Newborn White Shark caught in Russia

Helmut Nickel, Shark Year Magazine,
13. October 2011

Date: reported on 13. October 2011
Location: Primorye, Russia.
Species: Great white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ).
Size: said to be 130 cm in length.

The specimen was caught off Popov Island in the ‘Peter the Great Gulf’.
A local scientist says that the capture of the newborn shark indicates
that these waters serve as pupping and nursery grounds for the great white shark.

Last August, three shark attacks occurred in Primorye in less than two weeks (here).
Now the Russian authorities are considering to implement certain shark safety
measures for the next summer season in 2012 ( e.g. the installation of safety nets
off selected beaches ).

Source and Photo Credit: vesti.ru

4 Comments

  1. Positioning shark nets close to a potential white shark pupping ground or nursery would be a horrific, terrible mistake with massive consequences for the global population. This is an endangered species, classified as vulnerable by the IUCN and listed on Appendix II of CITES. If we are close to identifying a critical habitat we need to protect it, placing shark nets in this region is akin to attacking an already vulnerable species in it’s most vulnerable location.

  2. Jack Trevally

    I agree, shark nets would be a disaster. Killing sharks does not make for a safer ocean, it destroys ecosystems, ultimately risking trophic collapse. Sharks in general, but white sharks specifically, are slow to reproduce and bear few young, so those young are critically important to the survival of the species. White sharks are already endangered. To net a pupping ground is unconscionable.

  3. Kathy

    I can’t agree more with Jack Trevally’s comments — he’s said it all. I also wish the shark finning would stop — never mind informing fishermen which fins on the shark are primary or secondary, leading one to believe it’s okay to remove the secondary fins as it’s less threatening to the shark. Ridiculous. But the necessity of shark nets reinforces my feeling that people should stay out of the shark’s domain or be ready to accept the consequences.

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