National Conservation Law bans shark killing in Caymanian waters

[KathyV]

The Great Shark Hunt :: Cayman Compass

“…A blanket ban on killing sharks came into force Wednesday as part of the National Conservation Law.

Brad Wetherbee, who works with the research institute, said the law is a great start toward protecting species like the critically endangered oceanic whitetip, but warns the sharks are international animals. Beyond the boundaries of Cayman’s territorial waters they have no such protection…”

 

[HalcyonDaze]

It's really shocking how hard the pelagic shark species have been hit. According to the older documentaries and veteran divers, coastal Southern California used to be teeming with blue sharks. Nowadays the dedicated shark-viewing boats are lucky to get a couple in a day. When I lived out there in the last ten years I never saw one in 3 1/2 years of diving. By contrast white sharks have been protected there since the early 1990s; I never saw one alive either but between finding a detached satellite tag and a few mutilated sealions, hearing sighting reports, and being present for a half-dozen necropsies on juveniles there was plenty of evidence they were around.

 

[drbill]

Good news.

Indeed our waters here off Catalina were teeming with blue sharks back in the 60s and 70s. If out on a boat you might see dozens of them... and even a few close to shore on dives. While crossing the Channel to and from the mainland, I'd make a game of it to count the shark fins. Over the past 15 years I believe I've only had one blue shark sighting while on a boat unless we were actually on a dedicated shark dive when we might see 5 or 6 of them after chumming all day.