Raine Island Update - Zoe, new shark 'Jess' and an injury for good measure.

Bruised kidneys, new tagged shark and a visit from an old friend. Yes! I've returned from a Raine Island research trip and now have a small window of opportunity to sort out footage and data before we head back again in January 2014. 

This is my 15th year of visiting Raine Island over countless trips. It never really gets old. I think the sharks may even be considering me a local.

Semantics along Risk Road - the conservation status of Great White Sharks

Image: Terry Goss via Wikipedia

Shark attacks make for a hot topic. What makes them even hotter is a knee-jerk response from a frightened State government.  So plays the current scenario in Western Australia, where the most recent shark attack on a local surfer has resulted in the WA government instigating a culling programme by deploying baited drumlines off popular WA beaches . 

Tracking marine animals with satellites - A guide to tagging and tracking (Part 3)

Australian fur seal with satellite tag attached (photo: John Arnould)

I’ll admit, satellite tracking does not have the same ring to it did 10 years ago. Today, it is everywhere. With the smallest of units in our car or smartphones, we can have our daily paths followed from space and even invite others to know where we are at all times, all with the touch of a screen.

But for following animals in a very large ocean, satellite tracking is powerful and exciting, and believe me, it does not just happen with the touch of a screen! Using this everyday technology, we researchers watch and wait, thousands of kilometres away in our office for information on the movements of tagged animals as they swim their way across our oceans, via space.