, as spread by the mass media, and which for years has posed a serious barrier to their protection.

● Obtaining protection for threatened species

● Solving the problem of the slaughter resulting from the use of shark nets and drum lines, used to protect beaches in some areas

● Reducing bycatch losses, and the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits defined in fisheries law

● Promoting marine protected areas, and enforcing protection of sharks within existing ones.

● Persuading shark fishermen to practise tag and release only, rather than killing the sharks they fish.

The threats sharks face in this modern world of human domination are daunting. The enormous scale of commercial longline fishing and bycatch,

the methodical massacre for shark fin soup, habitat loss and destruction, particularly of nursery areas, pollution, and a variety of smaller operations that have great impact taken together, are the main threats to the future of sharks.

"Our goal is to see the retreat of these magnificent animals from extinction's horizon."

For further information, please contact:

Ila France Porcher, (ilafranceporcher@gmail.com)

Kiss the Great White Shark Good-bye

2008-09-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Tahiti is right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, one of the most isolated islands in the world. The dolphins here are increasing in numbers, and all of them are perfect. None have new scars inflicted by shark's teeth anymore, because the oceanic sharks are almost gone. If they are so depleted here, they must be even more depleted elsewhere too.

When a commodity becomes scarce, it becomes very valuable, as is seen with ivory, tiger parts, shark fins and so forth.

As the white shark goes down to extinction, its jaws, teeth, and other parts, will become so rare that collectors will try to get one. Princes in white marble palaces in obscure parts of the world, with a taste to display the biggest tiger skin, the most interesting gorilla hand, the biggest elephant tusks, the most curled rams horns, and so forth, will hear of a new treasure, the jaws of the famous sea monster, soon to disappear. And he'll send out his minions to get one.

Illegal wildlife smuggling is estimated to bring in five billion US dollars annually, roughly a quarter of the global wildlife trade.

I used to be idealistic about humankind changing, but power comes down through money, and the big corporations who are profiting by the destruction of the environment have not changed.

At least, not enough.

There is no excuse: the recently publicized oceanic ecological crisis has been reported for years, by the United Nations, Worldwatch Institute, which monitors world-wide conditions, and others.

All ecological systems are in some sort of crisis, other factors affecting the planetary biosphere, including many that were unforeseen, have appeared.

Examples are: the emergence of new diseases, the failure of antibiotics, and the potential of the ocean currents to change quickly and bring on a sudden climatic crisis. In addition, resources are at their limit--wood, water, metals, forests, soil--and the manufacture of materials has polluted the land, air, groundwater, ocean and living systems. Then there is the hole in the ozone layer, and the catastrophic rate of extinction.

Anyone reading this message has 500 chemicals in their bodies that didn't exist a hundred years ago. (Its easy to look over the literature to check out the details).

We thought that science, that pure method of finding out the truth, would solve all problems. But now it basically serves the consumer dollar, and it has not become the dominant mode of thinking of those in power, in spite of the promise it held once, in spite of the many pleasures and toys with which it has pampered us, particularly, for the last hundred years.

Predicting the future is a tricky matter, but can be done to a degree, always remembering that imponderables can change the order of events, delay, or speed things up. All one has to do is closely follow the trends of the past, and extrapolate them through the present and into the future. As extinctions have been accelerating in the past, for example, we can expect them to continue into the future. As people were worried about over-packaging thirty years ago, now we have a problem with materials running short, yet things are more hyperpackaged than ever.

Science has so far failed to find any life anywhere else, or even another remotely habitable place. Nothing but zillions of light-years of unimaginable cold and dark surround us, yet look what we're doing with the Eden we had.

For sharks, children of eternity, another eternity must pass again before they could ever reappear. Alas.

Try to think of something more purely evil than a species, who methodically kills off the other species sharing its planet. (Jesus said, "By their works , you shall know them.")

But we think we're so great, the greatest, the only one (!) made in the image of God.

A Logo for The Year of the Sharks

2008-05-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Me and my friends are trying to get the year 2009 or 2010 officially designated as Shark Year. We are inviting all other shark protection organizations to network together with us in order to use it to draw as much attention to the plight of sharks as we can.

Here is the logo that I finally got designed for our use. Note that the shark is not showing its teeth--sharks rarely do, yet are usually depicted that way--and that the logo can be used with or without words--the image speaks for itself, of sharks under the protection of people.

Fear of Sharks and Why They Don't BIte

2008-05-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

As one of the few people who has conducted a long term ethological study of sharks, and the only one who went alone to watch them under a wide variety of circumstances, I have long acquaintance with the phenomenon of fear. Often it took all my psychological force to compose my mind in order to overcome it, when things went wrong, and I found myself in tossing waters opaque with blood, and solid with excited sharks, in an unexpected situation for which I was unprepared. For years, people told me, and I believed myself, that one day I would be bitten, and would bleed to death, or faint and drown, in consequence. Since I was alone, far from shore, often as night was falling, I could expect no one to save me. These circumstances enhanced what appeared to be an instinctive tendency to react with darkening consciousness and soaring terror to certain visual cues. Yet, no matter what happened, no shark bit me, time after time. Once I accidentally kicked one hard in the side--I didn't realize that the six foot animal was between my legs as I frantically tried to right myself in current. I watched, appalled, expecting her to instantly turn and slash, but there was no change in either her speed nor trajectory as she curved around to lazily circle me. After many years, I could no longer dismiss their failure to bite as random coincidence. No other species with whom I had even a fraction of the intimacy I shared with sharks, had failed to bite me, either by accident or in a fit of pique. Why not all those sharks, hundreds of them, of four different species, some many times my size? It was something that exercised me often--for years my mind went over the question like an octopus with a crab in a jar, trying to understand. Paddling my heavy kayak the long way home beneath the stars, after yet another terrifying incident, I would try to think it out again. Finally I developed the theory that our fear of sharks is based on the intrinsic knowledge that animals like us open their mouths instinctively to bite when they come in aggressive attack. Most other mammals, and most birds in my experience tend to do this, and certainly the great terrestrial predators, including primates, do. The mouth opens automatically, as part of the attack. (Us western humans, of course, are conditioned not to bite, but one can still become aware in extremities, that this instinct is present under the veneer of civilized conduct).
So we assume--it just seems most natural--that sharks will behave that way too.

But they don't. I believe that they do not share this instinct with us. And that is the key. With those mouths and shocking sets of teeth, our imaginations are undone considering them opening to bite us.

I have formed the theory from watching them, that on the contrary, they have an inborn inhibition against biting companion animals. They don't regard us as prey, so they apparently view us as other animals in their ecological community. Even the great white shark has been shown (by Dr. Peter Klimley), to have a ritualized conflict when ownership of a seal prey comes into question. The shark who can splash water highest and farthest with its tail wins the seal, so a battle, which would gravely harm both sharks, given their dentition, is avoided. I have not yet found a researcher who has witnessed sharks fighting with each other, as we, and other mammals and birds often do. (Mating is not the same thing).

So it wrongs them to suggest that they, like us, use their mouths in aggressive attacks.

Unfortunately, this instinctive fear has been used by the media to entertain us with horror shows, starring sharks as the only known monsters in the sea, and the resulting shark attack mania is one of the great obstacles to shark conservation.

The Sharks' Habitat

2008-05-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

The sharks I study are the female and juvenile blackfin reef sharks who live in the lagoon, within the protective arms of the barrier reef. The males live in the ocean on its outer slope, which shelves off gently, in rolling ridges, to finally fall away into the abyss.

This is how the reef appears underwater, on a good day, of course! Days when it is calm enough to photograph a wave breaking upon the reef are rare. Sharks often cross over the reef between the ocean and the lagoon when the depth of water allows; the two essentially divided populations of males and females do visit back and forth, but the juveniles remain within the protection of their shallow water habitat, in regions of thick coral, in the lagoon.

Across the Barrier Reef

2008-05-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

Some marine animals are accidentally swept and battered over the reef, to drift, exhausted, on the other side.

The Shark Highway

2007-10-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

This is the inner edge of the barrier reef, which protects the lagoon from the surging ocean. Within it, the lagoon is nearly a kilometer wide, and rarely more than two meters deep. It has many special places, micro habitats, used by animals for different purposes--deep, barren regions where sharks go to rest, shallow areas of thick coral where the babies seek refuge, places where the currents balance creating ideal conditions for spawning fish, places of strong and weak current, favoured by different species, and many more. This channel within the shelf of the reef itself, is used as a highway by sharks on the move.

The Lagoon

2007-10-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is the view in the other direction, the lagoon where my sharks live. With the sky above, and the earth below, this thin skin of water holds a drama of life I have found nowhere else. Here follows photos of some of the other inhabitants of this magic garden, which forms the setting of my shark stories.

Stone Fish

2007-10-21T11:30:00.001-07:00

These three partly camouflaged stone fish represent the least of the reasons NOT to walk in sea water. If stepped on, their spines inject a poison that causes vomiting and possibly heart attacks almost immediately, along with pain so severe it makes it hard to think about what one should do. Walking on the sea floor, even in shallow waters, crushes and hurts animals, large, and small, with every step, without the person even being aware of it. Its best to put on mask and fins where the waves lap upon the beach, and float away through the inches-deep water looking, and not touching, after that.

Visible Stone Fish

2007-10-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

These stone fish had just moved so it was possible to see them. The first photo above was taken half an hour later, when their camoflaging process had begun. While they appear among the ugliest of fish, strangely, they are closely related to the lion fish, the most beautiful one, though its poison is more fatal.

The Fish Who Looks Like a Flower

2007-10-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Amoung the most beautiful of coral fish is the lion fish, related to the stone fish pictured above. It is said to have developed its frilly beauty to impress its food, which consists of crustaceans. I often wonder what that tells us about crustaceans. Its spines, like the stone fish, bear a poison similar to that of the cobra.

Spotted Puffer Fish

2007-10-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yellow Puffer FIsh

2007-10-20T13:17:00.001-07:00

Butterfly

2007-10-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

Coral Fish

2007-10-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

The intricate coral is home to a multitude. Here a chichlid family shelters within its labyrinths.

Living Waters

2007-10-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

Any view in any direction reveals a myriad of life forms, so varied in size, colour, and appearance, that even the water seems to live.

The Sting Ray

2007-10-20T12:55:00.001-07:00

Sting rays roam the lagoon, poking about in the sand for food, which they locate using their electric sense. Thus they can often be found by the clouds of sand they raise. These creatures present an awesome spectacle of beauty and grace when they fly, their meters-long tail held elegantly at an angle behind them.

The Eagle Ray

2007-10-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Rays are sharks with wings. The eagle or leopard ray also dwells in the lagoon where my blackfin sharks live.

The Coral Garden

2007-10-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

The lagoon where my sharks live is a coral garden of supernatural beauty. This coral formation is an example of the marvels to be found while roaming there.

Shark Attack Mania

2007-10-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

Shark attack mania is a major obstacle to shark conservation, and seems to be quite obsessive to some, though baseless, considering the facts.

When I first came to Polynesia, twelve years ago, my gardener, Katoa, was my only source of information about the startling shark encounters I experienced when out in the lagoon. He was the only English speaker I knew, having fled the Cook Islands when they became independent and married a Tahitian so he could stay here. So all his life he had fished in traditional ways off the islands of the South Pacific. The question of what to do about sharks was an important one for me, since sometimes they appeared very close and circled me when I was alone a kilometer from land, and all I knew about them was what I had learned from watching "Jaws." I would watch their smug little faces as they turned around me and on the first occasion, felt actually disappointed by the lack of interest the fish displayed in me.

Once Katoa spoke of being especially harassed by sharks while trying to take possession of a fish he had speared. (He was unwilling to give his fishes away, preferring to defend them and take them home to his family). "Why didn't you just hold the fish above the surface and kick the shark?" I asked, having heard that was the best move to make, since it was the fish the shark wanted. He hooted at that, and told me that when his brother-in-law had tried it, the shark had bitten off his fin. "I told him," he said, "You were just lucky that the shark didn't bite your foot off!"

There was a tiny pass, a one foot deep depression, in the reef straight out from where I lived then, and when it was very calm, I used to slide through with the departing surge, and go exploring on the outer slope of the barrier reef. Katoa warned me that there were white tipped oceanic sharks out there, and to be on the look-out for them. He often saw them and drove them away by splashing the surface in front of their noses when they became a nuisance while he was fishing. The move worked much better with them than with black finned reef sharks, he told me, who just circled around and came back. They were the worst pests, he said.

"But those are the ones I see the most," I told him. "Never mind," he reassured me. "If one bites you, just scream and it will let go.

But this is the point: he was seeing oceanic white tipped sharks commonly. Now, they are gone. I wish I had made more of an effort to see them too.

As for the black finned reef sharks, no matter what happened, no one ever did bite me. Wanting them to accept me as companions in my efforts to know them as individuals and animals, I took them food from time to time, in between my excursions to swim with them. My favourite, Martha, would take a scrap the moment it left my hand. She was always in the right place at the right time, without ever accelerating. As an older female, she was about one and three quarter meters in length, and a heavy, powerful shark. The females are larger than the males, who are between a meter, and one and a quarter meters in length.

Martha would go to sniff my boat, and if she detected food in it, she would swim up to my face, over and over, and not leave me alone until I gave it to her. No matter where she was in the vicinity, when I turned towards my boat, she zoomed into place at my elbow to accompany me. I would take the little plastic bag and float the fish scraps out of it as the water filled with blood and fluids. She would coil up past my face, taking the few pieces one by one, paying no attention to the plastic, or the movements of my hands.

Once when I had been given a large load of scraps by a fish store, I was pushing it out of the boat and into the water, finning hard in order to hold myself as high above the surface as I could. And I kicked her, hard, in the side. Horrified, and sure she would turn and bite, I looked underwater to scrutinize the situation. A shark was a couple of inches under my mask, and several others were brushing by me; the water was solid with sharks, but in a moment I was able to make her out, showing no reaction at all to the kick, gliding downward to choose something to eat. (Martha was always a fussy eater, often picking things up and dropping them, leaving not a mark upon the scrap to show where her teeth had held it.)

There was another individual who spent only December to April in my area. (Each female has a different schedule--some are home-bodies, others are elsewhere half the time). I named her Carrelina for a square protrusion on her dorsal fin. She was immature when she first appeared one evening, poking around in the coral. She did the same thing the following three evenings, always at the same place and time, and after that she was consistently waiting with the rest of the sharks when I arrived. (They recognized the sound of my approaching kayak).

Each year, Carrelina became bolder. When I slid into the water, if I didn't move, and just watched them, the sharks I knew very well swam up to my nose one after another, turning away at the last moment, their way of greeting me. Carrelina joined them, but being young she moved very fast. Off and on for the entire hour or so I spent, until darkness veiled the sharks from my sight, every now and again she zoomed up to my face, then startled me by shooting over my shoulder from behind, only to turn like lightning and spend the next several minutes orbiting my head. No effort to dissuade her such slapping the surface of the water in front of her nose, or using the kayak as a barrier and banging on it had any effect. Day after day, week after week, during the four month period of her yearly visitations, she came zooming in at lightspeed, nearly every time I went to the lagoon. Of six hundred sharks I met, only Carrelina behaved in such an amazing fashion. Time after time I felt forced to lay my hand upon her head and turn her--and under my hand how vital she felt, how swiftly she turned. I was always ready to stiffen my arm to ensure that she did not ram me, to guide her around me, but she never tried. Still, she kept me on the alert. Each year her comportment was unchanged. She had no trouble remembering me, the situation, and my routine, year after year, though after she matured, mercifully she moved more slowly.

A famous elasmobranchologist wrote a paper specifically to try to prove that this species of shark is dangerous. He cited examples of sharks behaving as mine did, swimming up to him and turning away at the last minute, claiming that the shark would certainly have bitten had it not been slashed with a machete, or blown up with a power head before it was able to do so. He reported each close approach, which is usually due to curiosity, as a shark attack!

The only actual attacks, that is, bites, he could cite were ones that occurred when people were walking in shallow waters, and the sharks nipped them, apparently attracted by the splashing and mistaking the feet for flipping fish. And those were at Caroline Atoll. As it happens, my friend lived for two years on this uninhabited atoll, and wrote a book about his experiences. (Together Alone, by Ron Falconer) He and his family were used to the sharks' behaviour, following each foot with--I forget the expression he used--something like "excited attention" but he did not consider that the sharks were attacking, just attracted to the splashing--an honest rather than a biased assessment. His children and dog used to played with the sharks, with no harm coming to anyone. They considered them another part of the environment. (Its an excellent book and stunning story--you can get it from Amazon.com.)

The above mentioned elasmobranchologist who sought to prove the black finned reef shark dangerous, reveals his bias by stating in his paper that he was frightened by a member of this species only two feet in length (!!!) who appeared in the area where he was collecting fishes with rotenone. He actually became so frightened that he terminated his activity!

In his assessment later for his paper, the presence of the poison in the water and its possible effect on the shark was not taken into consideration. In another case in which a shark had frantically fought in shallow water while some jerk hacked him up with a machete, the fact that the shark was being cut up alive was not taken into consideration. The mortally wounded shark's behaviour was considered a 'shark attack.' Biased attitudes against sharks, even in science, have probably often resulted in poor observations, false assumptions, and slanted reporting. Then they were accepted as truth. I found the whole thing unbelievable--how such a lot of rot could have been accepted for publishing in a peer reviewed journal is beyond belief.

For a long time I believed that one day I would be accidentally bitten, but it never happened, no matter what went wrong. There was one time when the wind had risen so much during the half hour it took me to paddle out to the site, that I barely had the precariously balanced kayak under control. Instead of undulating languidly behind the boat as she usually did, Madonna, my shark one--she was still alive then, though later finned-- was swimming beneath it like a remora, and countless excited sharks were strung out along the surface behind me, following like children after the pied piper.

The fish shop had cleaned out its freezer, which was the only reason I was out there with this load of stuff; they had packed the scraps in sacks, and due to the wind, I had carefully strapped them on, feeling very conscientious!

But when I slid over the side, planning to tow the boat to the right place, it overturned, due to the high center of gravity. I had to locate my camera and some other things before righting the kayak, with white-caps washing over me and the tossing water opaque with blood and sharks. With the water-filled sacks strapped to it, it was quite impossible to get the heavy diving kayak upright again, so I had to reach under and feel my way to release the straps holding them, one by one.

When they finally fell free, I flipped the kayak upright, and moved into clear water to survey the situation. Greenish clouds of blood hung in the coral, obscuring the view, and through them flew the sharks, eerily emerging and disappearing. Avoiding the blood-scented water, I carried the bags of food one at a time to the sandy circle of the feeding site to dump them out, and once they were in the proper place, the sharks began to feed. No sack had been mauled; they had simply waited for me to put the food in place as usual, despite their evident excitement. Proof of this is offered by the fact that the scraps that had fallen free under the boat when it had overturned were left untouched. It was a remarkable example of how they expected and followed my routine, because once the scraps were in the site as usual, they all behaved as if they were starving to death.

When I first searched this species on Internet, the only references I could find for them were headed "shark attack!" I thought I had made a mistake until I had repeated the search using Carcharhinus melanopterus and came up with the same thing. I wrote to one of the sources, a well known university, to suggest that 14 bites in 500 years by the species is a negligible quantity, and should not be put forward so dramatically, particularly since there was practically no other information about the species. I got no reply, but a couple of years later the website was changed, suggesting that they were aware that since they were supposed to be scientific, maybe they should emphasize their shark attack mania less.

In intimate contact with most species, one is usually eventually bitten, whether it is accidentally by one's dog while playing, or intentionally by an irritated parrot, mouse, skunk, fish or chicken. These blackfinned reef sharks represent the only species I've been in intimate contact with that has not bitten me under any circumstances. Eventually I had to conclude that the strong belief that sharks are dangerous and will bite at any provocation fails to conform with reality, and that this species is inoffensive, and probably has an instinctive inhibition against biting companions, or other large animals.

It was one reason they became my favourites, of all the wild animals I have known: not only did they accept me amoung them, but never did they betray my trust and hurt me.

Shark attack mania is a major obstacle to shark conservation. This widespread attitude seems quite obsessive to some, though baseless, considering the facts.

Lemon Entrees

2007-09-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

So much shark behaviour seems to depend on whether we can see them or not, my main example of that being the time my step-son climbed upon a coral, and instantly the blackfin swimming with us went to him and sniffed his legs, quite aware, it seemed, that having his head above the water he could not see her. This came to mind again last night when I was drifting at dusk sketching the fin of an unknown juvenile blackfin who was roaming nearby. A movement off to the side caught my attention and I saw a good sized lemon shark approaching, already only a few feet away. They always look incongruous coming through the narrow coral canyons, seeming as big as a baby whale, though they are really smaller than that. Not wanting to startle him, I waited, perfectly still, for him to see me. He had a white spot on the tip of his nose, and that dazzling lemon shark smile.

Once my husband and I decided to celebrate Christmas by going to the end of Tahiti. The landscape resembled gently rolling hills covered with sage—the sage being the coral--always sloping downwards ever more steeply, into deepening gloom. Past 120 feet, huge dark purple roses bloomed around us, and the valleys deepened into gulches falling away. The light dimmed as we drifted downwards and finally we could see below that mysterious twilit place, the end of Tahiti. There the drop-off fell straight to the ocean floor, into the utter blackness of the abyss. We were at 200 feet and I was in a dream, more narcked than I had ever been, when a lemon shark came slowly, steadily, almost vertically, up out of the dark. So alien, the beauty; it might just as well have been another world. It saw us and turned towards us, the effect of its relentless oncoming heightened by the movement, back and forth, back and forth, of it's head with open mouth. The grotesque smile was hypnotic, and I saw with wonder that it had visited a joke shop and replaced its normal teeth with two inch spikes just to impress us. I waited for it to turn, actually physically preparing for a fight as I reflected on the reasons it might have for that open mouth. About eight feet away, the shark turned, and just as slowly disappeared into the gloom. My husband took my hand and we began swimming back up towards the light, me looking back often to the mystical place where the island ended.

So with dentition like that, it amazed me again that this lemon shark last night paused and turned away the moment he saw me, a small spindly creature under the surface. They're so shy! His path took him within inches of the little juvenile and neither shark reacted to the close proximity of the other. I went behind a dead coral formation out of the way, hoping he might come back. After a few minutes the slow moving behemoth appeared briefly just within visual range, then disappeared again. This was no accident; he came to look. I waited for awhile, occasionally checking behind me, because often the next thing they will do is come from behind to see. But it was getting dark fast, and I wanted to go. Becoming impatient, I went to my boat and was putting my camera and slate inside when I remembered that its just when my patience comes to its end that the animal often comes, their patience lasting just that little bit longer. So I swam back to my place at the coral, and as I did so, the lemon shark passed me coming from behind.

On another occasion, a lemon shark came with my sharks when I had brought them some food. I didn't feel very comfortable with him there, particularly since the current was so bad I could scarcely swim against it, which put me at a disadvantage, so instead of swimming around I stayed at my boat. Nevertheless, I threw in some tuna heads for him that I had brought for the nurse sharks, then wondered at my sanity when they landed so close to the boat that I felt to retreat up the anchor rope. The lemon shark came and went repeatedly, to my increasing irritation because some of my favourite sharks were just down-current and I wanted to go and see them. So, when he had not appeared for awhile, I let go of the boat and drifted down-current. The lemon shark came immediately, barely discernible through the cloudy light, and he went straight to my boat which he circled around for a time before disappearing again. He was very well aware of what I was doing, just as I had been keeping track of him. (Sharks usually keep watch over suspicious situations from beyond visual range, and that is why often they just appear in the distance for a moment to take a look, then disappear behind their curtain of blue). Later I saw this comparatively huge shark, nine or ten feet long and very stout, nosing slowly along the body of a tiny nurse shark, the size and colour of a human baby, who was munching on a bone. The lack of aggression towards the tiny creature that he could have inhaled whole had he wished, was striking.

Sharks often follow objects of their interest out of sight. To learn who is following you, stop and drift slowly backwards. And there they are, the sneaky things, caught in the act!

There was another occasion, again when it was nearly dark, that a lemon shark came sweeping into my fish party at high speed. There were several sharks over six feet there already, and a couple of about eight feet. I was feeding the fish, and a tiny brightly coloured eel kept waving the front half of his body out of his hole near my right hand. So now and again I tried to waft a bit of food to him. The multispecies cloud of fish agitating in front of me were so thick that I really couldn't see beyond them. I was running on instinct, trying to make sure that each fish got something: a bite for the butterfly fish looking into my mask, a scattering of crumbs for the needlefish at the surface, a bit for the rock cod waiting on my dead coral hold-fast, a handful for the squirrel fishes in the hole to my left, some bigger pieces for the groupers, and something for the five foot moray eel whose head was swaying just below my left elbow. And all the while, whenever I wasn't looking, the tiny eel would touch my hands with the softest, most delicate touches. Suddenly I felt that there was too much agitation in the site: two of the big sharks were moving too fast. So I dropped the tuna head I was using to feed the fish and drifted leftwards just as the lemon shark swept into the circle. Everyone present shot outwards from the centre, an effect called a flash expansion, used at times by fish as a protective measure. The visual effect was incredible—hundreds upon hundreds of jewel-coloured fish shooting outwards in a sunburst pattern along with sharks of all sizes moving at lightspeed. The lemon shark zoomed straight to the tuna head I had dropped and went nearly vertical, (as much as a three meter shark who is fatter than a horse can in two meters of water), with a great deal of tumult, as he tried to extricate it from under the coral. He failed, and came along behind the coral wall I had been using as a hold-fast. Horrified at this turn of events, since I had heard that lemon sharks can become irrationally angry, and this shark was already in a huff of some sort, (plus it was nearly dark), I remembered I had promised myself a photo of the next lemon shark, and readied my camera, an underwater throwaway, bought just for such unexpected opportunities since my usual one was being fixed.

Amazingly, the huge shark still had not seen me, and as he approached, I saw in awe that his head was covered with long, deep, criss crossing scars! He was just about underneath me when I took the picture, and he reacted so fast when I moved my finger to press the button, that the photo shows him already turned. How he got turned around in that narrow space is hard to picture, but he accelerated away and vanished. Shaking with terror, I threw my stuff into the boat and nearly drowned trying to get my anchor out from under the coral where it had become lodged, so frantic was I to get out of the water before he came back.

Once in the boat, I drifted, watching, over the glassy waters, rainbow colours melting together beneath the afterglow of the western sky. But I did not see the lemon shark, or any shark, reappear in those twilight waters.

Ila France Porcher

Sharks: Wolves of the Sea

2007-09-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

When I came to Polynesia, I was familiar with Canadian wild animals and had no idea what to expect when I began to meet sharks while exploring the lagoon. After a series of odd experiences with them I set out to find out what they were really like as animals and individuals. The species I concentrated on was Carcharhinus melanopterus, the reef blackfin shark.

To see what each one was doing from day to day, I had to be able to recognize them. So I drew their dorsal fins on each side, then copied them into a book, along with a description and any other details. I soon had so many that I had to give them names just to be able to remember them all. My notes grew to hundreds of pages and dozens of tables, and by now I have identified more than six hundred sharks, and could recognize half that many on sight before a large fraction of them were finned (starting on my study group in 2003—see 'In Memory of Madonna'). I spent as much time as I could with them, bringing them treats now and then as a gesture of benevolence.

Beneath the glimmering lagoon surface, in a thin skin of water just one and a half to two meters deep, exists an ecosystem of extraordinary complexity and vividness. Its always impressive: the sky above, the earth below, the sun slanting through the gently moving surface gilding the turquoise waters and the surreal landscape with golden light, and in just this tiny layer, so much life in all directions, it takes your breath away. Even the water seems alive. In that split second it takes to slip underwater, I go from being alone in the wind, to being surrounded by two or three dozen animals the same size as me, all approaching. There is always something surreal about it, the alien beauty, and the silence in which they move. One by one, those who know me well, swim up to my face, turning away at the last minute, if I just stay still, watching them.

For a long time this gesture was a mystery to me, and I finally decided it was an expression of excited recognition, like the way dogs will joyfully run to you when you arrive home.

That they always approach my face, indicates their recognition of the frontal view. On the other hand, strange sharks will come from behind to take a closer look without being seen, or pass close by when I'm looking the other way. Often sharks will immediately react when they become aware that a person cannot see them, for example when one looks above the surface. Sharks appear to use the limits of visibility to remain out of sight when it suits them, coming just close enough to have a look once in awhile, and keeping track of the object of their interest by using their other senses (hearing and detection of vibrations in the water-medium). Thus they appear to be aware of being present and viewable. Similar behaviour has been considered in bears as an indication of self awareness (Donald R. Griffin 'Beyond Cognition to Consciousness' 2001). A variety of behaviours indicating thinking in sharks are described in my accounts of specific individuals, soon to be put on line on my planned website, which constitute some of the first observations of cognition in sharks.

In time I became familiar with their daily life habits, social lives, and reproductive cycle—the article reproduced on this site 'On the gestation period of the blackfin reef shark, Carcharhinus melanopterus, in waters off French Polynesia' was published in the journal Marine Biology.

Most males, who are smaller than the females, live on the outer slope of the barrier reef; it is the males you mostly see on shark dives. The lagoon is the usual domain of the females and juveniles, and so it was those with whom I became most familiar. Each shark has a preferred area, called the home range, and these ranges overlap. Sharks living in the same region know each other as individuals, and have companions they often go with when they travel elsewhere. This indicates that sharks recognize each other as individuals, and because they appreciate a companion, it was easier, I think, for me to be accepted by them as a companion.

On the few occasions when I came with another person, they responded by vanishing behind their curtain of blue, sometimes after coming quickly over to verify my identity. They could tell the difference between me and another human; in other words, they recognized me as an individual too. Besides involving learning and memory, such behaviour showed their awareness of changes in the routine or their environment, and their ability to make quick decisions.

One of the very large and apparently quite old females I met was very dark, with a pure white marking symmetrically placed on each side of her head. It looked as if someone had stuck two large snowflakes on her. Arriving always at dusk, she was a dramatic sight with the twin white points glowing bright. I called her Kimberley. She remained in the area for nearly a month, and before she left, I saw another very similar visitor. Not only was the patterning of their colour lines and dorsal fins alike, but this shark, too, had pale markings placed precisely the same way on her head. She also arrived as night fell, and I called her Twilight. Since none of the other sharks had this type of white marking, I speculated that the two sharks were sisters. It was months before either of them returned to the area, but there came an evening when the twin snowflakes approached through the gloom. Kimberley glided in, and the following week, I saw Twilight.

For three years I watched the two come and go every few months, sometimes together. Was it chance? Or was there an association between them? Finally, when Kimberley appeared again after months of absence, at nightfall, I went looking for Twilight and actually found her, following about a minute behind Kimberley. She passed me, and just then Kimberley appeared equally distant on my other side. The two sharks were arcing towards each other, as though following the same circle. They met in front of me, passing so closely they may have brushed each other. But though I watched intently, I discerned no sign pass between them. Maybe just the close pass was the important thing, each shark reaffirming 'we are here.' Twilight languidly cruised back and forth in a figure eight pattern, strangely not minding me staying with her. Time after time she caught up to another female shark who was already present, apparently intercepting and pursuing her trail of scent. Then the two would swim together briefly, usually, before moving on and joining another shark.

Kimberley and Twilight arrived together at dusk each time I saw them for the following month, reinforcing my theory that they were associated, and maybe sisters. They continued their sporadic visits until shark finning began here, whereon Kimberley immediately disappeared, and Twilight held out for awhile, before she too vanished. Nearly all of my beloved females were slaughtered within a few months when the killers from Singapore arrived here, and the government pondered over whether or not to let them devastate the country's sharks.

Clementine and Odyssey were large, elderly females. They visited the study area together in the dark of the moon at the end of April four years in a row, and at no other time. Cheyenne, who was in about the same age-group, accompanied them the two last years, but after the initial visit she returned alone every few months. This is one of the more exceptional examples of sharks following a surprisingly precise schedule as well as traveling with favored companions.

Companions apparently move in loose contact, regularly meeting and moving on for awhile together, either side by side or nose to tail, but most of the time out of visual range of each other. They make wide circles forming enormous figure eights or cloverleafs, ideal for intercepting scent trails. Odours that interest them are from other sharks as well as possible food sources it seems, and thus, as well as through their sensitivity to underwater sounds and vibrations, they can remain in loose contact as they travel.

One morning when I went outside at 5:00 a. m., a single white feather fell from the empty sky to lie upon the surface of the lagoon, and as if in a spell, two shark pups appeared. Apparently just out of the nearby nursery, they were scouting the area, their circles and turns creating a mesmerizing ballet, full of grace. Sometimes they swam separately, sometimes they followed each other; sometimes they swam after each other in a perfect circle, each with its nose six inches from the tail of the other. The school of baby tangs that lived in the shallows formed a little yellow cloud, pointing towards them as they passed. A mynah bird swooped down to look. Sometimes they followed other fish, sometimes other fish followed them. The rhythmic side to side motion, like a heartbeat, that typifies this most graceful creature, felt like a beat in their music. Though I had formed a theory about being able to estimate the size of fish from the ripples generated on the surface, the passage of these little sharks showed not a sign upon the glassy surface. At 7:20 the neighbours started trying to shoot them, and bragged all weekend of their fruitless efforts, as though they had taken on visiting monsters.

Presumably the babies got to know each other in the nursery, where they were born alive in shallow, protected waters, and may even have been siblings. Such long term companionships as I witnessed in adults, could conceivably have begun just like this.

After years of watching sharks in different situations and interacting with them, I think that their type of mentality urges them to get one step ahead of the object of their attention, clearly an advantage to predators who run down fish for a living.

No matter what happened, I was never bitten by any shark, though in intimate contact with most species, one is usually eventually bitten, whether it is accidentally by one's dog, or intentionally by an irritated parrot, mouse, or skunk. Sharks were the only type of animal I had intimate contact with who never bit me, and I came to believe that this species, at least, has a built in inhibition against biting companions.

It was one reason they became the favoured ones, of all the wild animals I have known. Never did they betray my trust and hurt me. No matter what happened or went wrong, time after time.

I hope my accounts will contribute to appreciation of sharks as the intelligent animals they are, counter shark attack mania, and encourage their conservation.

Ila France Porcher © 2006

On the gestation period of the blackfin reef shark, Carcharhinus melanopterus in waters off Moorea, French Polynesia

2007-08-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

Originally published in the Journal "Marine Biology" at:

http://link.springer.de

Abstract

Underwater visual and photographic observations, over a four year period, monitored the presence of mating wounds on female Carcharhinus melanopterus. Mating begins in November and continues until the end of March as each female follows her own temporal cycle. Correspondingly, parturition begins in September and continues until January. Each female again mates 1.5 to 2.5 months after parturition, thus completing an annual reproductive cycle. The gestation period is 286 to 305 days, with slight individual differences. All resident sharks under observation followed this pattern. Evidence of reproductive events presented by transient females conformed with the pattern of the residents.

Introduction

The few studies postulating a gestation period for the reef blackfin shark Carcharhinus melanopterus have varied greatly in their conclusions. Based on an examination of embryo development, Melouk (1957) claimed a 16 month gestation for the species. Based on measurements of embryos in pregnant females and supported by testes-mass to body-mass calculations, Stevens (1984) concluded that the gestation period was 10 to 11 months. Lyle (1987) examined the reproductive organs of reef blackfins caught in nets, and concluded that their gestation period was 8 to 9 months. Concluding that an entirely new method was needed to resolve these conflicting findings, I used direct observations of the sharks, and found values close to those proposed by Stevens (1984).

Mating wounds have been commonly found on females of many species of elasmobranchs (Kajiura, et al 1999, Pratt 1979, Jensen 2002). The male reportedly grasps the female by her pectoral fin with his mouth to stabilize the pair, while mating (Tricas and LeFeuvre 1985, Jensen 2002). These wounds infer mating activity in the observed females and wounding can be extensive on the pectoral fins as well as along the posterior, lateral, dorsal or ventral body surfaces. Kajiura, et al (1999), wrote: “Fresh wounds are formed during periods of active courtship and copulation, and can thus serve as indicators of mating activity even when it is not directly observed.” Jensen also noted that fresh bites observed on a female shark “ ...may coincide with insemination and ovulation, marking the approximate beginning of the gestation period.”

The pregnancy of each resident shark was monitored. Parturition was signalled by the reappearance of the newly slender female.

Method

The concept that individuals can be distinguished by their appearance underlies photo-identification techniques. These have become standard practice in the study of marine mammals (Hammond 1986; Defran et al. 1990; Würsig and Jefferson 1990) and have been used effectively on white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) (Anderson and Goldman 1997). Working underwater, I complemented photo-identification techniques by accurately drawing both sides of the dorsal fin and recording the length, color, gender, behaviour, scars, marks, and more subtle distinguishing features of each shark ranging the western part of the Vaihapu region (Galzin and Pointer 1985) off Moorea Island. The appearance of each individual on both sides was recorded to avoid error in future sightings wherein only one side might be visible. On encounters, sharks have a tendency to fix one eye on the observer, resulting in circling. Efforts to see the shark's other side are countered by the shark, who appears reluctant to lose this visual contact. The drawings, with written descriptions, served as well as photographs, and resulted in the identification of over 450 individuals.

Observations over a period of 4 years were carried out 2 to 3 times weekly, conditions permitting, and more often when events demanded it. Presence, condition, and signs of reproduction were recorded for each individual. The residents were identified and became familiar to me during the first 3 months; the total number of adult females observed was 172.

Results

Structure of wounds

Mating wounds in C. melanopterus consisted mostly of punctures and cuts of about 2 to 3 cm in length. A few were much longer and gaped open, revealing the subdermal layer. They appeared as sets of parallel and single cuts, angling posteriorly, in which no flesh was removed, and apparently inflicted by the upper jaw of the male during mating (Pratt 1979). One or both pectoral fins were usually sliced, sometimes to the leading edge, in several places (Tricas and Le Feuvre 1985; Jensen 2002). Dermal tissue was removed between bite-marks wherever they were close together. The deepest, gaping cuts occurred below the lower colour-line (Figs. 1, 2) where the skin might be easier to pierce and slice. These wounds typically covered the females with a fine latticework in a long teardrop shape on each side, beginning in front of the gills, widening to the dorsal fin, extending below the lower colour-line, and tapering off, at or before the second dorsal fin. When fresh, the wounds looked clear-cut, and light-red, vascularised tissue was visible. Then the edges softened, and the wounds paled. Within 4 or 5 days the cuts were edged in black, and began to close. Klimley and Nelson (1981) also reported that abrasions on female scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) became black patches during healing. The shallower bites healed and disappeared in 10 days, leaving a wider spaced network of black lines. Only the deepest cuts still gaped. The pectoral fins were almost healed in 10 days with 1 or 2 wounds still presenting an open V-shape less than 2 cm long on their trailing edges. These had closed 2 to 3 weeks after mating. The mating wounds had completely healed in 4 to 6 weeks; the gaping wounds below the colour-line remained visible longest, as dark lines. The skin was left mottled with paler marks which slowly normalized during the following weeks. For about 2 months, the shark's overall colour was paler than normal.

Occasionally, a female showed cuts in only a few places. Appearing in parallel lines, these again, suggested bites from the upper jaw of the male (Pratt 1979). Such cuts were usually on the dorsal surface or flanks, posterior to the first dorsal fin. However the full set of lacerations as described above occurred only once per season per individual.

Females appeared with mating wounds one by one throughout the warm season, from November to March. The sole exception was an individual that mated within the first 3 days of April in one year. No similar bites were seen on males, though rarely one appeared with a bite-mark. Occasionally, a male presented a slash-wound, usually vertical on his side near the gills, from near the dorsal ridge to the curve of the ventral surface.

Temporal cycle

The progression of pregnancy was followed after noting mating by an individual. Soon the streamlined shape, typical of the non-pregnant female, became more rounded as her circumference increased. By contrast, males have a less convex profile. Clear, abdominal distention became apparent after 3 or 4 months and was never noted in non-pregnant females; these always maintained a sleek outline. As months passed, both the abdominal swelling and obese appearance, became more prominent (Fig. 1). The slight angle on the dorsal surface, posterior to the head, became more acute. About two weeks before parturition, the lower abdomen near the pelvic fins, began to bulge on each side (Fig. 2), so that viewed from behind, this area acquired a squared shape. When parturition approached, distention there became extreme, creating a gap between the pelvic fins and the body about 3 cm wide at the fins' tips, presumably due to the young moving into position for parturition.

Parturition resulted in a remarkable change in the shark's appearance. She reappeared in her home range looking almost emaciated (Fig. 3), and some individuals, though not all, became strikingly paler. Over the following few weeks, her usual colour and more convex profile were re-established.

Parturition began in September after about 10 months (Fig 4). Each individual mated again after a period of about 40 to 90 days although the usual resting period was 45 to 75 days. Young females appeared to be more erratic in the timing of their cycle from year to year, but the older individuals tended to mate and give birth at approximately the same time, often to the week, year after year. Each shark reproduced annually, as noted by Lyle (1987). Of 13 monitored young female sharks mating for the first time, only 2 became pregnant, while fully mature sharks almost never failed to reproduce successfully each year. The evidence of reproductive events obtained on transient females agreed with observations of the residents.

The upper and lower limits of sample gestation periods in cases where the shark was observed regularly throughout her pregnancy are presented in Fig. 5. These were residents with little tendency to roam, so some could be watched year after year. Other residents left their home ranges for such long periods during the reproductive season that the timing of either mating or parturition could not be accurately determined.

The shallow regions at both ends of the barrier reef bordering the Vaihapu area were used as pupping grounds. Neonates appeared there in general correlation with the timing of noted parturitions, serving as confirming evidence of this facet of the reproductive cycle.

Fig. 5 Sample gestation periods by residents. Certain individuals were monitored year after year, permitting comparison of successive gestation periods. The minimum figure gives the number of days from the first sighting of the shark after mating to the last one before parturition. The maximum figure gives the number of days from the last sighting before mating to the first after parturition. N=27. Averages: Minimum: 286.6 ± 10.7 days; Maximum: 305.1 ± 10.5 days.

Discussion

While a camera or video-camera only records the scene-data frame by frame, the human eye can instantly capture and integrate needed information as it follows the moving image of the shark. By simultaneously recording this information through drawing on a slate, a cognitive process involving visual information extraction, normalization, and solidification is completed, that no machine is yet able to do.

In the time it takes to raise a camera and frame a swiftly passing shark, the animal may well have proceeded far enough that the dorsal fin pattern is no longer visible. There is the possibility that the sudden movement will cause the shark to veer. Often a shark is too far away to capture on film, though the pattern of its dorsal fin is clearly seen. Drawing can extract information from swiftly moving sharks in low light conditions, which are unsuitable for photography. Further, the drawing process etches the appearance of the shark on the mind, facilitating future recognition. Therefore, with my technique, many times the amount of information was obtained, per unit of time, than would have been possible with photo-identification techniques alone.

My results indicate a gestation period of between 286 and 305 days, with minor individual differences, and an annual reproductive cycle for Carcharhinus melanopterus off Moorea Island, which is in the southern hemisphere. Melouk (1957), in his study of embryonic development in this species, found that the reproductive season in the Red Sea, in the northern hemisphere, also takes place during the warm months. His assumption of a 16 month gestation period was given in the Introduction of his paper, but was not substantiated with data to permit the reader to follow his reasoning. It was based on the finding of “...embryos about 2 cm long as well as advanced stages about 40 cm long...” in different individuals in May, then, “ ...older stages measuring about 3 to 4 cm as well as foeti [sic] about 50 cm long...” in June. No data exist for July and only an expectation is offered for August, when neonates were found “ ...commonly round the shores.” Given that he infers that parturition occurs in August, a 16-month gestation-period means that mating occurred in May of the previous year. However, according to his own data, the embryos were already 2 cm long in May. This contradiction is not addressed nor does he mention how long it takes for an embryo to grow to a length of 2 cm, a point mid-way between the stages 6 and 7 described in his paper, when the embryo is already well developed. He states that “ ...mating season starts, as far as it could be ascertained, early in summer...” but, he does not specify the method used to ascertain the start of mating nor when, precisely, early summer occurs in the Red Sea. Since fetuses of 50 or even 40 cm in length, should be close to parturition, one wonders whether parturition might begin earlier than August. This point is not mentioned, nor are sample sizes. The few data in Melouk (1957) are not inconsistent with my observations that some sharks had already undergone parturition and mated again, while others had not. However, his data are inadequate to determine the gestation period.

Stevens (1984) made an extensive tagging study of the sharks at Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean and dissected a number of individual Carcharhinus melanopterus to determine their reproductive cycle. He postulated a gestation period of 10 to 11 months for this species with mating occurring in October and November, and parturition in October, based on measurements of embryos in pregnant females and supported by testes-mass to body-mass calculations. His study suggests that the mating season at Aldabra is restricted to October and November and he found that about half the females became pregnant each year and were in a resting period during the following year. The intense intraspecific and interspecific competition for food, he reported, could be a factor in the alternate-year reproductive cycle occurring there and his results indicate a distinct variation in the reproductive cycle of C. melanopterus between these two distant island-groups, Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean, and French Polynesia in the mid South Pacific Ocean.

Lyle (1987) postulated an eight or nine month gestation period, following examination of the reproductive organs of sharks caught in nets in northern Australia. His data indicate a mating season underway in November to March and trailing off in April. These data correlate with mine. He mentions two individuals with low ovary weights and low ova diameters in February, explaining that the gonads appeared to be in a resting state: “ ...uteri were expanded but ova were small and without yellow yolk typical of the pre-ovulatory condition.” This state could have been found in individuals that had undergone parturition and were not ready to mate again, typical of some individuals at this time of year off Moorea. Lyle (1987) mentions a female with uterine eggs in March, indicating that ovulation extended into that month as well. This is also consistent with my findings. Lyle's conclusion of a relatively short gestation period might have been affected by small sample sizes. He states, “The paucity of material in November-December and the absence of females with mating scars make it difficult to establish the precise timing of the mating season.” Insufficient data (only one female and no males during the important month of December) might have led to an incorrect conclusion, particularly given the variation I observed in the timing of the reproductive cycles of different individuals.

Johnson (1978) stated that two mating seasons had been reported in the Indian Ocean for C. melanopterus: June to July and December to January. He added that in French Polynesia, evidence supports this dual pattern. Since he did not specify what this evidence was, it is not possible to discuss it here, and apparently Johnson did not determine the reproductive cycle in detail. Since the reproductive pattern I observed was clear and precisely repeated year after year, I conclude that there is no biannual reproductive cycle in French Polynesia. A biannual cycle observed in the Indian Ocean might be related to the proximity of the equator, where the warm season might be less distinct. Depending on movement-patterns of the species, regions from both hemispheres could have been the origins of the sharks within the given population, each individual continuing its ancestral cycle in the present-time. Further observations and DNA studies could help reveal such possible influences on variations in the reproductive patterns of this species in different regions.

Acknowledgements

I sincerely thank Arthur. A. Myrberg Jr. for his encouragement, for locating needed references, and reviewing and advising me on the manuscript. Thanks to J. Castro, R. Galzin, L. Paul, and M. Kazmers for providing references. My husband, F. Porcher reviewed and provided helpful suggestions on the manuscript. The Centre de Recherches Insulaires et l'Observatoire de l'Environnement, on Moorea, and the Richard Gump South Pacific Research Station, University of California at Berkeley, on Moorea, permitted me access to their libraries. All observations comply with the laws of French Polynesia.

References

Anderson S, Goldman K (1997) Photographic identification of white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, at the South Farallon Islands, central California. American Elasmobranch Society 1997 Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington

Defran RH, Schultz GM, Weller DW (1990) A technique for the photographic identification and cataloguing of dorsal fins of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. Special Issue: 12 53-55.

Galzin R, Pointer JP (1985) Moorea Island, Society Archipelago. In: B Delesalle, R Galzin & B. Salvat (Eds). 5th International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, 27 May to 1 June 1985. Volume I: French Polynesian Coral Reefs: 73-102

Hammond PS (1986) Estimating the size of naturally marked whale populations using capture-recapture techniques. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. Special Issue 8: 253-282.

Jensen CF, Natanson LJ, Pratt HL Jr., Kohler NE, Campana SE, (2002) The Reproductive Biology of the Porbeagle Shark (Lamna nasus), in the Western North Atlantic Ocean. Fish. Bull. 100: 727-738 (2002).

Johnson RH (1978) Sharks of Polynesia. Les Editions du Pacifique, Singapore

Johnson RH (1978) Sharks of tropical and temperate seas. Les Editions du Pacifique, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

Kajiura SM, Sebastian AP, Tricas TC (1999) Dermal bite wounds as indicators of reproductive seasonality and behavior in the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina. Env. Bio. Fish. 58: 23-31, 2000.

Klimley AP, DR Nelson (1981) Schooling of the scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, in the Gulf of California. U.S. Fish. Bull. 79: 356-360.

Lyle JM (1987) Observations on the Biology of Carcharhinus cautus (Whitley), C. melanopterus (Quoy & Gainard) and C. fitzroyensis (Whitley) from Northern Australia. Aust. J. Mar. Fr. Res: 38, 701-10.

Melouk MA (1957) On the Development of Carcharhinus Melanopterus [sic] (Q. & G.) Mar. Bio. Station, Ghardaqa (Red Sea) No. 9 : 229-251.

Pratt, HL, Jr. (1979) Reproduction in the blue shark, Prionace glauca. U.S. Fish. Bull. 77: 445-470

Stevens, JD (1984) Life-history and ecology of sharks at Aldabra Atoll, Indian Ocean. Proceed. Roy. Soc. Lond. Series B 222, 79-106.

Tricas TC, LeFeuvre FM (1985) Mating in the reef white-tip shark Triaenodon obesus. Mar. Biol. 84: 233-237

Würsig B, Jefferson TA (1990) Methods of photo-identification for small cetaceans. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. Special Issue 12: 43-50.

Letter to the Discovery Network

2007-07-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

To the Discovery Network:

Members of our Internet shark discussion forum, SHARK-L, have been asked by your marketing representatives to help promote your famous Shark Week sequence. This letter, signed by list members and friends, is our formal response to the request from your grass roots agency, New Media Strategies, for our support of the programming.

How can we support Discovery Channel when we are fighting for shark conservation, and its biggest obstacle is the monster image given to sharks by the media, including Shark Week programs? Further, some of us who have been directly involved in the production of your documentaries feel disgusted at the way that our interviews were censored and our words twisted around.

Our group is comprised of scientists, researchers, educators, media companies, and many NGO's, lobbyists and others. In aggregate we represent a strong network of influence that can help or hurt the efforts of any Shark related programming or initiatives. In an age where media fragmentation is plaguing marketers and entertainment companies, we represent an outlet of opportunity for you.

We try to remain current regarding scientific findings on sharks, and we watch as many of Shark Week's documentaries as possible. However, as the years passed, we have become appalled by the failure of these documentaries to reflect modern scientific knowledge of sharks. We understand the need to drive "tune-in" and ratings to satisfy your obligations to your advertisers. However, it is our impression that the Discovery Channel's Shark Week is stooping to the level of tabloid journalism by casting sharks as the sea monsters that science was never able to find.

It's no secret that people love monsters, blood, teeth and frights. On Shark Week, that seems to be what you are offering them, even though this subject matter fails to reflect current scientific understanding of these unusual and important fish. For example, though there are about 500 known shark species, inhabiting a wide range of ecolological niches, your shows focus on the biggest top predators, especially the great white shark.

In recent years, conservation groups as well as individuals and scientists have become concerned to the point of alarm at the speed with which sharks have been depleted, mostly for the growing market for shark fin soup. It is estimated that roughly seventy-three million sharks a year are slaughtered, (though some estimates are as high as two hundred million), a plunder that has stripped the oceans of roughly ninety percent of the accessible species. Casting sharks in a negative light leads to increased devastation of the species that you feature, even if that is not your intention.

Apart from the waste and brutality involved in shark finning, the threat of extinction is such an important part of the reality sharks face, that we ask why you have not used your power to publicize it. It is your responsibility as a credible media company to portray the perilous situation sharks face, thus bolstering consumer awareness and action.

On the contrary, we know from personal experience that you take the trouble to clip information about the finning crisis from your sequences about sharks, deliberately concealing the facts of this oceanic catastrophe from your viewers, who innocently believe that you are presenting them with science.

Thus not only are sharks misrepresented as monsters when they are not, but the truth of the ecological crisis that has befallen them is left out. In using shark attack mania for profit, you are reinforcing the main obstacle to shark conservation. In projecting an air of scientific knowledge when you are presenting only tabloid journalism, you are wronging the animals you portray.

Your own words clearly express how you promote and prolong their "Mindless Man-eater" image, and contribute to an attitude that allows their mass slaughter with almost no public sympathy, nor protest:

"Ocean of Fear: Worst Shark Attack Ever"
"Deadly Stripes: Tiger Sharks"
"Top 5 Eaten Alive"
"Shark Feeding Frenzy"

We take issue with Ocean Conservancy as well, for allowing themselves to be associated with such a travesty.

In the 1970s, Peter Benchley’s fictional best-seller, JAWS (which Steven Spielberg made into a blockbuster movie), dramatically increased our immemorial fear of sharks. By the 1980s, that fear had largely given way to curiosity, resulting in an unprecedented amount research on them. Thus, in the 1990s, as sharks became target species for Asian markets, scientific data were available to combat the new threat to sharks.

We are no longer in the 1970s, and the archaic perception of sharks you present belongs on the History Channel, not the Discovery Channel. Peter Benchley became a spokesman for sharks and an ardent shark conservationist. We suggest Discovery Channel follow his example and move Shark Week into the 21st Century.

We welcome and encourage an open dialogue with Discovery Networks in regard to the programming for next year's Shark Week. Let's work together to balance your ability to drive "tune-in," with your responsibility to create awareness of the global marine disaster created by the intense overfishing of sharks.

We can fully support your efforts, resulting in many niche media publications and websites, reaching millions of consumers, to influence people to tune in and watch. Some list members are involved in the media and marketing communities and are willing to work together with you to ensure the alignment of the goals of Discovery Networks, and the sustainability of these important apex predators.

We look forward to your response.

Very truly yours