AD 2018 Q1

DIVE SLATE
PLAYING TAG WITH SHARKS
Maldives. Shark diving tourism in particular has grown
significantly in the past 10 to 15 years.
“People have become more educated about the
low risk in diving with sharks when things are done
right,” Hueter said. This kind of sustainable use helps
protect sharks, he added, by making them valuable to
local economies. “Then it makes no sense to just burn
through the resource for short-term economic benefit.”
Sharks even have potential biomedical value; they
might be naturally resistant to cancer, and their
wounds heal more rapidly than those of mammals.
Studying these characteristics could lead to
treatments for disease and injury in humans.
Many shark species seem to be on the rebound,
thanks to 25 years of fisheries management practices
and increased protections. White shark populations
declined significantly in the 1970s and 1980s but
increased following implementation of conservation
measures in the 1990s, according to a 2014 study.
Fisheries stock assessments by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration documented
increases in blacktip sharks as well.
Fishermen who catch a tagged shark should follow
the instructions on the tag and release the shark as
quickly as possible. Divers can report sightings of
tagged sharks.
“We’re always glad to hear a report of a shark with
a tag, especially if you include the shark’s identifying
characteristics and can get close enough to read
the tag number safely and without handling the
animal,” Hueter said. Divers can take a photograph
of the tag, which may make it readable, or just post
the time and location of a sighting on social media,
which may help get the information back to the right
research lab. Details about the appearance of the tag
itself, such as whether it is biofouled (covered with
algae or other organisms) or has a broken antenna,
also help scientists.
“Sharks have been around through 400 million years
of evolution,” Hueter said. “We want to know what
explains their success and look at their vulnerabilities
to climate change, overfishing, pollution and other
changes. We don’t want to be the generation that
destroyed our modern-day dinosaurs.
“The past 25 years have been about the science of
decline, and it’s been depressing,” he said, “but the
future looks more promising. We now may be doing
the science of recovery and restoration of a healthy
ocean, and that is very uplifting.”
Healthy oceans and more sharks: That sounds
uplifting for divers as well. AD
From top: This satellite tag was deployed during an April 2017
shark-tagging expedition off Florida. Jorge Brenner of The Nature
Conservancy of Texas measures a captured bull shark. Ocearch
captain Brett McBride releases a tagged shark from the ship’s
platform. The R/V Bellows sets out on a shark-tagging expedition off
the coast of Florida.
MAC STONE/THE NATURE CONSERVANCY MAC STONE/THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ROB SNOW/OCEARCH.ORG ROBERT HUETER/MOTE MARINE LABORATORY
24 | WINTER 2018