Outdoors, action and adventure

Florida bans harvest of tiger, hammerhead sharks

In news that is sure to please shark conservationists, Florida on Wednesday announced it will ban the take of tiger sharks and three species of hammerhead sharks in state waters beginning Jan. 1, 2012.

The measure, enacted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission during meetings in Key Largo, also prohibits the possession, sale and exchange of tiger sharks, as well as great, scalloped and smooth hammerhead sharks caught in adjacent federal waters.

Catch-and-release fishing for these sharks still will be allowed in state waters.

Florida waters provide essential shark habitat and there had been increasing concern that too many large, slow-to-reproduce sharks were being harvested. (Tiger sharks take about 15 years to reach sexual maturity.)

Several other species of sharks already enjoy catch-and-release-only protection in Florida.

-- Tiger shark image is courtesy of Wikipedia

 

Giant python found in Florida after devouring 76-pound deer

If the 16-foot Burmese python was easy to capture and kill, it might have been because the snake had just consumed a 76-pound deer in the South Florida Everglades. 

Burmese pythons are one of many invasive wildlife species in Florida and officials would like to remove as many as possible.

The unusually large python was discovered Thursday by workers with the South Florida Water Management District.

They contacted officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, who captured and killed the snake with a shotgun blast. It had a 44-inch girth where the deer had settled, fully intact.

Scott Hardin, exotic species coordinator for the commission, told the Sun-Sentinel said pythons this large are rare, and downplayed the danger to humans posed by the presence of pythons.

"I would never say the danger is zero," Hardin said. "If a snake that size wrapped you up you'd be in trouble. But snakes that size are extremely rare. The ones brought in here are in the four- to eight-foot range."

The giant python was found in the western portion of Miami-Dade County. Burmese pythons are believed to have gained a foothold because of pet owners who illegally turn the reptiles loose after they become too large or bothersome to be cared for as pets.

-- Image is courtesy of South Florida Water Management District 

Proposed PETA ad after Florida shark attack sparks outrage

A proposed billboard ad by PETA in the aftermath of a shark attack on a 21-year-old Florida spearfisherman is not sitting well with the victim's mother, who described PETA's response to the attack as "over the top."

The ad (pictured at right) shows a bloody leg protruding from the mouth of a menacing shark and features the slogan, "PAYBACK IS HELL, Go Vegan."

C.J. Wickersham, who is believed to have been bitten by a bull shark last Saturday off Anna Maria Island, is in stable condition after having had 800 stitches placed in his left thigh.

PETA reportedly is still trying to find a home in Florida for the ad.

Ella Wickersham, C.J.'s mother, told FoxNews.com, "I'm not even going to dignify them with a response. They are over the top. If they don't want to eat meat and fish, good for them; you can do whatever you want, and I'll do what I want."

The same story quoted PETA spokeswoman Ashley Byrne as saying the animal rights group is still seeking suitable locations for the billboard. "With the shark attack in the news, we thought it'd be a good time to remind people that sharks are not the world's biggest predator -- we are."

Of the injured spearfisherman Byrne added, "We're glad that Mr. Wickersham is going to be OK [but] we hope that after this experience he considers the pain and terror that fish feel when they're impaled and suffocated to death."

Said shark angler Bill Goldschmitt on Florida's WWSB-TV: "If I see one of those billboards that they plan on putting up, I will burn it down."

World's largest fishing lure, at 355 pounds, is a real whopper

If there's a fish that would even consider attacking the world's largest fishing lure, a much bigger boat is in order.

That's because the lure, recognized recently by the Guinness World Records, is 10 feet, 10 inches long, 17.75 inches wide, 14.625 inches thick, and weighs 355.2 pounds.

Thankfully, the lure was built specifically to set a record and not to raise monsters from the deep. But like a monster game fish the lure, which hangs on display at S.S. Spitfire Mercantile in Destin, Fla., causes the jaws of passersby to drop.

"It's been incredible," store owner Mary Ellen Davis told the Destin Log. "I really thought it was going to be kids, and it's been grown men hanging on it, literally hugging it, taking pictures."

The lure was patterned after a 5 1/2-inch Flatliner lure made by David Partridge and designed to mimic a struggling baitfish. The smaller lures are used to catch bass and other small game fish. The giant version was built, over 10 months, by Mark Davis of S.S. Spitfire Mercantile.

According to a Guinness community blog post, to qualify as a first-ever record the minimum requirement was set at 10 times the size of a standard lure. The the Flatliner comes in "at a whopping 24 times the size of a standard lure and is the yardstick by which future records will be measured. The reasons behind creating a large fishing lure were many.

"Firstly, it was a natural fit for the area. The Destin area is known as the 'world's luckiest fishing village' due to the quality and variety of fish found in this section of the Gulf of Mexico. As such, it only makes sense that the world's luckiest fishing village would create the world's largest fishing lure."

The lure has even inspired a drink at a local marina bar. The Flatliner libation is a mixture of orange juice, cranberry juice, lime juice, grenadine and coconut rum.

-- Image showing onlookers posing with giant lure is courtesy of Guinness World Records

Florida anglers' catch of 25-foot giant squid is a gift to science

Catch of the week honors belong to three fishermen who recovered a barely-living 25-foot giant squid off Florida on Monday, and to University of Florida researchers who have collected the remarkable specimen for study and possible display.

Giant squid, long depicted as sea monsters and legendary for their epic battles against predatory sperm whales, reside largely in the ocean's light-less depths. Whole specimens are incredibly rare.

"It's so rare to get these specimens and they're such deep-water animals that we don't know much about how they live," said John Slapcinsky, collection manager at the university-run Florida Museum of Natural History. "This specimen provides an excellent opportunity to learn things about these creatures we couldn't find out any other way."

The squid was discovered floating at the surface by Robert Benz, Joey Asaro and Paul Peroulakis at about 11 a.m. Monday. They had been fishing aboard a 23-foot boat and teamed to carefully haul the colossal cephalopod aboard.

"I thought we definitely need to bring it in, because no one's going to believe us if we don't," Benz said in a news release issued by the university. "I didn't want to leave it out there and just let the sharks eat it." (Benz also appears in the WPTV News video posted below.)

Giant squid, or Architeuthis dux, can measure 60 feet long and weigh 1,000-plus pounds. They reproduce only once, after which they can become lethargic and slowly perish. That might have been the case with this particular squid.

Florida anglers land 1,000-pound mako shark after epic fight

A casual fishing contest for seven Florida bankers last Saturday turned into an epic struggle between most of the competitors and a 1,000-pound mako shark.

The great predator took a hooked slab of bonito about 16 miles off Elliott Key, whereupon it leaped 10 feet clear of the water before settling in for a deep-water fight that lasted four hours. Five of seven anglers aboard the yacht, Wound Up, took turns handling the rod and reel. (To witness the chaos alongside the boat, see the video.)
 

Warren Sands, the vessel owner who organized the excursion for graduates of Florida International University, said of the catch: "I've been fishing for 20 years, and tournament fishing for sailfish for 10 years and I've never been involved in anything like this."

Sands fought the mako for the final 30 minutes. The crew used two flying gaffs -- with lines attached -- and one straight gaff to subdue the beast and haul it through the transom door.

John Dudas, captain of Wound Up, said his previous big mako was a 912-pound specimen that had been seen surface feeding on a swordfish.

The 1,000-pound mako, which measured 12 feet, was spotted tailing in the distance. Dudas swung the boat around while mate Robbie Ramirez cast a slab of bonito, using a reel spooled with 50-pound-test line and a 2,000-pound leader used for sharks and marlin.

"Once he saw it, he came charging in on it, and he ate it pretty quick," Dudas said.

Said Dudas of the bankers: "They just love being out there, and to see something that big was very exciting for them, and was really a thrill of a lifetime for them."

The International Game Fish Assn. lists as the all-tackle world record a 1,221-pound mako caught by Luke Sweeney off Chatham, Mass., in 2001.

Sean Kingston seriously injured in Florida boating accident

Hip-hop singer Sean Kingston reportedly is in critical condition in a Florida hospital after crashing a personal watercraft into Palm Island Bridge in Miami Beach, with a female passenger on board.

Both were rescued by a nearby boater after the incident, which occurred Sunday at about 6 p.m. local time.

Few details were available in the hours after the incident. The Miami Herald reported that Miami Beach Fire Rescue delivered Kingston, 21, to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. (Note: Kingston's publicist on Monday morning said the singer's condition had been stabilized and that he had been moved to the hospital's intensive care unit.)

A representative for Kingston told TMZ: "Sean Kingston was in an accident today. No further details are available at the moment. He and his family thank everyone for the well-wishes."

Kingston, who was born in Miami, became famous in 2007 with the single "Beautiful Girls."

Details about the condition of the female passenger were not immediately available.

Atlantic hurricane season could feature multiple U.S. landfalls

Another active hurricane season is expected in the Atlantic, but more daunting is that at least one forecasting agency is calling for multiple U.S. landfalls.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration released its 2011 forecast Thursday. It calls for between 12-18 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes and 3-6 major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger). The average since 1950 is 12 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Colorado State University scientists recently predicted that there will be 16 named storms, nine hurricanes and five major hurricanes.

Weather Services International, in its latest forecast, calls for 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes. But the agency also is predicting U.S. landfalls, with the Gulf region facing the greatest threat, for the first time since 2008.

While last year was more active, with 19 named storms, 12 hurricanes and five major hurricanes, no hurricanes scored a direct hit on the U.S. for a second consecutive year.

Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist for WSI, explained why that trend could end: "The lack of U.S. landfalls in 2010 was primarily due to a persistent western Atlantic trough that essentially protected the U.S. East Coast from any direct hits. We do not expect this feature to be in place this year during late summer and fall when most tropical storms occur. Further, the Gulf and Caribbean sea-surface temperatures are particularly warm this year, and we expect more development in these regions and less in the eastern tropical Atlantic."

Florida panther kittens fall victim of raging wildfire

Four Florida panther kittens have been killed by a wildfire burning within Big Cypress National Preserve east of Naples, Fla.

National Parks Traveler is reporting that the "Jarhead" fire, which has burned since April 26, swept through the den of the kittens on Tuesday.

The publication quoted Ken Warren of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's South Florida Ecological Services Office as saying, "I believe the fire had been going for a couple weeks and I think kind of reached its peak over the last day or so and unfortunately it claimed the lives of four kittens."

It has not been a good year for the state's beleaguered panther population, which numbers only between 100-160 adults. Sixteen of the endangered cats are believed to have died for various reasons and an investigation is underway in connection with the fatal shooting of a panther in March.

A $5,000 reward is being offered for  information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the shooting.

-- Image is of the Jarhead fire, courtesy of Inciweb.org

Hurricane Earl ominous even for East Coast surfers

While most people on the East Coast express concern whenever a major hurricane approaches, surfers typically become excited about the prospects of thrilling rides on huge waves.

They should not get too excited about Hurricane Earl, a powerful storm that will be moving too swiftly toward shore and remain too close to shore to allow for clean conditions with the swells it produces.

"It's not a good scenario at all and it's downright dangerous," said Mike Watson, a Florida-based forecaster for Surfline, which monitors surfing conditions around the world. "Surfers should be more concerned about safety."

Hurricane Earl, as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, was a Category 4 storm packing 135-mph winds, located along the fringe of the Caribbean. It's churning to the west-northwest at 14 mph but will pick up speed and could strengthen to a Category 5 storm before arriving just off North Carolina late Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center predicts it will turn to the north instead of making landfall and essentially skirt the coast as it plots to the north, remaining at hurricane strength through at last Saturday and perhaps forcing large-scale evacuations.

Hurricane Earl will be much closer to shore than its predecessor, Hurricane Danielle, which generated large surf and strong rip currents that led to hundreds of rescues and was blamed for the death of a surfer off Satellite Beach, Fla.

Lifeguards expect more perilous conditions to be created by Earl, with high surf arriving on parts of the East Coast as early as Wednesday.

Watson, who said Florida is the only state that might get clean surf, being far enough south and west of the storm's track, explained that part of the danger associated with Hurricane Earl is its swift shoreward direction. It will follow closely behind the swells it generates, so surfers who are tempted to paddle out in what they perceive to be clean conditions can expect conditions to deteriorate rapidly.

"It's just too close to the coast," Watson said of the storm. "We like to see them out toward Bermuda, where we get the swell but we don't get the weather with it. Danielle was a good swell producer but for the most part with Earl, surfers should be home getting prepared [for the storm's arrival], just like everyone else."

  -- Top image shows Hurricane Earl from space, courtesy of NASA. Bottom graphic showing the storm's projected path courtesy of the National Hurricane Center.

-- Editor's note: This post also apears on the GrindTV.com surf and outdoors blogs