Poor journalism

Read this story in the Telegraph this morning and stifled a guffaw.

The writer obviously did this to deadline and omitted to research the story properly. Being a long time Fisher of Sharks in Cornish waters when I lived in the UK, there are two elements in the story I would challenge. First is the corny "This is the first time it has happened in British waters", WRONG! First recorded 'Shark attack' in British waters happened in the 1960's under similar circumstances in the North Sea. An Irish skipper got careless with a Blue and it bit him in a similar fashion. I've caught a number of Blues, up to over 100 pounds, and seen those teeth close to. Even on the little ones they rival a circular saw, and you learn respect for the beasts early on. Second is the 'Global warming driving blues and other sharks into British Waters' bullshit. There has been an established sports fishery for Blues, Mako's and Porbeagle since the 1900's, hence the existance of the 'Shark Club' in Looe, Cornwall. The fishery has been in decline since the early 1990's because far eastern 'long liners' have been harvesting sharks fins quite ruthlessly out on the Blues transatlantic migration routes, thus seriously depleting the population.