Running the Gauntlet of Global Shark Threats

Tagging a shark is a thrill. Ok, it’s a big thrill. But the thrill doesn’t end when you step off the boat at the end of a tagging trip. The months and sometimes years following tagging a shark is also exciting for researchers as we follow the ‘ping’ journey of our tagged animals. In short, it’s not just the shark that gets hooked.

Are Tasmanian coastal areas a love niche for broadnose sevengill sharks?

A broadnose sevengill shark caught off the coast
of Tasmania, Australia.

An essential question to answer when scientists want to understand the ecological role on any species is to identify if animals use the habitat for reproduction. This information can be used to inform and improve conservation and management programmes. With this in mind, we wanted to understand if the broadnose sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) use certain Tasmanian coastal areas for reproductive purposes. 

What's cracking in tracking? Using accelerometers to record movement and behavior of aquatic animals

 A blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) showing off the latest in accelerometer fin-wear.

I guess the word “accelerometer” might conjure images of the CERN Hadron Collider or of Captain Kirk yelling orders to his engineers on an old episode of Star Trek. However these devices are becoming increasingly main stream, and most people will have used or at least heard of the smart-phone apps that allow you to monitor your own activity levels while jogging, or impress your friends with the scariness of the rollercoaster you just rode on. Increasingly, the same devices are being applied to more-scientific pursuits, and marine biologists are using accelerometers to make all sorts of fascinating discoveries with aquatic animals.

Mozambique get their first Tiger sharks tagged!

Our research on tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) to date has been in Australian tropical waters, but recently, we began investigating tiger sharks a little further afield.   Together with South African colleagues Ryan Daly, Clare Daly and Malcolm Smale I have been tagging tiger sharks off Ponta Do Oura in southern Mozambique. Ryan has been running a bull shark project (called Zambezi shark in Africa) here for the last few years. This field trip in January 2014 was the start of the tiger shark project which we are conducting in collaboration with Mahmood Shivji from the Guy Harvey Institute.  

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.