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Marine Life & Conservation

Rare gollum shark find so… precious

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There are reasons Spielberg used a great white shark as his predatory killer fish in Jaws rather than a gollum shark.

The latter just doesn’t cut it in terms of size, presence or flesh-tearing teeth, but does take some beating in the rarity stakes.

A 66cm gollum shark was captured about 280km off the Sunshine Coast last weekend and is thought to be only the third or fourth recorded specimen in Australia.

Deepwater bottom fisherman Joe Rowley, based at Mooloolaba, line-caught the gollum shark while targeting blue-eye trevalla, and immediately knew it was something very different.

“Gollum sharks are apparently endemic to New Zealand, so either it has migrated a long way to get here or it could be a separate gollum shark sub-species,” he said.

A commercial fisherman for more than 40 years, Mr Rowley said the gollum shark was named after the character from the Lord of the Rings fantasy novels.

“It has a flattened head and big green protruding eyes, and I’d never seen anything like it before,” he said.

Mr Rowley’s provisional identification was confirmed by Ken Graham, Australia’s leading expert on deepwater sharks.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Australian Fisheries Management Authority are sponsoring Mr Rowley and others in a gulper shark scientific tagging survey.

Any gulper sharks caught on his line are tagged and released, but Mr Rowley recognised the gollum shark as a rarity worth keeping.

“I’ve done a lot of work with the CSIRO and save them a lot of species, and I knew this one would be one they’d want to study,” he said.

The experienced fisherman, who admits to a very keen interest in deep-ocean species, said he expected his catch would be subject to DNA tests to establish if it were a new sub-species of gollum shark.

“We know more about the moon than we do about the deep ocean, so it’s a particularly interesting find,” Mr Rowley said.

The sample has been donated to the Queensland Museum in Brisbane.

 

Source: www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au

Photo: Warren Lynam

Marine Life & Conservation

Double Bubble for Basking Sharks

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The Shark Trust is excited to announce that, for two more days only, all donations, large or small, will be doubled in the Big Give Green Match Fund!

Donate to Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants

The Shark Trust is hoping to raise £10k which will be doubled to £20k. This will go towards Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants. And they need YOUR help to reach they’re goal.

The Shark Trust’s citizen science project is to monitor and assess basking sharks through sightings; encouraging data collection, community engagement, and promoting nature accessibility. This initiative aims to enhance health and wellbeing by fostering a deeper connection with British Sharks.

Campaign Aims

  • Increase citizen science reporting of Basking Sharks and other shark sightings to help inform shark and ray conservation.
  • Provide educational talks about the diverse range of sharks and rays in British waters and accessible identification guides!
  • Create engaging and fun information panels on how to ID the amazing sharks and rays we have on our doorstep! These can be used on coastal paths around the Southwest. With activities and information on how you can make a difference for sharks and rays!
  • Promote mental wellbeing through increasing time in nature and discovering the wonders beneath the waves!

Donate, and double your impact. Click Here

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Marine Life & Conservation

Leading UK-based shark conservation charity, the Shark Trust, is delighted to announce tour operator Diverse Travel as a Corporate Patron

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Corporate Patrons provide a valuable boost to the work of The Shark Trust. The Trust team works globally to safeguard the future of sharks, and their close cousins, the skates and rays, engaging with a global network of scientists, policymakers, conservation professionals, businesses and supporters to further shark conservation.

Specialist tour operator Diverse Travel has operated since 2014 and is committed to offering its guests high quality, sustainable scuba diving holidays worldwide. Working together with the Shark Trust will enable both organisations to widen engagement and encourage divers and snorkellers to actively get involved in shark conservation.

Sharks are truly at the heart of every diver and at Diverse Travel, we absolutely share that passion. There is nothing like seeing a shark in the wild – it’s a moment that stays with you forever!” says Holly Bredin, Sales & Marketing Manager, Diverse Travel.

We’re delighted to celebrate our 10th year of business by becoming a Corporate Patron of the Shark Trust. This is an exciting partnership for Diverse and our guests. We will be donating on behalf of every person who books a holiday with us to contribute towards their vital shark conservation initiatives around the world. We will also be working together with the Trust to inspire divers, snorkellers and other travellers to take an active role – at home and abroad – in citizen science projects and other activities.”

Paul Cox, CEO of The Shark Trust, said:

It’s an exciting partnership and we’re thrilled to be working with Diverse Travel to enable more divers and travellers to get involved with sharks and shark conservation. Sharks face considerable conservation challenges but, through collaboration and collective action, we can secure a brighter future for sharks and their ocean home. This new partnership takes us one more valuable step towards that goal.”

For more information about the Shark Trust visit their website here.

For more about Diverse Travel click here.

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