Contrary to what the name might imply, the Bull Shark Tagging Programme is not only about bull sharks and/or tagging (tracking) sharks. The Shark Reef Marine Reserve on the southern coast of Viti Levu, Fiji is home to different shark (and teleost) species and it would be a shame to use this unique platform to only study bull sharks, the numerically dominant species. Up to eight different species of sharks can be encountered on a single dive in the protected area which offers the opportunity to look at, for example, long-term changes in species composition, relative abundances and/or seasonal patterns. Even more opportunities open up when one factors in the hand-feeding of the sharks that is done in the Shark Reef Marine Reserve: Do all species and/or all individuals take food from the feeder and at what frequencies? These questions will soon be answered in a paper that is ready for submission soon.

Today I would like to introduce you to Kirsty Richards. Kirsty is a student from the University of York, U.K. and she’ll be collecting data in Fiji until September for her master thesis. Kirsty’s project involves grey reef, whitetip reef and blacktip reef sharks. She will observe these species at two feeding sites within the Shark Reef Marine Reserve and look at their feeding dynamics and intra- and interspecific variations along the shy-bold continuum.

Kirsty will soon blog about her work here.