A young man, alone and silent, strains
his eyes to see through the ocean's rippled surface to the sharks below.
This is the awakening of a dream for shark scientist, Richard
Fitzpatrick, and it has been funded by adventure divers who value the
long-term survival of ocean predators as much as the experience of
diving among them.
Richard works alongside marine biologist, Andy Dunstan, as part of a
research program run from Undersea Explorer, a combined adventure diving
and research vessel operating out of Port Douglas in Australia's far
north Queensland.
"In most parts of the world sharks are under threat," says Richard
explaining that over-fishing could still cause many species to disappear
given their often slow growth and reproductive rates and the small home
ranges of some sharks.
Over the last seven years, he and Andy have been exploring these home
ranges along with the seasonal breeding behaviour, feeding patterns and
growth rates of several shark species along the outer realms of the
Great Barrier Reef. Their work on shark ranges is specifically targeted
at determining how large protected marine areas need to be to ensure
species survival.
"In a place like Osprey Reef," says Andy, "female white tips seem to be
site attached so they have a small home range of about one to two
kilometres but the males appear to wander more widely. With grey reef
sharks, although conservation management treats them as ocean wanderers,
our research shows that they have a limited home range, possibly
restricting them to the Osprey Reef area.
"To protect sharks, you need to protect the largest area covered by both
genders."
The research done on board Undersea is used to inform the conservation
strategies of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.
"Sharks are the 'apex predators'," said Andy, "that means they are at
the top of the ocean food chain, about which we know very little.
"Their disappearance, like that of any shark species, could have
considerable impact on all marine life including those humans relying on
the fragile marine ecosystem for food and other purposes."
A source of pride for Andy is the way Undersea Explorer has made this
research possible.
"Undersea was started by myself and John Rumney - a skipper and
adventure diver who is also our general manager. We wanted to find ways
of harnessing the commercial dive dollar to protect and fund reef
research.
"The boat regularly travels to sites along the outer Barrier Reef,
Osprey Reef and other remote locations in the Coral Sea. This means that
scientists can have repeated access to marine areas for long-term
research. We also overcome their funding shortages by dedicating berths,
free-of-charge, to researchers on each trip.
"When we began eight years ago, it was rare to find people committed
more to conservation and research than making money. But over time other
individuals have joined us from adventure divers keen on exploring the
unknown, to film makers and photographers looking for unique images.
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"Now we routinely host
researchers from around the world - from the University of Marseilles to
the University of California Santa Cruz, and the Australian Museum to
local experts from James Cook University in Townsville.
"With the help of our paying divers, we keep the research going not only
on sharks but the nautilus, dwarf minke whales, reef bio-erosion, coral
fluorescence, water quality, cuttlefish and octopus.
"In return, the scientists have led us to create new and exciting
adventure dive experiences and have added an extra dimension to the
usual liveaboard routine of diving, eating and sleeping by sparking
great conversations between themselves and adventure divers.
"Our trips don't cost more than comparable adventure dive operations
because we channel our profits into the research and conservation
initiatives rather than commercial expansion. That means our divers get
fantastic food, amazing dives, high safety standards and an enthusiastic
crew, and still contribute to a positive future for marine wildlife."
For Richard, Undersea's approach has given him the chance to develop
innovative shark catching and tagging techniques.
Ultrasonic "pingers" are surgically inserted into the body cavity of
sharks. As the sharks travel around their movements are monitored by a
number of remote receiving stations placed around the reef.
"This means we can track these sharks 24 hours a day 365 days of the
year," says Richard.
"However, this technology only gave us a two dimensional location for
the animal, so to develop a three dimensional image of shark behaviour,
this year we started attaching time depth recorders to the sharks. These
small units are cable-tied around the base of their tails so they can be
removed at a later date and the data can be downloaded.
"The data we are getting now really demonstrates the 'Jeckel and Hyde'
nature of the white tip reef shark - which spends most of the day
resting but as soon as the sun sets it's off zooming all over the reef,
particularly in the shallows where it is an active hunter looking for
sleeping fish.
"So this range of electronic tags is giving us an insight into the
natural behaviour of reef sharks."
Richard explains that the use of direct observation to determine the
animal's "natural behaviour" has been confounded by the shark's tendency
to associate boats and divers with food scraps and baits. This in turn,
makes their behaviour more erratic and potentially dangerous than usual.
"I'd encourage any one going on a shark holiday to move past the feeding
circus mentality and go for operators who are doing proper research
and/or who are genuinely contributing to the ecotourism movement," he
says.
For Andy, the crew, and scientists on board Undersea Explorer, it has
been the support of like-minded adventure divers that has kept their
sense of purpose alive. On each trip, guest divers observe and swim with
the researchers and their subjects, often helping to record behaviour
and assisting with photo identifications.
"When you join Undersea Explorer," said Andy, "you still get to do the
true adventure diving, like drift and untimed dives over 1000 metre
subterranean walls but you feel like you're achieving something more -
you're participating in things that have never happened before and
you're actually making a real difference."
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