Hello and welcome back Shark. Here is to another episode of
Deep Dives with Sharks. My name is Alex, I'm the host of
this thing and I highly recommend pulling up any
aquarium live cams from their websites while working.
Unless you run a shark themed podcast and have ADHD and are
also super late on the episode as always, whoops.
Also, if my HR department is listening, please don't take my
sharks away. I'll be good, I get my work done
I swear. But I do have a quick few life
updates. First of all, Happy New Year
everybody. I hope you all had a nice
relaxing holiday season. I was supposed to get this out
around Thanksgiving here in the US, which for those who are
unaware is the end of November. But life had many curveballs to
throw. I had to fly back home to
Maryland, Work was being hectic as all get out and I found
myself needing a little break. That was very much not planned.
But we're back again. Now I do have another piece of
exciting news. This is no longer one man show.
We now have Brie, who is helping with a lot of the behind the
scenes work, including helping with research, a social media
post, and so much more. We'll see how else she's
involved as we progress, but she's been incredibly helpful
with everything so far and I'm excited to have her on board.
Of course, we also have to mention the comfiest merch.
You guys asked and I delivered, so there's still some shirts and
hats. The merch link is in the bio.
Buy while you can and more is coming and purchasing merch does
definitely help the podcast to grow.
We do have a few more designs coming soon, so stay up to date
on that and stay up to date on everything.
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And let me know if you have any cool shark interactions either
in aquarium or in the wild that you want to share in the
comments below. I'll be looking forward to
reading them and also sharing with the shark.
Here is next episode. But as you guys may have known
due to the episode title, we're going to be talking about the
swell shark this week. And the swell shark is cool
because like the name gives it away, they're pretty swell.
What's what's that? They they swell the twice their
their size as a defense mechanism.
It's not just because they're swell.
Well, you know what? They're still pretty swelled to
me. Swell sharks are in the cat
shark family and similar to other cat sharks, they don't
grow incredibly large. They grow to be about 43 inches
or 110 centimeters long. They're a yellowish brown with
dark blotches and white spots. They can be hard to describe as
they have really great camouflage and they blend in
with the environment well. The color blotches break up
their outline as well, and they do blend in among reef and rocky
surfaces, which is where they tend to be.
They have large eyes and mouths and a rather blunt nose.
It kind of looks like someone pushed their nose in a little
bit. They almost look like a blend
between will be gong coloration, epaulette body and the pajama
shark's head. So it's really confusingly
beautiful. I must say.
I loved looking at pictures of these guys and the times I've
seen them in aquariums, but I'll touch on that a little bit more
later. Now they inhabit the Pacific
Ocean off the coast of California all the way down to
southern Mexico. You can find them off the coast
of Chile. Swell sharks are bottom dollars
and they can be found at depths of around 15,000 feet, which is
475 meters, but most are found at depths of 16 to 121 feet or 5
to 37 meters. They can go rather deep, but
they also tend to like it closer to the surface.
They like rocky algae covered bottoms, and since they're
nocturnal, they spend their days hiding in craves and caves and
crevices. That is a hard phrase to say,
but they come out at night to feed by either ambushing their
prey or resting quietly on the bottom with its mouth wide open,
waiting for oblivious prey. So the will be gone comparison
wasn't far off. Now swell Sharks are oviperous,
which means they lay eggs. So you know, you've heard me say
Ovo viviperous before, which is where they have eggs that hatch
internally. These guys just lay, which is
oviparous. You may have heard about the
shark pup at the Shreveport Aquarium that hatched in a tank
with only two other female sharks.
Those were swell sharks. The pup Yoko, that's its name.
The egg case was found by the aquarium staff in the summer of
2024. And a tank with two female swell
sharks. Yes, female swell sharks can lay
eggs without male present, but they don't develop into viable
embryos. So Yoko's birth was a bit of
surprise no one expected. If I remember correctly, I
covered this when it came out and I said that it was like
shark Jesus, but rather than Immaculate Conception, it's
actually because of parthenic Jesus.
Parthenogenesis I believe is how you say it, which is where the
egg just decides it's going to become a baby without needing a
male shark. But parthenogenesis is the
general consensus, and once Yoko is large enough, the aquarium
will take a blood sample to be sure.
Now there are some interesting facts about the swell shark as
well, and first of all is the fact that when they're
threatened, they curve into AU shape and gulp water to swell
its stomach. This helps the shark anchor into
crevices, which makes them harder to reach and harder for
predators to bite, hence the name swell shark.
They are biofluorescent, which means they glow green under blue
or UV light, which is also neat because they also have scorpions
that do that. Which is how many people in the
southwest will find them in their homes as they'll just take
AUV light around and then they'll see them glow really
bright, which is kind of neat. They are currently listed as
least concerned. They don't really have much
benefit to the shark trade. Their fins aren't large and
often they're accidentally caught as bycatch by
recreational Fisher. So that's kind of the biggest
issue but no one really going after them.
They are also harmless and will avoid humans but can bite if
stepped on or provoked. So still the best idea to not
play with sharks in general. And also even if you see someone
who has a Shark Tank on TikTok, don't take that as a green light
to go get yourself a shark. What are we doing?
But Speaking of aquariums, you can see the Swale shark in many
aquariums. Two that I've been to where I've
been able to see them or the Baltimore Aquarium.
They're on the 3rd floor, I believe next to the puffin
exhibit, which is either the 3rd or 4th floor.
But I think the 4th floor is the Amazon.
I'm trying to visualize. I haven't been to the aquarium
in a minute. I need to go back.
But they're to the right of the puffins.
You'll typically see them under the rock structure that is off
to the right or the one that's right off to the left.
There are little 2 caves there that they like to hang out in.
And also if you ever see a weird guy and a shark shirt that is
squatting down near that exhibit, I'm looking for the
spell shark. Leave me alone.
But I will say I have pointed out to many people to very
concerned looks repeatedly. The other place that I've seen
them is in Georgia. I forget exactly which section
they were in, but I know that they weren't in the shark, the
dolphins, or the Ocean Voyager exhibits.
So it's either in the Arctic or the rivers 1.
I believe it's the Arctic 1, though I can't remember for
sure, but it is over near the spider crabs I believe.
Once again, I've only been to the Georgia Aquarium twice so I
could be wrong, but that one was actually rather out in the open
and really easy to see at least the time that I was there.
But I think the next time I went they were they were away
somewhere. But anyway, that's what we have
for the small shark this time. Of course, if I forgot to
mention your favorite fact about them or if there's anything else
you'd like me to talk about, please feel free to send that
over to me on the social medias. I do best at replying on
Instagram. Also, if I have not replied to
your message on Instagram, I apologize.
Sometimes it does, doesn't Alert me, so it might take a couple
days, but I promise I will get to it.
But going on to safety today we're talking about something
that doesn't get nearly enough attention.
The role of life lifeguards play in preventing and responding to
shark encounters For many lifeguards, dealing with the
presence of sharks is just another day at the office.
More common than most people think.
And the surprising part? They say it's really nothing to
fear. The confidence comes from the
extensive measures lifeguards take to protect swimmers long
before the shark even gets close.
When you choose to swim near lifeguard tower, you're not just
getting someone who watches swimmers, you're getting someone
who consistently reads the ocean.
Lifeguards are trained to scan the water for unusual patterns,
splashing in odd places, bait fish, schooling tightly, or
movement that's might signal a shark.
And if they spot something concerning, they act fast.
Clearing the water is something they can do in seconds.
As someone who was a lifeguard at a pool, to clarify, I did not
work at a beach. That was way too much for me to
do. I'd rather sit in the chair and
work on my tan. But as a pool lifeguard, I did
make rescues. Don't come at me.
It is something that we're constantly doing is watching the
water. And if something looks weird,
we're usually the first ones to realize it.
So we usually are able to alert and get people out of the water.
The beach lifeguards can do a lot more and they can get people
out of the water just as quickly as we can get you out of a pool.
So a big kudos to those guys. But their job doesn't stop at
surveillance. Lifeguards are big on public
education. They offer safety tips that can
genuinely reduce risk. Things like avoiding Dawn and
Dusk's whims when sharks are more active or steering clear of
areas where people are fishing. These small choices make a big
difference. In the very first episode, I
talked about fishing Piers. Those are hotspots for sharks.
Any structure where fish might school around, sharks tend to be
nearby because also if we got a hooked fish, that's a pretty
easy meal. So they tend to be around there.
In the extremely rare chance that a shark attack does occur,
lifeguards are your first line of emergency care.
They're trained in advanced water rescue, CPR, and immediate
first aid to control bleeding and stabilize A victim until
medical help arrives. Their response can be life
saving. I will also speak as a lifeguard
to say that the training we go through is so extensive.
Once again, this is for just working at a pool, and working
at a beach is even more extensive.
But I can still do rescues in my sleep.
I have not been a lifeguard since before I graduated with my
undergrad degree and it's been about five years going on 6.
I can still do these rescues like the back of my hand.
They drill this into them so you do not have anything to to worry
about now. What's also changing is
technology. Many agencies are using tools
like drones and acoustic buoys to track shark movement in real
time. This give lifeguards advanced
warning and adds an extra layer of protection for beachgoers
across the board. Marine experts and lifeguards
emphasize one thing. The safest choice you can make
at the beach is a swim in a lifeguard protected area.
Their training, awareness and rapid response capabilities
dramatically reduce risks not just from sharks, but from all
kinds of ocean hazards. So next time you hit the beach,
look for that lifeguard tower. They're doing far more than
meets the eye to keep you safe. This is another tip that I
received from Mama Sandwich growing up.
We would always park ourselves as close to but out of the way
of lifeguard towers because she knew myself was going to go out
probably too far, which thankfully I never did.
But she knew that one of us was going to get swept away at some
point and thankfully it never happened.
But guess what, if we were, that lifeguard was right there.
And all the times that I had soccer tournaments on the beach
or anything like that, you'd see guards going in constantly.
Even just being at the beach, you see guards constantly
moving. So of course, one thing that I
overlooked myself and Bree is actually the one who helped
define this topic was of course, the simplicity of just being
near a lifeguard, which a lot of people don't realize.
They're not really there to yell at you if you brought a drink to
the beach as much as they are to make sure that they can save
someone if they need to. I also want to give a huge shout
out to the lifeguards at Bondi Beach.
Unfortunately, the the recent shooting that had happened
there, there have been numerous posts that have shouted out the
lifeguards that were working that day and did amazing things
to save countless lives. So not only are they protecting
people in the water, they're also protecting beachgoers
constantly. So a huge shout out to all
lifeguards out there, whether I know, I just kind of messed
around saying that the pool lifeguards just work on their
tan, but you guys also do a lot and it's great.
I have to say the amount of work that lifeguards put in, and this
is bias coming from a former lifeguard, but just talking with
those that have worked on the beach, talking to other people
that have made many rescues at pools, it's just a lot of work
that look goes overlooked. And I want to give you guys your
flowers. So thank you for that.
But that is what we had for the safety portion of this episode.
Of course, it is also a little shorter, but that is all right
because we do have some news for everyone coming out in November
27th in Uzbekistan. We have great news for sharks
and rays. A historic win occurred at the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,
which is sites where participating nations voted to
increase protections for over shark and rays species.
That includes a complete ban on international commercial trade
for oceanic whitetip sharks, whale sharks, manta rays and and
devil rays. Now this marks the first time
that a shark species has received full protection with a
complete international trade ban under sites, which is huge
because even before you could get away with a little bit and a
little bit got bent to a lot of it.
And it's not just because governments aren't caring or
anything like that. It's because people have done a
lot to sneak around these laws. I myself, when we went to Santa
Cruz a few months ago, saw a local shop that was selling of
fish. I cannot remember exactly which
one it was, but it was a shark that was labeled as something
different. And do I think they know that
they were selling shark? I don't know.
I didn't question them. They could have.
I doubt it. I mean, I don't know who would
want to. Like, I feel like it's kind of
one of those things that people tend to not want to eat shark.
But I mean, I could be very wrong.
But even like seeing that so close to home now is crazy
because it makes you think how frequently have I gone by
something and not realized that this was because of illegal
trade that is just being classified as something
different. So it was kind of wild to see.
And it is really exciting to know that all these sharks now
have protection. I mean, it's it's pretty much
the big three ones, but that's still OK.
But that they still have these protections and they're not
going to be bothered. And if they do, people are going
to come for them, which is awesome.
So very much for that. Now I do have to give a quick
trigger warning. So the next article does in fact
cover a shark attack that led to a swimmers passing and it might
not be suitable for all listeners.
So for or any parents listening with kids, I'm not gonna add a
bunch of gross details or anything like that but want to
put that out there real quick. So the title of the article is
that body found off of California coast is triathlete
believed to have been killed in a shark attack.
This is reported by USA TODAY. So a triathlete which for those
of you who do not know triathletes participate in
running, swimming and biking all in the same competition.
So they were swimming off California's Central Coast and
is believed that she was bit by a shark and eventually succumbed
to her injuries. It was noted that she was
wearing a shark band which is meant to deter sharks, but we
are still here at this outcome. This is not meant to attack
shark bands or devices that are intended to limit or eliminate
shark bites altogether. This is a show that there isn't
a 100% shark proof method and that dangers in the water are
unfortunately always a possibility.
Some sources are going as far as to say that this device could
have caused the shark to bite due to becoming agitated at the
device. I'll by myself, I'm not sure
exactly how the device works, but we've all been somewhere and
there is something annoying to you that just won't stop.
Like a smoke alarm that won't stop beeping because it's
battery is low or an alarm going off and it's just a high pitched
squeal and anything along those lines and you're just ready to
throw it or break it in some way to get the stop.
And it's possible that if this device utilized electric pulses
or something that irritated the shark more than got it to leave,
it would do something to make it stop.
If you're just hanging out in your living room and something
starts getting annoying, you're going to get rid of it too.
Now to also defend the device. It could have been faulty and
not working properly, may have been out of charge, whole slew
of options. But this is all to say, you
can't trust a shark repellent 100% as things can go wrong, so
it's always best to stay alert. This device could have worked
perfectly for years and then all of a sudden it's case and got
damaged. Something like that.
The article didn't go too into depth and how the device works.
What could have gone wrong with the device?
And I've seen things that people say are 100% foolproof and then
they'll test it on shark week or shark Fest and the the shark
bites it and it's not. So you can have varying results.
But one thing I always say is to just make sure you keep your
head on a swivel. Just be aware of what you're
doing. You don't have to be so alert
that you're not enjoying yourself, but also realize that
you are in nature the same way. You're not going to go out to
the mountains and then all of a sudden slather yourself up in
BBQ sauce and then be really confused when a bear shows up.
Like it just doesn't make sense. You're not going to do things to
not prevent a bear from coming to you while you're camping.
It makes sense that you do things to to prevent a shark
from getting closer to you when you're in the water, but just be
careful when doing that. Know that anything that you do
is not guaranteed to 100% keep everything away.
And also, if you are deterring one thing, who's to say that
another thing can't get past that and still do something.
But all that just to say, keep your head up, stay alert, and
stay safe out there. But that is what we had for this
episode. I want to thank you all for
listening once again. Comment or DM your shark
encounter experiences so I can share them at the start or end
of the next episode. We'll see which one you guys
want more. I'll follow the Instagram for
more updates on deep dives with sharks.
You can also follow on Twitch where I will run polls and stuff
throughout the week to see what you all would like to hear.
And also any questions, comments, anything like that,
feel free to send them my way as well.
And turn on notifications for the podcast so you know when the
next episode is out. And give us a rating on Apple or
Spotify or anywhere else you listen.
And send this to anyone who will listen to it because you know,
the more we grow, the more you get to hear my voice and more
about sharks. But I appreciate you all hanging
out. Take care of yourselves.
Happy New Years and I will see you in the next one.