Shark Research
The Moore Center for Marine Conservation is raising funds and accepting donations to purchase satellite GPS tracking tags for sharks. Our current research only employs identification tags, which means the shark must be recaptured and the original tagging location and second capture location can be compared to track movement patterns. Satellite tags will allow us to track all movements of the shark for the life of the battery on the tag, which could be up to 3 years. This will allow us to track the sharks seasonal migratory patterns, habitat utilization, and will help identify areas of critical habitat which can include feeding and breeding grounds.
Two of the species of shark we would like to tag are great hammerhead sharks and tiger sharks. Both of these species are protected in both state and federal waters, and currently have declining populations on a global scale. Very little is known about the movement patterns and habitat utilization of these species, especially in our local area. Understanding the migratory patterns and identifying feeding and breeding grounds for these sharks is critically important to their conservation and survival.
We would also like to place satellite tags on local bull sharks, lemon sharks, finetooth sharks, and nurse sharks. Very little is known about the movement patterns and habitat utilization of these species as well, however, these species are not declining as rapidly as great hammerhead sharks and tiger sharks, which is why they are of secondary importance.
Very little shark GPS tagging occurs in the Gulf of Mexico, as most satellite tagging efforts focus on Atlantic populations. Gulf of Mexico shark populations may have different habitat requirements than their Atlantic counterparts, and as scientists, we cannot apply the information gathered in the Atlantic to a completely different population in the Gulf of Mexico.
Each tag with GPS tracking costs a minimum of $2,200 with an additional $800 annual cost per tag to retrieve the information from a satellite. This is a total cost of $3,000 for the tag and the first year of monitoring with an additional $100 per month to monitor the tag for as long as the transmission battery lasts. If the tag battery lasts for 3 years, the total cost for that tag and 3 years of monitoring is $5,400.
Our immediate goal is to tag 10 great hammerhead sharks and 10 tiger sharks. We would like to tag 5 males and 5 females of each species to determine if each sex has different migratory patterns or different habitat requirements.
Any individual person, class, or organization that donates the annual cost of a satellite tag ($3,000) will be able to name the shark the tag is placed on. Everyone will be able to track each of our tagged sharks on our website, and the gathered information will be shared with other scientists and other research organizations in an effort to maximize the conservation impact of each tag.