Tuesday 26 August 2008

Da-dumb, Da-dumb...

Saturday, 23 August 2008, a shark is photographed in the North Sea and The Sun says:

"Last summer, The Sun published a series of pictures showing what is believed to have been a Great White off the Cornish coast."


Today, 26 August 2008, a shark's tooth is found on a beach in Anglesey, North Wales and The Sun says:

"Last summer The Sun published pictures of what is believed to have been a Great White off the Cornish coast."


Does Rebekah Wade seriously expect her readers to ignore/forget that the only clear and visible evidence of a great white shark off the coast of Cornwall turned out to be a hoax?

Independent on Sunday- Shark!
Guardian - 'Cornish' shark photo was taken in South Africa
Daily Mail - Photograph of Cornwall's great white shark was a hoax
Telegraph - Cornwall Great White Shark photo 'a hoax'

In all the years that people have been fishing, swimming, surfing and searching in that area, no-one has submitted a crebible sighting of a great white shark off the southern coast of England. Or Wales. Ever.

That The Sun would gloss over their humiliation of last summer and suggest otherwise is typical of their arrogance.

And (dare one say it?) they should be thoroughly ashamed of playing on readers' fears.

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UPDATE (27 Aug) - Prepare yourselves for an earth-shattering shock:

Practical Fishkeeping - North Wales Great White tooth came from necklace: However, Practical Fishkeeping contacted Douglas Herdson, Information Officer from the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth who was skeptical about the discovery. Herdson told Practical Fishkeeping: "I have only seen a photograph of the tooth in question. It is either a lower jaw tooth of a white shark Carcharodon carcharias, or a very good replica of one. "However, there is a clear hole drilled exactly in the centre of the base, so it would appear to have been lost from a necklace. "It is of course now illegal to import these teeth under the CITES agreement." Shark teeth and shark tooth necklaces are readily available on online auction sites and large examples, like this one, can change hands for £100 or more.


There goes any hope of their shifting the cartons of shark-related merchandise left over from last year's disappointment... and here comes a can that may or may not contain fat, juicy worms.

Almost makes one want to go strolling through recent auction listings, doesn't it?

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UPDATE (02 Sep) - Even after this most recent humiliation, they're at it again!

"And in summer 2007 we published photos thought to show one of the maneaters near Cornwall."

1 comment:

septicisle said...

Who would have thought it?