Controversy amongst shark biologists has finally been laid to rest after new footage of ‘Junior' the shark has come to light.
Following on from last month’s story on the injuries sustained by Junior the Great white shark possibly as a result of shark tagging, Michael Domeier the lead scientist has been insistent that the image was part of a longer video showing that the shark had been victim to a shark attack.
Unfortunately no one had a copy of this video- until now. The video which became part of the public domain last week clearly shows a number of shark bites on Junior’s torso.
The video was uncovered by David Shiffman – a shark researcher and writer for the SouthernFriedScience blog- who submitted a Freedom of Information Act to the NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries who were holding the video pending an investigation.
He said: "I expected to see a blurry video where you couldn't really see anything. When you look at the full video and not that image it clearly shows that the injuries on the shark are from other sharks and not from his capture method."
In response to this Domeier is quoted: "I'm glad the public can now see the entire video, since it validates my original statement that Junior was attacked by another white shark. The images that were originally released to the media were intentionally misleading in an attempt to discredit the important research that I am conducting."