Assessment of shark sighting rates by aerial ... - Fisheries Reports

Contents i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................I
LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................................ II
LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................................... II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................................................III
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................IV
1. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1. AERIAL SIGHTINGS OF SHARKS........................................................................................ 5
1.2. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH...................................................................................... 6
2. METHODS .............................................................................................................................................. 7
2.1. STUDY LOCATION ............................................................................................................... 7
2.2. EQUIPMENT ......................................................................................................................... 7
2.3. DEPTH TRIAL ....................................................................................................................... 7
2.4. DISTANCE TRIAL.................................................................................................................. 8
2.5. ENVIRONMENTAL CORRELATIONS ................................................................................ 12
2.6. COASTAL AERIAL PATROLS ............................................................................................. 12
3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................. 13
3.1. DEPTH EXPERIMENT........................................................................................................ 13
3.2. DISTANCE EXPERIMENT .................................................................................................. 15
3.3. ENVIRONMENTAL CORRELATIONS ................................................................................ 20
3.4. COASTAL AERIAL PATROLS ............................................................................................. 23
4. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................................ 26
4.1. AERIAL SHARK DETECTION............................................................................................. 26
4.2. ALTERNATIVES TO AERIAL BEACH PATROLS ............................................................... 28
4.3. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 29
5. REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................... 30
Assessment of shark sighting rates by aerial beach patrols Robbins et al.