Marine Life & Conservation

Great Shark Snapshot Results Are In!

Published

9 months ago

August 26, 2022

The results are in! Hundreds of divers took part in the first Shark Trust Great Shark Snapshot at the end of July. All around the world, shark and ray survey dives were conducted by individuals, dive clubs, liveaboards and dive centres. From the UK to Australia, Palau to The Bahamas, Hawaii to the Philippines, the sightings poured in. Nearly two thousand sharks and rays were recorded over the 7 days of the Great Shark Snapshot. 49 different species were spotted in 14 countries.

Caroline Robertson-Brown, Marketing Coordinator at the Shark Trust said “I am delighted with how our first Great Shark Snapshot has gone. What I loved most was getting so many messages from people saying how much they enjoyed taking part. Many dive centres I have spoken to have now decided to run regular shark and ray survey events and will be adding their sightings to our Shark Log database.”

Whether divers were seeing their first shark, celebrating their 100th dive, seeing a shark or ray they had not seen before, or seeing sharks in huge numbers, the stories from the first Great Shark Snapshot have been uplifting. Some examples shared over social media during the week, using #greatsharksnapshot, include Lahaina Divers in Hawaii seeing 78 Scalloped Hammerheads, Tenerife Diving Academy seeing a Duckbill Eagle Ray and Sundive Byron Bay in Australia seeing 58 wobbegong sharks on a single drift dive. The very first shark sighting to come in was from Thresher Shark Divers in the Philippines who saw 5 Pelagic Thresher Sharks on their first dive of the Great Shark Snapshot. Basking Sharks, from Basking Shark Scotland, and Blue Sharks, from Celtic Deep, were spotted in Scotland and Wales respectively.

Prodivers Instructors and Manta Trust Marine Biologist at Hurawalhi Island Resort, Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives

Aggressor Adventures had around 100 divers, on 5 of their liveaboards, take part in the Great Shark Snapshot. Cole Watkins, Director of Content Strategy at Aggressor Adventures said “We were delighted to help participate in this year’s Great Shark Snapshot. Not only did our liveaboard staff enjoy conducting the census, but our customers did as well. We understand that this information is important in maintaining healthy ecosystems and gives a better understanding of how populations of marine species can and do change over time. Aggressor Adventures is looking forward to participating in the Great Shark Snapshot for years to come”

Divers are in a unique position to be able to record the sharks and rays that they see. Their input to the Shark Trust Shark Log sightings database is crucial. Whether it is an exotic holiday of a lifetime, or diving the local coastline, all shark and ray sightings are valuable to help increase knowledge and understanding of sharks, skates and rays.

Thresher Shark Divers in The Philippines

Non-divers also did their bit, with 380 eggcases, from 8 different species, recorded in the Great Eggcase Hunt database. The Shark Trust will soon have a new app available to make recording shark and ray sightings, as well as eggcase finds, even easier. Watch out for more news on this soon.

The Great Shark Snapshot is a wonderful way for divers to get together, go diving, and do something to help shark conservation. The Shark Trust wants to thank everyone that took part in this first event. Dates for the 2023 Great Shark Snapshot will be released early next year.

For more information about the Great Shark Snapshot: https://www.sharktrust.org/the-great-shark-snapshot

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Marine Life & Conservation

Book Review: Nudibranchs of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe

Published

1 day ago

June 5, 2023

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Nudibranchs of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe: Second Edition by Bernard Picton and Christine Morrow

Do you love nudibranchs? Like many others, I do. I love trying to find them on dives and always marvel at how beautiful many of them are. Some are so small that you can barely see them with the naked eye and others are quite large. What I didn’t quite realize was just how many different species you can find in our waters. Over 195 species! And this book gives each a double page spread with images and information about where they can be found, a detailed description, key characteristics and similar species to help you with identification.

The book is packed with colour photos to help you work out what you have seen, and for those that are truly obsessed with nudi-hunting, what you might like to find next. The opening pages give the reader a host of useful and interesting information about their feeding and reproductive habits, their anatomy, how to find them, and where to record your finds to help scientist discover more about them.

Ever since the book arrived, I have been dipping into in, selecting a random page and enjoying the wealth of information and stunning images within. It is a book that simply makes you want to don your dive gear and head underwater to look for these charismatic creatures. For anyone that loves the weird and wonderful world of sea slugs (an who doesn’t), this is a book you are going to want to have in your collection.

What the publisher says:

Nudibranchs, or sea slugs, are a group of marine gastropod molluscs whose adults lack shells, an evolutionary loss that has led to a wide variety of body shapes, colours and colour patterns, making them popular with divers and underwater photographers. In this book, experienced nudibranch experts Bernard Picton and Christine Morrow provide an accessible and authoritative photographic identification guide for anyone interested in finding and identifying nudibranchs in the coastal waters of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe.

Covers more than 195 species, each on its own two-page spread
Includes in situ photos to aid finding nudibranchs under water and on the shore
Features photos of nudibranchs’ distinctive spawn coils and studio photos showing detailed anatomy
Presents key distinguishing features and essential information on size, habitat, diet and distribution

Book Details

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Series: Wild Nature Press

Paperback

Price: £35

ISBN: 9780691208794

Published (UK): 6th June 2023

Pages: 360

Marine Life & Conservation

The Shark Trust Great Shark Snapshot is back!

Published

4 weeks ago

May 11, 2023

Shark Trust

The last week of July will see the return of the Shark Trust’s citizen science initiative that invites divers and snorkelers, all around the world, to record the sharks and rays that they see between the 22nd and 30th. After the success of the first event, this year is going to be even bigger and better.

Information about the species and numbers of sharks and rays the participants find over the week will be added to the Shark Trust’s Shark Log. This global shark census will, over time, allow shark scientists to build a picture of species distribution and any changes that occur. Sharks are threatened by destructive fishing, climate change and habitat loss. The data collected during the Great Shark Snapshot will help scientists put effective conservation plans in place.

Dive clubs, centres, and liveaboards can sign up to show their support for this event and advertise their planned dives on the Great Shark Snapshot registration page. Divers looking to join an event will be able to use the map to find Great Shark Snapshot dives taking place near them. As well as gathering vital data, the event will provide a chance to celebrate the incredible shark and ray species that live close to you.

Caroline Robertson-Brown, Marketing Coordinator at the Shark Trust said: “It was wonderful to see so many divers take part in our first event last year. What is even better is seeing those dive centres and liveaboards returning to take part again this year, along with many more signing up for the first time.”

With the event still 2 months away, dive centres and liveaboards from over 20 countries have already signed up to take part. From Palau to Costa Rica. From the UK to Australia. Whether you are diving your local dive site, or on the diving trip of a lifetime. You can take part in the Great Shark Snapshot.

It is easy to join in. Just go diving between 22nd and 30th July and record every shark, ray and skate that your dive group sees. If possible, take photos and some video footage too. The Shark Trust really wants to see what species you encounter on your dives. Then make sure that you record your sightings on the Shark Trust Shark Log recordings website or by using the Shark Trust app.