GASP! Gulf Area Sea Paddlers

What About Those Sharks?

A lot of questions have come up about sea kayaking and sharks. Much data and information has been gathered through years of studying sharks and shark attacks. The purpose of this section is to provide information on the habits of different shark species, many of which are considered "endangered species." The fact is that it is an extremely rare occasion a paddler will ever see a shark (seldom enough even for divers). They are quite afraid of us and with good reason. So if you do come upon one of these magnificent creatures of the sea, rather than be fearful, be respectful and consider yourself to be among a very lucky and very small group of witnesses. And tell us about it! :-)

• The One That Let Us Get Away A write-up about a white shark encounter by two kayakers, Mike Chin and paddling buddy, Ken Kelton, at Ano Nuevo on the North California coast in 1992 as told by Mike Chin who witnessed the attack of a great white shark on his friend's kayak.

• The Center for Shark Research - Mote Marine Laboratory Dr. Rober E. Hueter, Director. Great site with lots of information on different shark species, shark myths (very cleverly done), tagging, and sharks and cancer, etc.

  

• Great White Shark - A paper by Dr. Douglas Long, California Academy of Sciences (image used with conditional permission from Berkeley)

• The Great White Shark - King of the Ocean - From the White Shark Research Institute

• More on the White Shark from the South African White Shark Research Institute

• The WSRI (White Shark Research Institute) - by Keith Hadland

• Sharks - by Jay R. Calkins

• About Sharks... - by Dwight F. Davis, Mote Marine Laboratory Volunteer

• Shark Attack - Informative PBS site about sharks, different species, interviews with exerpts, evolution, life cycle, tagging, human factor, etc.

• Draft - United States National Plan of Action For The Conservation and Management of Sharks

• Atlantic Shark Fisheries - A Paper on the status and species of sharks

• The Pelagic Shark Research Foundation - Ongoing research into better understanding the behavior and habit of sharks.

• The American Elasmobranch Society

• Shark Research - Florida Museum of Natural History. Includes information from the International Shark Attack Files

• NOAA Apex Predators Program

• TravBuddy: Awesome Travel Sightings: Sharks - A comprehensive page covering numerous aspects of sharks including different species, research, facts, FAQs and myths, surfing with sharks, shark safety and more.

• More about the wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico

Just For Fun!

• Sherman's Lagoon - Sherman is a great white shark cartoon characer in this series of fun cartoons by artist Jim Toomey.

  
  
  
  
  

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