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http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7066533/giant-shark-tourist-attraction-hammered/
Giant shark tourist attraction hammered
Brigid Andersen, ABC April 16, 2010, 7:07 am
A 1200kg hammerhead shark caught off the NSW coast could become a tourist attraction.
The carcass of a giant hammerhead shark would be better off used for science, instead of as a tourist attraction at a Queensland "Shark Hunter" museum, conservationists say.
The monster hammerhead, weighing in at 1,200 kilograms and measuring five metres long, was caught off the New South Wales coast last month.
It had reportedly hooked itself while feasting on a smaller shark which had already been snagged by a fishing boat.
This week, Hervey Bay-based "shark hunter" Vic Hislop bought the shark and moved it to Queensland, where he is reportedly thinking of turning the massive sea creature into a tourist attraction at his shark museum.
But the Australian Marine Conservation Society says the shark would be better off elsewhere.
The society's marine campaigner, Ben Birt, says Mr Hislop's museum does not promote the right message about conservation.
"Using it for conservation in a well-regarded, accredited museum, that is focused on education and conservation is not a bad thing," he said.
"But Vic Hislop's museum is not one at where the message is about shark conservation. It doesn't promote that, so it's not likely to be used in a positive way that's going to be to the benefit of the species.
"You need to visit his museum to get an understanding. But he's certainly not interested in or focused on the reality, which is that sharks all over the world, including here in Australia, are in quite serious decline.
"They face several threats - the major one being fishing - and really the message should be that they need to be conserved and not hunted."
Big appetite
Before the shark was killed, it would have spent most of its time in deeper water, Mr Birt says.
But he says it is also common for the species to stray into shallow water, close to beaches.
Mr Birt says being as large as it was, the shark would have had quite the appetite.
"The general diet would be anything that's smaller than itself really that it would come across in the marine environment, so something that would fit in its mouth relatively easily," he said.
But, luckily for swimmers, Mr Birt says humans do not rate highly on the culinary cravings of hammerhead sharks.
He says there are very few cases of hammerhead attacks on humans and they much prefer dining on other marine creatures.
"So other smaller sharks, other bony fish, squid, and it would often feed fairly near the bottom, so it would eat rays and probably the odd crustacean," he said.
Mr Birt says it is regrettable that the hammerhead was killed. He says judging by its size, it was probably a mature female.
"Obviously the importance of large females like that to the population is very high," he said.
"Hammerheads as a general rule have declined quite considerably all over the world, including in Australia.
"While it's quite difficult to get an exact estimate on how many there are left, some scientists estimate they've declined by about 90 per cent worldwide."
ABC News Online has tried to contact Vic Hislop's shark museum.
Giant shark tourist attraction hammered
Brigid Andersen, ABC April 16, 2010, 7:07 am
A 1200kg hammerhead shark caught off the NSW coast could become a tourist attraction.
The carcass of a giant hammerhead shark would be better off used for science, instead of as a tourist attraction at a Queensland "Shark Hunter" museum, conservationists say.
The monster hammerhead, weighing in at 1,200 kilograms and measuring five metres long, was caught off the New South Wales coast last month.
It had reportedly hooked itself while feasting on a smaller shark which had already been snagged by a fishing boat.
This week, Hervey Bay-based "shark hunter" Vic Hislop bought the shark and moved it to Queensland, where he is reportedly thinking of turning the massive sea creature into a tourist attraction at his shark museum.
But the Australian Marine Conservation Society says the shark would be better off elsewhere.
The society's marine campaigner, Ben Birt, says Mr Hislop's museum does not promote the right message about conservation.
"Using it for conservation in a well-regarded, accredited museum, that is focused on education and conservation is not a bad thing," he said.
"But Vic Hislop's museum is not one at where the message is about shark conservation. It doesn't promote that, so it's not likely to be used in a positive way that's going to be to the benefit of the species.
"You need to visit his museum to get an understanding. But he's certainly not interested in or focused on the reality, which is that sharks all over the world, including here in Australia, are in quite serious decline.
"They face several threats - the major one being fishing - and really the message should be that they need to be conserved and not hunted."
Big appetite
Before the shark was killed, it would have spent most of its time in deeper water, Mr Birt says.
But he says it is also common for the species to stray into shallow water, close to beaches.
Mr Birt says being as large as it was, the shark would have had quite the appetite.
"The general diet would be anything that's smaller than itself really that it would come across in the marine environment, so something that would fit in its mouth relatively easily," he said.
But, luckily for swimmers, Mr Birt says humans do not rate highly on the culinary cravings of hammerhead sharks.
He says there are very few cases of hammerhead attacks on humans and they much prefer dining on other marine creatures.
"So other smaller sharks, other bony fish, squid, and it would often feed fairly near the bottom, so it would eat rays and probably the odd crustacean," he said.
Mr Birt says it is regrettable that the hammerhead was killed. He says judging by its size, it was probably a mature female.
"Obviously the importance of large females like that to the population is very high," he said.
"Hammerheads as a general rule have declined quite considerably all over the world, including in Australia.
"While it's quite difficult to get an exact estimate on how many there are left, some scientists estimate they've declined by about 90 per cent worldwide."
ABC News Online has tried to contact Vic Hislop's shark museum.
