Fish and Game Q&A: Will painting my kayak scare away great white sharks?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Game and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Outposts, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly Q&A column. NOTE: This is Carrie's column from last Thursday, when I was on vacation and unavailable to publish it:

Question: I bought a former scuba kayak and have retrofitted it into a fishing kayak. I transformed the underside into what appears to be the underside of a killer whale (orca) because I figure if I’m going to be spending lots of idle time fishing, I don’t want, in any way, to attract the attention of great whites! The underside was totally white but now the outer edges are black with a small black patch at the rear so that it looks just like the characteristic underside of a killer whale. I also rigged up my two fins to drag out the back in case I ever found myself in dire need.

My reasoning here is killer whales and great whites are natural enemies, so if I paint the bottom like an orca, any great white within several hundred yards will take off. As I thought more about this aspect though, I now wonder if while I’m sitting in this thing for long periods of time, will I be more apt to be a target rather than a threat? Has there been any evidence of great whites attacking dead killer whales just like they attack dead regular whales? I’m wondering now if I am a soon-to-be "dead duck" instead of a brilliant kayak engineer! Please advise. Thanks. (Mark)

Answer: Well, I can safely say I’ve never gotten a letter and questions quite like yours, but it’s a refreshing change from the many regulation questions! I applaud your kayak engineering prowess. However, I’m not sure painting the hull of your kayak to resemble the underbelly of an orca, along with attaching fins that mysteriously drag out the back, will spook a white shark or prevent an attack.

Bears confirmed as those involved in fatal campground rampage near Yellowstone; female adult euthanized, cubs to be sent to zoo

A grizzly bear and her three cubs captured  have been confirmed as those responsible for killing one person and injuring two after rampaging through a campground near Yellowstone National Park early Wednesday morning.

Bear hair, saliva and tissue samples collected by investigators and tested by a DNA identification lab in Laramie, Wyo., confirmed that the captured adult bear was responsible for the attack. Additional forensic evidence supported this conclusion.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials said Friday the female grizzly was euthanized, but the bear’s yearling cubs will be sent to a zoo as soon as possible.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks supervisor Pat Flowers, in Bozeman, said based on the circumstances of the three separate attacks on sleeping campers, and following discussions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the adult bear was euthanized.

Under Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Guidelines, an agreement among eight state and federal agencies, it is advised that grizzly bears that display unprovoked aggressive behavior toward humans, or that cause substantial human injury, including loss of human life, be removed from the population.

An autopsy will be performed on the bear, to see if it can be determined what caused the animal attack.

"We want to find out if the unusual predatory behavior of this bear on humans is related to any physical condition or ailment," said Chris Servheen, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's grizzly bear recovery coordinator. "We will perform an autopsy on this bear because this is the only way to determine this."

The Soda Butte campground, and nearby Chief Joseph and Colter campgrounds, also in the Gallatin National Forest, remain closed.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: The captured grizzly sow responsible for the mauling death of one camper and injuries to two others near Yellowstone National Park in Montana. DNA tests confirmed the bear was the one responsible for the attacks and it was euthanized. Credit: Associated Press / Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Related:

Grizzly bear and cubs captured after fatal campground attack near Yellowstone

One person killed, two injured after bear rampages through campground near Yellowstone

'Shark Week' is back on Discovery Channel beginning Sunday

It's time once again for "Shark Week" on Discovery Channel, and this year's lineup looks to have some teeth.

The series kicks off its 23rd season Sunday at 9 p.m. with "Ultimate Air Jaws" and a return to the coast of South Africa, where great white sharks are known to breach with almost no warning, pulling sneak attacks on the seals that congregate there.

10 years ago, Discovery Channel premiered "Air Jaws," which explored this phenomenon -- an episode that still remains the fifth most-watched of the series. This year, producer Jeff Kurr returns to the scene to investigate the aerial attacks, this time armed with state-of-the-art equipment, including an HD camera that shoots in super slow motion -- 2,000 frames per second, which is 20 to 30 times slower than "typical" slow-motion footage.

Kurr and shark expert Chris Fallows slow down the footage of a breaching shark from 1 second in real time to almost a minute. The amazing resolution provides so much detail that you can count every tooth in the shark’s mouth. Fallows and Kurr also employ a submarine and remotely operated helicopter to capture this incredible footage.

Other episodes this week are sure to inform and amaze, including getting up close for a shark bite, where viewers literally end up inside the jaws of sharks; shark attacks and how best to survive one (including interviews with six people who did); and a look at the 2008 shark attacks which took place along the coast of California and Mexico, when sharks mistook four people for prey.

Hopefully the series will shed some light on this often-feared and mysterious predator of the deep, informing viewers about threats currently facing plummeting shark populations and inspiring them to help with shark conservation efforts.

The "Shark Week" series schedule and episode descriptions are after the jump.

Grizzly bear and cubs captured after fatal campground attack near Yellowstone

A mother grizzly believed responsible for killing one person and injuring two after rampaging through a campground near Yellowstone National Park has been captured, along with two of her three cubs.

Associated Press reports that the sow, estimated to weigh 300 to 400 pounds, was lured into a trap fashioned from culvert pipe covered by the dead victims' tent. The bear tore down the tent again and was caught in the trap, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim.

By Thursday morning, two of the bear's year-old cubs had also been caught and the third could be heard nearby, calling out to its mother.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Capt. Sam Sheppard said he was confident they had captured the attacking bear because it came back to the same site where the man was killed early Wednesday at Soda Butte Campground in the Gallatin National Forest.

Montana wildlife officials have identified the man killed as Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, Mich. The bear pulled Kammer out his tent and dragged him 25 feet to where his body was found, Aasheim said.

The other victims, Deb Freele of London, Canada, who suffered severe lacerations and crushed bones from bites on her arm, and an unidentified male survivor, who suffered puncture wounds on his calf, remain hospitalized in Cody, Wyo.

Freele said that she awoke just before the bear bit her on the arm, and instinctively played dead so the animal would leave her alone.

One person killed, two injured after bear rampages through campground near Yellowstone

One person was killed and two injured when at least one bear rampaged through a campground near Yellowstone National Park early Wednesday morning.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials are investigating the attacks, believed to have occurred about 2 a.m., at Soda Butte Campground in the Gallatin National Forest which left one man dead, a woman suffering severe lacerations from bites on her arms, and another man bitten on his calf. The identities and ages of the victims have not been released.  

Officials are still trying to sort out how many bears were involved, and what may have caused the attack.

"The campsites are being combed for evidence," said Fish, Wildlife & Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim. "We’re not certain if it was one bear or more than one, and we haven’t determined if it was a grizzly or black bear. We’ve extracted DNA samples from evidence found on site. This will help us identify the bear or bears involved, once captured.”

"This is not typical bear behavior. It’s odd. It’s not normal," Aasheim continued.

Florida teen loses hand in alligator attack

A Florida teenager was attacked by an alligator and had his left hand torn off when swimming in a popular neighborhood canal.

Tim Delano, 18, of Golden Gates Estates, Fla., was attacked by the 10-foot alligator while he was swimming at dusk Sunday in a drainage canal known to locals as "the Crystal."

"I saw my bone, I had no hand," Delano told the Naples News.

The animal attacked Delano, pulling him underwater and going into a "death roll," during which gators roll over and over until their prey drowns.

"Fortunately, I had enough sense to take my right hand and I started punching it," Delano said. He got the alligator to release him, but when Delano got to the surface he realized that his left hand was gone.

Delano started screaming, saying that the pain was "excruciating."