Articles by Andrew Sharpless

Shrimpers’ bycatch a goldmine for shark hunters

The classic battle of man vs. fish has resulted in dozens of blockbusters and bestsellers. But the drama and adventure that make these stories great are noticeably absent from most fishing practices in this day and age. Take, for example, sharking.

A recent article in the Sun Herald outlines a simple three-step process for hunting sharks:

1. Follow a shrimp boat.
2. Wait.
3. Stick your pole in the water.

Shrimp boats, after pulling trawls throughout the night, collect their shrimp and then throw the rest of the catch overboard. This "bycatch" is a smorgasbord of dead or dying fish, and a "feeding frenzy" of sharks quickly ensues. According to the article's author, Al Jones, "fishing behind anchored shrimp boats can be an awesome experience once a feeding frenzy is under way."

Quint must be rolling over in his grave.

Olympic swimmer breaks own world record

Am I the only one who thinks world record titles should be reserved for people that actually have a skill? I'm not impressed by the fastest tomato ketchup drinker (Dustin Phillips) or the largest group hug (6,623 participants). And I really don't care who the most overrated celebrity is (Paris Hilton -- big surprise).

What does interest me are athletes that excel at their sport to such a degree that if they weren't videotaped, we wouldn't believe it. Athletes like Aaron Peirsol.

Test-tube coral babies in the works

Twenty-eight years ago, the world welcomed (albeit with raised eyebrows) the first "test tube baby" into the world. Back then, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was considered a radical medical procedure. But after the success of a few hundred thousand IVF babies, it was only logical to take the concept to the next level. Enter coral reefs.

A team of University of Miami marine-science researchers is collecting coral eggs and sperm all this week during an annual reproductive ritual dubbed "coral spawning." They hope "test-tube coral babies" will take root to help restore a tract of reef ravaged by a 1984 ship grounding in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Brace yourself for an even more radical idea to help coral reefs: not destroying them in the first place.

Rehabilitated turtle returned to ocean home

On Wednesday, more than 150 admiring beachgoers said goodbye to "Little Crush" as it was returned to its salty underwater home. This rehabilitated green sea turtle washed ashore five months earlier, underweight and ill from ingesting more than 70 man-made items discarded in the oceans. After being treated by a team of Walt Disney World animal-care specialists, it regained its health and was released into the ocean.

Little Crush (so named for his resemblance to Disney's turtle character in Finding Nemo) was also equipped with a satellite transmitter enabling researchers to keep tabs on its ocean voyages. According to 11-year-old Alex Custer, the ceremony was "awesome."

Little did Alex and those other 150 beachgoers know that Little Crush is not heading into a ocean of possibilities; he's heading into a sea of danger. He'll have to run a gauntlet of commercial fishing gear and may -- if he's like many other sea turtles -- end up hooked on a longline or captured in a net.

Alex and the beachgoers also likely don't realize that our government ignores its own laws and officially sanctions and allows the catching (and killing) of thousands of endangered and threatened sea turtles by commercial fishing operations every year. Not quite the Disney ending we'd (all) hope for.