|
 DIVERSION
MARINE CONSERVATION FUND -
home -
Tigershark
Research on the Great Barrier Reef, November 2004
As
our first project the Diversion Marine Conservation Fund
is
supporting shark research on the Great Barrier Reef on UNDERSEA
EXPLORER,
one of the few dive operations which has a true mission
towards preserving the Great Barrier Reef.
A
satellite tag was attached to a female tiger shark near
Raine Island in the Far Northern GBR region on 22 November
2004. She was named LOLA. The cost for the sattelite transmitter
of AU$ 5000 was contributed by the DIVERSION MARINE CONSERVATION
FUND.
Lola
with the tag right after she was released
Download
a video of "Linda" the tiger shark (2.2 MB)
WHY SHARK RESEARCH?
Being
so high up on the food chain, Tiger Sharks are extremely
important to the marine environment, but still so little
is known about these creatures. Using the knowledge gained
from the project will help us to understand and consequently
protect these creatures and the environment they inhabit
in a more effective way.
Learn
more about the project at:
http://www.sharkresearch.com/lola_research.htm
Update
(May 2005):
After
the tagging, Lola had been tracked for two weeks travelling
south towards Charlotte Bay. Sadly, the last signal was
recorded by the CSIRO on December 12 - roughly two weeks
after she had been tagged.
|
What
has happened since? Richard Fitzpatrick, the chief
researcher on this project, reckons that a malfunction
of the satelite tag is the most likely explanation.
This is unfortunate, but it's a part of research "in
the wild". The data we have received from this
experiment is limited, so it is the more important
to keep the programme alive. Undersea Explorer will
go up to Raine Island again towards the end of this
year and we all hope to be more lucky with the project
this time around.
|
Tag
a Tiger
5- 14 Dec 2005 :
Excursion on
UNDERSEA
EXPLORER
to the Far Northern Great Barrier Reef with Richard
Fitzpatrick.
At Raine Island we will try to tag a tiger with a
satellite transmitter.
Cost: AU$ 3650
plus AU$ 400.00 for air Lockhart River - Cairns.
|
For
a personal
account by Richard Fitzpatrick about his ideas and
feelings on sharks and shark research: http://diversionOZ.com/en/tigersharkrichard.htm
Everytime
you book through DIVERSION DIVE TRAVEL you contribute to
this exciting work so that your kids can still enjoy a healthy
marine environment.
DIVERSION
MARINE CONSERVATION FUND -
home -
|
Independent
