Interspecies dating isn’t really permitted in the shark world. But off the coast of Australia, scientists have discovered the world’s first hybrid sharks.

Lead researcher Jess Morgan said local Australian black-tip sharks have been mating with the common black-tip shark. It is the first time that researchers have found evidence of hybrid sharks.

Morgan said:

“It’s very surprising because no one’s ever seen shark hybrids before, this is not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination… This is evolution in action.”

The AFP reports that 57 specimens have already been discovered off of the coast of Australia.

Morgan believes that Australian black tips and common black tips have started mating in order to ensure their survival as water temperatures change due to global warming. The Australian black tip only lives in tropical waters but the hybrid sharks have been found more than 1000 miles off of the coast.

Morgan said:

“If it hybridises with the common species it can effectively shift its range further south into cooler waters, so the effect of this hybridising is a range expansion… It’s enabled a species restricted to the tropics to move into temperate waters.”

Colin Simpfendorfer, a member of the research team, said that the findings, which were published last month in Conservation Genetics, could challenge established ides of shark evolution.

Simpfendorfer said:

“We thought we understood how species of sharks have separated, but what this is telling us is that in reality we probably don’t fully understand the mechanisms that keep species of shark separate… And in fact, this may be happening in more species than these two.”

Here’s a video report from Newsy.com.

Do you think Morgan and her team are watching evolution in action on the coast of Australia?

First Hybrid Sharks Found in Australia is a post from: The Inquisitr

Would you take part in a program titled Shark Attack Experiment LIVE? That’s the new show being used by one marine biologist to prove sharks are not the deadly man-eaters they are made out to be in movies and hysterical documentaries. They just want a cuddle really! Er, maybe.

Dr. Ryan Johnson has free dived with sharks countless times, and has now recruited a team of ‘shark angels’ – that’s ladies in bikinis to you and I – to prove sharks will not naturally attack humans.

The program will be broadcast live from shark-infested waters off the South African coast, and will see Johnson’s female volunteers swim freely amongst sharks, hopefully without getting nibbled. Johnson says he and his volunteers have baited the sharks constantly for three months. In that time, there has not been a single reaction from the hundreds of Great Whites who populate the area, just half a mile from Mossel Bay, a popular beach which hasn’t seen a shark attack in over two decades. The good doctor explains to ABC:

“This is what the element of live TV can do. You don’t see that three months of filming cut down to that 20 seconds of gory action, action, action. You’re actually gonna see what Great Whites are like, doing little sharky things, being calm and they’re stunning to watch.”

The inherent tension of such a show will undoubtedly drag in viewers (without the cynical measure of using women in bikinis), but what if it does go wrong and an attack occurs? It seems Johnson won’t even entertain the possibility:

“All of us on this crew are convinced that what we’re doing is responsible. We wouldn’t be doing this if we thought we were going to get bit. It’s a chance for us to put ourselves on the line and prove our theories.”

Johnson and his volunteers will also be tempting the animals with the smell of human blood and urine. Yeah, rather them than me.

Shark Attack Experiment LIVE will air Friday, November 25 on the Nat Geo WILD channel. Will you be tuning in like me to cheer Team Shark?

Shark Attack! Scientists Using Bikini-Clad Girls to Bait Sharks is a post from: The Inquisitr

California lawmakers will vote next week on a law that would ban shark fin soup from restaurant menus and fish shops.

The law came about after it was revealed to the general public that sharks fins were being cut off while the rest of their bodies were being thrown back into the ocean.

Under the California Shark Protection Act there would be a statewide ban on the possession, sale or trade of shark fins, some of which can sell for $600 a pound.

Some opponents of the bill say it unfairly targets Chinese Americans who find the soup to be an observed delicacy, while supporters say the bill in necessary to protect sharks which some groups believe are becoming closer to extinction at rapid rates.

One San Francisco restaurant owner tells CNN:

“I think for the ban to be culturally blind it has to ban all the products that have to do with sharks, shark meat, shark oil.”

In the meantime Assembly member Mike Eng is against the bill because he says lawmakers decided to shove the law down the Chinese communities throats instead of educating them about why the bill should be enacted.

Regardless of “cultural” acceptance of a practice, animals close to extinction should be protected, I personally see no issue with banning the practice, especially considering the extreme negative effects ecosystems have endured when animals at the top of the food chain are eradicated.

Do you think the practice of cutting off shark fins and discarding of their bodies in the ocean should be outlawed?

California Law Aims To Remove Shark Fin Soup From Restaurant Menus is a post from: The Inquisitr

Relativity Media has announced their Swim With The Sharks Sweepstakes to get  the word out about their brand  new “sharks from hell  eats bikini babes” thriller, Shark Night 3D.  You now have the unique opportunity to win a swim with the sharks vacation for two. When will you ever get another opportunity to win a chance to swim with enormous, fierce, ferocious, terrifying  man eating monsters of the deep? The “prize” includes airfare to San Francisco , two nights in a “standard” hotel in San Francisco  and  a swim with the Great Whites (really big sharks) of the Farallon Islands.  All kidding aside, this scares me.

For those of you who are not afraid, if you have an adventurous spirit and are drawn to things on the edge, maybe even a bit on the wild side, if indeed, swimming with sharks is really your idea of a wet dream go   here.  The deal is you post their sweepstakes promo to face book or twitter and you are in the running for the swimming (with the sharks).

I would like to say Shark Night 3D makes Jaws look like The Little Mermaid. I would like to say it makes that other really scare fish movie look like Finding Nemo. I will say there are some foxy girls in the movie (spoiler) and they get eaten by sharks. I admit that after watching the trailer I have moved my fish tank into the garage and I won’t take a bath without my spear gun loaded and ready.

Reminds me of the old joke…. Why sharks scare the shit out of people before they eat them, is only to enhance the flavor.

Win A Trip To Swim With The Great White Sharks! is a post from: The Inquisitr

The practice of Shark Fishing has been banned in the Bahama’s by country officials. The move marks the second Caribbean nation to ban the practice in the last month.

Under the new law 240,000 miles of water surrounding the Bahama’s will become a shark sanctuary. The move makes sense for the country which thrives thanks in large part to a shark tourism industry that brings in $80 million per year.

The move to ban shark fishing comes after one local seafood company suggested the area be fished to fuel increasing demand for shark in China where they serve shark fin soup.

Honduras instituted their ban last month and with this newest move 40 different species of shark that swim in the Bahama’s waters will be protected from Chinese poachers.

Shark Fishing Banned In Bahamas is a post from: The Inquisitr

This is seriously messed up. I mean how many people would purposefully return to the same spot where the day before they had been circled by two great white sharks just to see if they could catch them on film while on a surfboard?

Well apparently Chuck Patterson is one of those people because that is exactly what he did. His back story:

“the day before I shot this video, i was SUP surfing with a couple friends and 2 sharks circled us for about 15 minutes. the next day, i decided to go back out at around the same time and take my GO PRO HD HERO camera mounted on a 10 ft pole and do some exploring.Sure enough within 5 minutes a 9 ft shark came out of no where and circled twice and slapped his tail on my board before disappearing. then a minute later a 7 ft young juvenile Great White swam circles around me for 12 minutes. It was an unreal experience that I will cherish forever.”

Cherish forever? Wow the only thing I would be thinking of is where I can get a new pair of pants or trunks.

via Kris Abel

Me, My Shark and I – me I’d be crapping my pants [VIDEO] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nature can be pretty freaky. After all we have creatures alive today that have evolved over millennia to provide us with a never ending variety of life.

But nature is full of surprises as well, some of which we are only discovering now. The goblin shark is one of those surprises as it is a species of shark that  is rarely seen by human and is considered to be an ancient species even by shark standards.

I’ll leave it to the video of a rare moment when a goblin shark was caught on film to explain the Alien reference.

Thanks to Neatorama for the image and video link

“Alien” shark – life imitates art is a post from: The Inquisitr

…they will step away from your boat. (Unlike whales, who will bodyslam the hell out of boats.)

[via reddit]

If you ask a shark politely… is a post from: The Inquisitr

So, here’s some advice I wish I woulda got when I was your age: Live every week like it’s Shark Week. – Tracy Jordan

Who doesn’t love Shark Week? It’s finally here- Discovery’s popular once-a-year programming extravaganza focused on everyone’s favorite ocean-dwelling killing machines starts off tonight at 9pm with Blood in the Water, a two-hour documentary about the real life events in 1916 that inspired the movie Jaws.

If you can’t wait for your shark fix, Shark Week has already started on Discovery’s website. You can explore all your shark related interests on the site including sharks in the news, shark-themed quizzes, sharks singing and demanding oral sex, information on saving sharks, and there’s even something called Shark Guide: All Sharks, All The Time. Got other plans? You can also download full episodes on iTunes so you can relive Shark Week whenever you like. But that’s kind of messed up, like eating Christmas pudding in February or looking for Easter eggs in July.

Discovery’s Shark Week kicking off today! is a post from: The Inquisitr

As we reported yesterday, a big-ass shark washed up unexpectedly on the beach in my hometown of Babylon, NY. At Gilgo! Holla!

Swimmers, surfers and presumably some douchey guidos were stunned by the appearance of the gigantic beast, but apparently there’s nothing to fear as it’s a “harmless shark.” I didn’t know sharks came in harmless, but whatevs. A local sharkologist was quoted on the non-scary creature:

“He’s a plankton feeder. You can see inside there’s no teeth inside his mouth,” said marine biologist Tracy Marcus. “He’s a relatively harmless kind of shark, but large.”

“It’s the second largest fish in the world, second to the whale shark,” Marcus said.

The shark was not long for this world as it came ashore- which is unusual, as ill and dying sharks apparently like to die in the water. Not soon after the shark washed up, it expired and shocked onlookers watched as it was cut up into pieces to be examined somewhere out in Riverhead. Ew.

Anyway, that’s my Saturday afternoon shot to pieces.  Thanks, shark.

[Image, top: Newsday]

Huge frick-off shark washes up in Babylon is a post from: The Inquisitr

A US led scientific study has amazingly found that Great White Sharks are serial killers.

The study used methods used in criminology to track serial killers and applied it to sharks. They found that like human serial killers, Great White’s operate within a confined area around an anchor point when hunting seals. The pattern was less prominent in younger sharks, suggesting that the trait is learned with age.

“Shark hunting patterns are extremely difficult to study and the work here will have important implications for our understanding of the ways in which predators hunt their prey.” Dr Steven Le Comber told The Sun.

Sadly the scientists did not set out to win an Ig Noble Award, but surely they’ll end up with a nomination.

Great moments in science: study finds Great White Sharks are serial killers is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Mexican Navy has found nearly 2000 pounds of cocaine inside a shipment of frozen sharks shipped to Mexico from Costa Rica.

Mexican Navy inspectors in the south eastern port of Progreso, in Yucatan state were using X-ray scanning equipment to look inside two cargo containers on Tuesday when they detected something that didn’t look right. The inspectors opened the containers, cut open some of the frozen sharks and found bricks of cocaine wrapped in dark plastic.

The ship carrying the cargo containers of cocaine filled sharks was called the Dover Strait and the containers were loaded in Costa Rica.

Cocaine found inside Frozen Sharks shipped to Mexico is a post from: The Inquisitr

A rare prickly shark was briefly captured and detained off the coast of California yesterday.

A prickly shark has only been held in captivity once before, and yesterday marked the only time a prickly shark has ever been exhibited. The shark was held for a mere fifteen hours before marine biologists decided to return it to the wild.

Staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium noted that the shark was unable to swim properly in aquarium tanks and experienced “tonic immobility”- a trancelike state not deemed beneficial for the rare specimen. Deep water animals do not adapt as readily to to aquarium habitats.

Prickly sharks- or echinorhinus cookei- are named for the rows of spikes on their backs. They exist at depths of up to 3,000 feet and feed on fish, other sharks, octupus, squid and crustaceans. Although the shark’s short stay did not enable much testing, the six-foot, eight-inch animal was fitted with an electronic tag set to detach after six months. Researchers hope to learn more about the elusive creature’s habits and habitats.

Nearly 1,000 lucky aquarium goers got to view the prickly shark before it was set free.

Rare “prickly shark” found, existence of frickin’ laser beams not confirmed is a post from: The Inquisitr