Ocean News

SOSF will be at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona from the 4th to the 11th October. If you will be one of the expected 8000 delegates please come and meet us. Chris Clarke (SOSF Director), Rupert Ormond(SOSF Chief Scientist), Mauvis Gore (Research Scientist), Cheryl-Samantha Owen (SOSF Environmental Journalist/ public awareness), and other team members…

No we weren’t referring to the arrival of the Chris Clarke and Dan Beecham of SOSF, although that would probably be fitting as well, but the return of several whale sharks we had seen in previous years! Thanks to the wonders of I3S, the spot-matching computer programme that has revolutionised…

We just wanted to share a lovely letter of thanks from one of the schools that came to visit the Shark Centre. We really appreciate it, and hoped you had a wonderful day!

Just a quick note to point you in the direction of Innovations magazine, which this month features an article on the ground breaking work of SOSF sponsored Mahmood Shivji and his team at the Guy Harvey Institute. Mahmood is currently investigating analytic techniques based on genetic sampling to rapidly identify shark species. Identify…

Four successful deployments, each with 5 – 8 hours of footage and data, have been collected over the past two weeks. One of the main shortfalls of our 2004 and 2005 missions was that the clamps to which the cameras are attached would slip off the shark when it chased…

Today I’m drawing your attention to CNN’s Planet in Peril series, which has a section devoted to covering the trade in endangered sharks and the consequences of shark fin soup. SOSF has been a long time supporter of WildAid’s work in China, where we are actively working together to stop the dramatic increase in…

Just a brief but lovely story today. It begins with SOSF’s very own Hagen Schmid Errislannon and concludes with the people of Errislannon in County Galway, Ireland. The local people always organise a yearly beach clean to remove as much plastic material as possible. Marine creatures often mistake floating pieces of…

Just a little shout out to the FP’s sisters The Shark Angels. They’ve been in the news again as angel Julie Anderson took at a bunch of world class surfers for some first hand shark therapy! Let’s just say they went in with a little apprehension, but returned as advocates for shark conservation.…

All right, enough teasing, back to the "mating" zebra sharks! What is your first thought when you look at this picture? Looks like mating zebra sharks to you? It did to me when I first had a look at Petra Gangolf’s excellent set of underwater photographs. Petra is a keen…

That’s right people! It’s time to stretch out those arms here at SOSF and give ourselves a little pat on the back, for the eminently wise people at Montana CINE International film festival have decided to awardSharks In Deep Trouble (made by our very own Lesley Rochat) a ‘Merit Award for Conservation…

Ah London…..  home of Dickens, Mary Poppins, black cabs, red buses, me…….. And now: woman with giant hooks stuck into her back! This story comes courtesy of one of our sharp eyed SOSF staff, and though I’m not a squeamish chap, I do find it a little hard to look…

I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a superb photographer: Klaus Jost. I met Klaus several years back on Walker’s Cay, Bahamas, and ever since he has allowed me to use his fantastic shark photographs. Check out his website to see some good shark stuff. Klaus is now…

As of the 1st of September 2008 we have officially finished the first quarter sampling period.  Thirty-five sharks of five different species were seen on the baited video surveys and 194 sharks from seven species were caught tagged and released from the longline surveys.  In addition to the passive tags,…

How the team are faring after two weeks of training… As the second week of the intern programme comes to a close our team of seven interns, two young volunteers and one MSc student have been putting in to practise what they had learnt in week one and remarkably well…

Imagine if you could see through the eyes of your favourite animal and spy on what they get up to when you are not around. In the next few months I am getting a unique opportunity to spy on my favourite animal – the great white shark – using the…