Ocean News

Those of you who are familiar with Fijian language and culture know what that means: a warm and hearty Hello or Welcome! So be it. Welcome to this blog reporting news from the Bull Shark Tagging Programme in Fiji. But not only. There will be plenty of other stuff on shark…

The first week of the programme has seen the interns working through what seems to be a huge amount of work, learning the different monitoring activities, how to record them accurately, enter them into the data-bases and mastering the physical skills that are going to be needed…. Joining the interns are…

Now the hard work begins! As the start of the whale shark monitoring season approaches things here have become very hectic, but it seems that all is now ready so we have a few moments to update you of our activities. Over the last few years the amount of data…

So – I need to pass on big thanks for to a number of people who have been invaluable in making this project happen this quarter.  The project would not have run without them! So the really big thanks must go to two people so far – Number One is…

So it’s been a while since the last update.  Finally, last Thursday, the wind from TS Fay abated a little and we were able to get back to our sampling.  We were fishing the wall zone where historically our highest catches have been so we were pretty sure we would see sharks.  Our…

The white shark research project is a multi-faceted programme that aims to better understand the role of these sharks in ecosystems and make sure that relevant ecological information is collected to ensure management and conservation measures are up-to-date and adequate. The project also strives to build a better relationship between…

Just a little update to show that all is not lost; the wisdom of marine conservation is trickling out, slowly but surely across the globe. In this case it’s in the form of a Japanese primary school teacher getting in touch to tell us that she used the SOSF produced All…

So not much sharking has been happening recently – TS Fay has passed us to the west and is now beating up southern Florida.  She left behind some strong winds and fairly large seas making longline sampling impossible – but what can you do hey!  She has also been causing…

South Africa has long been regarded as a white shark ‘hotspot’, but in 1991 it was necessary to protect the species due to increased demand for their jaws as trophies and evidence that  some populations in other parts of the world were declining. Due to the rarity of these sharks…

Although fishing quotas are something to be discussed at a later date and in more detail, The FP thought it should still draw your attention towards this unfortunately very believable piece of footage which has been picked up by several UK and Norwegian news outlets. It shows a UK based fishing…

Just a quick note to let you know that the SOSF sponsored Cool Seas Roadshow has been in the news, this time in the Telegraph online. The article, written by our very own Cheryl-Samantha Owen, describes the way in which this amazing project goes into the classrooms of UK schools to describe the…

OK – So after this mornings post I felt that it was only right to set the record straight. Today was planned as an office day for me while the rest of the team were out on the boat carrying on the long line surveys.  At about 11.30am I get…

Well – it has been an interesting few days down here in Eleuthera.  The rainy season is finally here after months of near drought conditions and as such we have spent a large portion of our time on the water dodging tropical deluges and lighting bolts.  The rain is good…

A few weeks ago the 13th Southern Africa Marine Science Symposium was hosted by SANCOR (South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research) at the University of Cape Town. The most exciting news is that Dr. Leonard Compagno, the SOSSC’s Chief Scientist, has won the prestigious 2008 Gilchrist Memorial Medal. Dr.…

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the first installment of the CEI shark program blog!  Its mid summer here in the Bahamas with heavy duty sunshine and 30 + degrees outside – a number which becomes more significant with no air conditioning in the office and no shade on the…