White Label Research

Tuesday 17 April 2012 Were you surfing Muizenberg Corner on Sunday? The white shark research began in False Bay that afternoon. A press release by the Shark Spotters reports proper scientific results, with press releases appearing from everyone, including another Shark Advisory Warning. YOU decide.

"Alison Kock, Research Manager at Shark Spotters and lead scientist in False Bay, was on board throughout the whole operation and in communication with our team on land, reported that the capture and sampling process was skillfully and expertly handled with the welfare of the crew, scientists and the sharks at the forefront.

"Alison said that the scientific value of the work being done in South Africa is unprecedented and the knowledge gained will enhance the ability of managers to make informed decisions to ensure the sustainability of South Africa’s white shark population. Furthermore, the information will ultimately contribute to our enhanced understanding of the sharks’ behaviour which will assist us in providing better information to enhance water user safety.

"Research began at 3pm on Sunday 15 April until 7:30 pm and again the next day, Monday 16 April from 8 am until 3 pm, when the southeasterly wind resulted in unsafe working conditions for the crew and scientists on the ship’s platform and prevented further work from taking place.

"In total four sharks were captured and tagged at Seal Island. The sharks were brought onto the ship’s work platform where the crew and scientists were able to attach real-time satellite tags and acoustic tracking tags, with ten year battery life to enable long range and long term monitoring of movement and migration patterns. The scientists also drew blood, collected muscle samples for hormone and stable isotope analysis to determine their reproductive status and diet, collected length and other measurements, and collected parasites and bacterial samples from places like the teeth and gums.

"All sharks captured were females and ranged in length from 3.9 to 5 meters. The capture time ranged from 18 to 38 minutes and the time the sharks were on the research platform ranged from 11 to 16 minutes. One of the sharks had an old injury, a damaged dorsal fin (more than likely caused by a boat propeller) and could not have a satellite transmitter attached, but she was in good health and fitted with a long life acoustic transmitter and all the other data was collected. Another shark was entangled in fishing gear which was removed during the process.

"It was observed that the amount of chum used was insignificant compared to daily existing natural chum created by Seal Island, and compared to daily chum created in the bay through normal fishing activities and sources such as Kalk Bay harbour. Further, chumming was equitable to the collective amount undertaken by the cage diving industry in the bay on a daily basis.

"Ten sharks need to be tagged at Seal Island to collect data from a representative sample of the population. The research team has currently moved up the coast in search of better weather, and will complete the work at Seal Island when the conditions improve and a minimum of two days have passed as per permit condition."

To see the sharks’ tracks you can visit https://www.facebook.com/OCEARCH

White Label Research

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