Lola - female tiger shark track 2004/2005

Tiger Shark satellite tagging project :
(Photos by Jurgen Freund)

 

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.

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.

Researcher Richard Fitzpatrick can be contacted on 0747715116 for further information about the project.