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Shark Cam: California Academy Of Sciences Streaming Live Shark Cams In Shark Lagoon, Shark Reef

By Dee Sharp
Published on: 09:40 PST, Jun 29, 2016

https://youtu.be/TStjLJIc3DY

The California Academy of Sciences has a streaming live shark cam, so for those shark fans out there, you can watch live sharks swimming around during “Shark Week,” but at your own risk. The website urges viewer discretion while viewing the live shark cam because you never know when a shark may attack or kill any of the other marine life swimming around in the shark lagoon as well. The above video is the “Shark Lagoon” live cam, and the video below is the live cam for the “Shark Reef.” As with the lagoon live stream, the shark reef live stream also cautions viewers while watching the live webcams.

https://youtu.be/jyWHDIECRYQ

On the CAS website, the shark lagoon cam has a “field guide” that identifies the different species of marine life. There are about 14 different species in the Philippine mangrove lagoon where the webcams are set up. Shark species include the blacktip reef shark and the bamboo shark. Other species of marine life include the cownose ray, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, honeycomb ray, bluespotted stingray, longnose butterflyfish, bluestreak damselfish, Indian pompano, pygmy angelfish, copperband butterflyfish, diamond (mono) fish, moon (lunar) wrasse, and the convict sturgeon. In addition to viewing the live streaming video of the underwater shark domains, you can also view live feedings that are scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:30 pm (eastern time) at the Reef Lagoon.

Other related live cams that CAS hosts besides the Live Shark Lagoon Cam are the Live Philippine Coral Reef Cam and the Live Penguin Cam. The Philippine Coral Reef is an exhibit that replicates the diversity of the Philippine marine life found around the more than 7,000 islands which are home to the world’s richest diversity of tropical marine life, according to the CAS website. The entire island chain of the Philippines has more than 500 species of coral and 2,000 species of fish, where scientific research abounds. There are also three live penguin cams that show the Academy’s large penguin colony going about their daily routines including swimming, flirting, and nesting.

The live shark cams on the CAS website are a great resource to supplement Shark Week, which began this past Sunday, June 26. Shark Week is hosted by the Discovery channel and is an annual week-long television event that heralds all things related to sharks including shark attacks. The Shark Week series has been around since 1987 and is a widely anticipated event by shark fans everywhere.

There are over 450 types of sharks, and many sharks are extremely endangered, including the whale shark, angel shark, ground shark, and the great white shark. Sharks are mainly endangered because they are not only hunted, but humans also see them as a danger. Some sharks are killed for their fins as shark fin soup is an Asian delicacy, and many times, the sharks that are finned are released back into the water where they suffocate or are killed and eaten by predators. Great white sharks are killed for their teeth and jaws, and sometimes pills are made out of great white meat. While the great white shark is the top of the food chain in the ocean, meaning there are no predators (in the ocean) that are preying on them, humans are the greatest predator of the great white shark.

Although there are around 70 shark attacks reported annually, fatal shark attacks are relatively rare. According to the NY Daily News, shark attacks were the worst ever last year, with 98 people bitten around the world. Last year’s record also surpassed the previous record of 88 people attacked or bitten by sharks in 2000. The NY Daily News article also reported that 317 of the 429 U.S. shark attacks in the last decade happened along the East Coast, and Florida has been the location of more than half of all U.S. attacks. The article warns that the summer of 2016 may be another one for the record books and urges swimmers to use caution while at the beach.

[Photo by Narchuk/Shutterstock]

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