WCS Team Completes Groundbreaking White Shark Tagging Expedition

On May 31st, researchers Ramón Bonfil and Shannon O’Brien from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) completed the fourth and most successful great white shark satellite tagging expedition since the joint project with the Marine and Coastal Management branch of the South African government (MCM) started in 2002. During this three-week sea expedition, a record total of 11 great white sharks were fitted with real-time satellite tags on their dorsal fin. Previous expeditions by any research team had tagged a maximum of four great white sharks in a single trip, a record set by the same team in May 2003.

The joint WCS and MCM team also included former WCS veterinarian Barbara Mangold and a large number of South African scientists, technicians and veterinarians.  The team also attached satellite tags to the four largest white sharks ever fitted with this kind of high-tech electronic devices, which allow scientists to track the detailed movements of the sharks. The sharks measured between 12 and 13 ft, with some weighing over 1100 lbs.  The veterinarians on board successfully collected blood samples from two great white sharks during this trip; a first for this group of researchers in South Africa.  Lab analysis of these samples will provide insight into the health and stress level experienced by the sharks during their short capture for the attachment of the satellite tags. The team set another record by reaching a cumulative grand total of 18 white sharks tagged with satellite tags over the period of the study.
"These achievements represent a great leap in great white shark research and will have a major impact on the understanding and conservation of this magnificent and threatened fish" said WCS conservationist Dr. Ramon Bonfil, who leads WCS’s efforts to protect great whites.

Bonfil initiated the joint project between WCS and MCM after he identified the need for scientific data on great white shark’s movements to help develop effective international conservation measures for this species. The project has already provided new and exciting data about the white shark’s movements (visit www.wcs.org/greatwhitesharks for more details) and the WCS-led team hopes that the 11 new tags recently deployed will provide even more valuable information that will ultimately have a large positive impact on great white sharks.

The achievements made during the most recent trip come after two years of hard work by the collaborative team to perfect a hands-on technique for attaching satellite tags to great white sharks. This technique consists of lifting these large marine predators from the water into a purpose-tailored steel stretcher fastened to a research vessel, where the team of scientists, veterinarians and technicians fit the satellite instruments to the dorsal fin of the sharks while making sure that the fish are safe and recover quickly from the capture. Satellite tags are the best technology available to closely follow these fearsome and misunderstood fishes in order to study their migrations and vertical movements. Prior to satellite tags, much of the information that is currently being collected for this species was unknown and seemed almost impossible to obtain.Please continue to visit WCS Great White Shark Conservation for more exciting news about several of our newly tagged sharks in South Africa and help us continue this research with your generous contributions at Help Save Great White Sharks.

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