Shark Research Committee’s domain drew a $3,716 bid

Ralph Collier spent decades investigating what happened when people encountered sharks. Fishermen, divers, and surfers supplied observations for his research along North America’s Pacific Coast. His Shark Research Committee published shark news and case histories at sharkresearchcommittee.com, where visitors could also submit reports.

Collier died on February 17. In October, the committee’s web address appeared at GoDaddy Auctions. Why the domain became available remains unclear; his death alone does not explain it.

The name carried a substantial history. The archived website organized shark-attack accounts by the people involved: divers, kayakers, surfers, and swimmers. It also covered shark behavior and conservation. GoDaddy’s auction listing showed 437 referring domains pointing to the address.

Bidding stayed modest until late in the auction. The last observed bid was $141 the day before its scheduled end. On October 28, it rose from $560 to $3,716 in about seven hours, with 63 bids counted by the final observation.

There are people planning a future for Collier’s work. The Living Sharks Museum says its team aims to continue his research, maintaining his standards of historical detail and scientific accuracy. As the domain attracts interest from bidders, the museum’s stated aim is to carry forward the research that gave the name its history.

Elsewhere this week, 88838.com led the auctions we tracked, with shawarma.com and memoryvault.com also among the highest bids.

See more auction results.

Our observations can come before the end of bidding, so a later report can differ.

Thanks for reading. The next issue is on Tuesday, November 10.

Andrew

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