Aloha Reporter » shark

Hawaii First In Nation To Ban Shark Fins

AR — Sat, 29 May 2010 02:52:40 +0000

Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to ban shark fins.

Gov. Linda Lingle on Friday signed a bill prohibiting the possession, sale, trade or distribution of shark fins, which are used in pricey Chinese dishes.

Exceptions will be made for researchers who have obtained a permit from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Lawmakers hope the new law will help prevent overfishing and extinction of sharks harvested for their fins.

Many Chinese consider shark fins to be a delicacy, served in high-end Chinese restaurants in soup and as fillets in gravy.

The bill passed the state Legislature earlier this year with broad support.

Source: CBS News

Deep-Diving Great Whites Could Tangle With Giant Squid

AR — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:59:13 +0000

Credit: hermanusbackpackers on Flickr

Michael Reilly of Discovery reports …

Great white sharks might just be the most badass animals on Earth (possible exception: honey badgers). They pretty much eat anything they can fit their mouth and razor-sharp teeth around — no fear, just pure hunting, breeding, and killing instinct.

And now they have outdone themselves.

New and ongoing studies of the sharks in the Pacific Ocean have turned up two new, amazing traits — great whites migrate thousands of kilometers from coastal waters to parts of the Pacific Ocean so barren scientists call them “ecological deserts.”

Shark tours in isles attracting opposition

AR — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:23:29 +0000

Three women donned scuba masks and jumped into the waters off Oahu’s North Shore, floating inside a submerged cage as about a dozen sharks glided toward bloody fish scraps tossed into the water by a tour company.

Tourist Kim Duniec said the experience of coming eye to eye with sharks was exhilarating.

“Their eyes were scary, but they were still graceful, absolutely beautiful,” the Beaver Dam, Wis., woman said.

Shark tours like this have become a popular visitor attraction in Hawaii, but a movement to shut them down is gaining momentum.

Some native Hawaiians consider sharks to be ancestral gods and view feeding them for entertainment to be disrespectful of their culture. Surfers and environmentalists fear the tours will teach sharks to associate people with food — leading to an increase in attacks — while disrupting the ocean’s ecological balance. Federal fisheries regulators are investigating the tours on the grounds that they are illegally feeding sharks.

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Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin