Basking Shark

[caption id=”attachment_9139" align=”aligncenter” width=”519" caption=”Used Under a Creative Commons License”] [/caption] Moss Landing Marine Laboratories/NOAA Fisheries, La Jolla: Want to help out on a Basking Shark Project? Some researchers are trying to gather information on the occurrence, distribution, and abundance of basking sharks in the Eastern North Pacific. …

[caption id=”attachment_6168" align=”aligncenter” width=”519" caption=”Credit: sharkireland.com”] [/caption] NOAA’s Fisheries Service has designated the eastern North Pacific basking shark, a “species of concern” because it has suffered a dramatic decline in population despite decreasing fishing pressure. …

[caption id=”attachment_6168" align=”aligncenter” width=”519" caption=”File Photo Credit: sharkireland.com”] [/caption] Last Friday, on the 4th of June, San Diego diver Brian L Kirkpatrick was diving with Waterhorse Charters aboard the San Diego charter dive boat the Humboldt. They had just finished a third dive at a dive site called Lobster Shack, on North Island, in the Coronados Islands, Mexico. They had pulled up anchor between 2 and 3 pm and were preparing to depart. Mr. Kirkpatrick was on the fly-bridge with Captain Greg Hatem when they noticed the dorsal fin of a large shark on the surface of the water, about 200 yards from the boat.