Press Release - Tiger Shark
satellite tagging project - January 2005
Tiger Shark satellite tagging project
In November 2004, shark researcher and
underwater cinematographer Richard Fitzpatrick
of Digital Dimensions together with the crew
onboard Undersea Explorer tagged a Tiger Shark
with a satellite tag during a Far Northern
Adventure Diving expedition at Raine Island. The
3.5m shark named "Lola" is the fifth and the
largest tiger shark tagged to date. The shark
was the second tiger shark caught using a
revolutionary tail clamp designed by Fitzpatrick
which allows the capture of large sharks with
minimal stress and without the need for hooks.
This project supported by documentary producers
Digital Dimensions, CSIRO and Undersea Explorer
has been underway for four years with one of the
most important aspects being to investigate
seasonal movement patterns of tiger sharks. We
currently know very little about Tiger Sharks,
but we do know that a number of sharks can be
found around Raine Island during the
turtle-breeding season. This is the site of the
research program and Undersea Explorer's diving
adventures.
Raine island is the largest and most important
green sea turtle nesting area in the world, with
up to 14,000 turtles nesting on the small coral
sand cay in one night. The waters surrounding
Raine Island are so active that seeing over 250
turtles during an hour in the water is common.
Due to it being such an important environmental
icon, the island is totally protected from
access, but diving in the deep oceanic waters
surrounding the island is superb. Undersea
Explorer has a special permit for tourism here,
and guests from around the world join Undersea
Explorer for the amazing experience of tagging
large tiger sharks at this incredible location.
This exciting
project captures mature tiger sharks to tag with
satellite transmitters. The transmitters will
then transmit GPS locations of the shark when it
surfaces to the CSIRO research base where they
are downloaded and converted into user friendly
form. We place locations of the sharks onto maps
and update their movements on the Undersea
Explorer shark research website
www.sharkresearch.com .
To date the
project has shown some amazing results. The 3
metre tiger tagged in 2003 at Raine Island moved
thousands of kilometres from almost the tip of
Australia to the outer reefs off Cairns and
Cooktown before journeying in the open ocean out
towards New Caledonia. At this stage the
transmitter batteries ran out.
This year a
different satellite transmitter was used with
the hope of obtaining a full year of data.
Previously tagged sharks have travelled from
Raine Island around the tip of Australia to the
Gulf of Carpentaria and also to towards New
Guinea.
Lola will provide valuable information about
movement patterns and feeding behaviour.
There is no discernible pattern as yet, except
that the sharks seem to have a much wider range
than previously thought. Will the sharks return
to Raine Island? How far will they roam? How
long will they stay at Raine Island? We hope
these and many more questions will be answered.
Thanks to
Scubapro Uwatec - www.scubapro-uwatec.com and
Diversion Dive Travel -
www.diversionOZ.com for their sponsorship to
help fund this project - a great example of
combining valid science and exciting adventure
diving. This is one of many Undersea Explorer
projects that all members of the diving public
can join to spice up their diving experiences
and contribute to conservation.
Reseacher Richard Fitzpatrick can be contacted
on 0747715116 for further information about the
project.
Karen Stanaway
Sales & Marketing Manager
UNDERSEA EXPLORER
Adventure Diving and Research Expeditions
info@undersea.com.au www.undersea.com.au
PO Box 615, Port Douglas Qld 4877
Ph: 61 7 4099 5911 Fax: 61 7 4099 5914
