I know some people get into their work, but really guys…

This is taking it a little overboard!

Or not…

[via Daily Mail] When a team of marine scientists began throwing sardines into the ocean they were hoping to get a closer look at great white sharks.

But little did they expect that they would come face-to-face with one of ferocious beasts after it jumped out of the water – and landed in their boat.

The wild three-metres long creature began flailing around on the deck snatching at the air with its razor-sharp teeth.

Wild: The half-tonne great White Shark thrashes around after jumping from the sea onto the deck of the marine research boat in Mossel Bay, South Africa

Beast: The crew of seven scientists wrestled with the predator in a desperate bid to throw it back into the ocean but they were unable to get it under control

The brave team had to wrestle the half-tonne predator until it could be tossed back into the water at a nearby harbour in Mossel Bay, South Africa.

‘Activity around the boat ceased and all was pretty quiet at the stern,’ team leader Dorien Schroder said.

‘Next thing, I hear a splash and see a great white breach out of the water from one side of the boat hovering, literally, over a crew member chumming on the port side.’

Six members of Oceans Research organisation were collecting data on sharks in, 388km west of Cape Town, in a research project.

The seven-strong crew used sardines as bait to attract the predators and were able to observe four great whites, that are known locally for bursting through the surface as they prey on seals.

But the crew were taken by surprise when the killer fish leaped out of the water and landed on the boat’s fuel and bait storage containers, the Cape Times reported.

The crew backed off, hoping the shark would find its way back to the water – but the creatures panicked, cutting fuel lines as it thrashed about.

Caring: A brave researcher grapples with the shark as he helps it back into the ocean

Freedom: Two of the shark scientists release the creature into a nearby harbour, only for the shark to beach itself a short while later and need yet more assistance

The scientists radioed for help poured water over the shark’s gills to keep it alive. They even tied a rope around the shark’s tail in desperate bid to haul it back onto the ocean

But the thrashing creature refused to budge and the boat was eventually towed back to harbour and the shark was lifted back into the water with a crane.

But the giant fish still caused problems. The shark was unable to navigate out of the harbour and it beached itself half an hour later.

A team led by Oceans Research’s co-director, Enrico Gennari then tied ropes to the shark’s tail and pectoral fins, and slowly towed it out to sea, where the fish recovered and swam away, The Guardian reported.

Mr Gennari said the chaos was the first time he’d heard of a great white jumping onto a boat.

But  he added that the fish could have mistaken the boat’s shadow for prey or been disturbed by another shark.

‘It’s all speculation,’ Mr Gennari said.

‘But sometimes a shark breaches the surface when it feels another shark underneath it. They (move) like a flying fish and end up several meters away.’ [Read More]

A Great White shark jumped into their boat?

Talk about a heart attacking induced moment…

One where I think I might have seen such an incident somewhere before?

Hmm.

Yeah…

I remember now.

On future scientific endeavors, might a suggest a dog on board for your protection.

Why, yes…

I did indeed say “dog”, and make NO mistake about it, especially a terrier breed?

They can not only protect you FROM sharks, but can hunt them down…

[via SMH] Russell Hood-pen believes his viral video showing dogs “herding” and biting sharks is the perfect way to market Australia to the world but the boss of the Tourism and Transport forum claims it may do more harm than good.

The video – “dog has a a ride on a shark” – has racked up 1.5 million views in a week and Perth construction worker Hood-pen is now in high demand with media around the world.

He believes this sort of bizarre natural beauty is better marketing for Australia than “cheesy” official efforts featuring the likes of Lara Bingle, but John Lee, chief executive of the Tourism and Transport Forum, was blunt in his response.

“That certainly is an amazing piece of footage, but I don’t think vision of sharks practically on the beach is the right image to entice people to Australia,” said Lee.

Hood-penn, 32, and his wife, Naomi, have spent the past four months travelling around Australia with no caravan – just their “tent and swag” – allowing them to access the more remote communities.

One of their stops was One Armed Point, an indigenous community about 200km north of Broome in Western Australia. They paid their fee to visit the community and one of the locals informed them of an interesting attraction.

“The lady said if you’re lucky and you go down the boat ramp at high tide you might get to see the dogs swimming with the sharks, so off we went down there and sure enough … there were these two dogs and they were swimming with the sharks, they were swimming out maybe 50 or 60 metres and it almost looked like they were rounding the sharks up and bringing them to the shallows,” Hood-penn said in a phone interview.

“We were there watching it for 20 or 30 minutes … and right when I decided to take the video the dogs swam in and then one of the dogs just dove down and grabbed hold of the shark’s tail and went for a swim in the water with him.”

The sharks are believed to be lemon sharks, which have sharp teeth, grow to three metres and are common in tropical water at moderate depths. There have been just 22 reports of lemon shark attacks on humans with no deaths.

But Paul McGreevy, professor of animal behaviour and welfare at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, said there was “no evidence” the sharks were tamed.

“Terriers enjoy hunting for things below the surface of the ground and they get pleasure from that, they don’t need to be trained to do that. So if the dogs in question have any terrier in them they may enjoy the chase,” he said.

“The sharks would’ve been there for their own reasons presumably something to do with foraging.” [Read More]

(Watch sunrise thursday morning 21st July for the full story, cheers Russ) If you like my videos check out my blog http://westaustralianfisherman.blogspot.com/

And snatch them up!

As in FOR dinner is well.

Dogs?

It’s the craziest thing, a dog on a boat jumps right into the water and bites this shark and drags it to land. Gotta see it to believe it.

Are predators TO sharks…

Who knew they were so shark-crazy?

I know I didn’t, cause–Hello!–…

S H A R K !

Watch Shark Week, beginning July 31, 2011.