Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year
From the
White Shark Conservation Trust
Merry Christmas
December 17, 2011Beached Young White Shark Release
November 19, 2011This is not new footage and the event actually occurred in 2009, however its the only one we have found of this happening in New Zealand. On YouTube there are a few film clips of young white sharks being rescued having beached themselves along the US coast. This occurrence was along Ninety Mile Beach. Whoever the guy was we applaud your action!…
Beached Young White Shark Release
Trust Brand Caps Launch
September 26, 2011
We would like to finally launch our branded caps and need your help to do this. This is a mock up of the branded cap. We need to raise NZ$1000 to launch. Caps price is not confirmed but expected to be about NZ$20.00 each. All profit goes towards white shark research and conservation.
If you are interested in purchasing a cap from us, or would like to make a welcome contribution and help us please click on our logo to go to our website and make your donation on line via our PayPal facility.
Tagging in the Manukau with DoC
February 7, 2011For the second year running DoC were invited to shadow a sport fishing competition in the Manukau and we were extremely grateful to be invited to join DoC and assist Clinton Duffy for the duration.
Last year, although we took samples from three juvenile hammerheads and several school sharks, no white sharks were caught by the tournament anglers or by us. This year was far more successful we are pleased to say with a juvenile 2.4 meter female being hooked by one of the tournament boats and passed to us for tagging.
The shark was named Marina after Marina Dmitri, a Trust member whom joined us on the day. She was tagged with both a PAT tag and a SPOT tag before being released.
Clinton Duffy fastens the SPOT Tag to Marina's Dorsal Fin
Marina Dmitri holds the dorsal fin to prevent the tag from being damaged against the side of the boat
The whole process took a little over 20 minutes.
The SPOT tag is activated whenever the wet dry sensor detects it is out of the water and the PAT tag is programmed to stay attached to the shark for a year (365 days post-release). The first signal was received from Marina’s SPOT tag on Monday 7th Feb. Although the quality of the position it gave was unreliable it was a clear indication she has survived capture and release. Several high quality locations from outside the Manukau Harbour followed later the same day.
Marina joins Kate, the first white shark we were involved with tagging (Kate was Tagged with a PAT tag off the Gisborne coast on an expedition with DoC and Surfit Charters in 2009. Unfortunately Kate’s tag failed and came off 14 days after it was deployed. We hope Marina’s two tags are working well and will give data for the next 9-12 months as they are programmed to do!
We would like to express our thanks to Clinton and DoC for asking us along again to help, and to the Counties Sport Fishing Club for inviting DoC to shadow the tournament.
Mystery Ride 2010 – Success!
November 14, 2010We had a great turnout for the ride on 14 November, 2010 – 25 riders joined us for a beautiful ride up north. Fortunately, the rain stayed away, and our sponsors, Cycletreads, Hyosung NZ, The Three Furlongs and The Puhoi Pub all aided in making it a very memorable day! The starting point of the ride was at Cycletreads and Hyosung NZ on Barry’s Point Road in Takapuna, from where we travelled north up Highway 16/17 to Wellsford, then heading north on State Highway 1 to Kaiwaka, where Tracy from The Three Furlongs generously gave a spot prize to the owner of her favourite bike. From there, the riders headed east to Mangawhai Heads, looped back south onto State Highway 1 through the Dome Forest and concluded at Puhoi Pub, where we were greeted with a sausage sizzle and we awarded raffle prizes to the riders. The prizes were generously donated by Cycletreads and Hyosung NZ. The Three Furlongs and the Puhoi Pub also made additional donations on top of their sponsorship, and we are greatly appreciative of their generosity.
We would like to once again thank our sponsors for their support, and all the riders and support crew who helped make the day the success it was. Photos will be posted this week.
Mystery Ride
November 4, 2010Calling all motorcycle riders!!
We are holding a fund raising charity ride Sunday November 14th. This will start at 9.00am at 72 Barry’s Point Road, Takapuna for bike and rider registration. There is ample parking for bikes behind Cycletreads and Hyosung NZ whom are co supporting the ride and have very generously donated some spot prizes that will be awarded at the end of the ride.
It promises to be a fantastic day out (hoping the weather remains fine!), and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. There is a $20 cover per bike.
Presentation At Kelly Tarlton’s
September 3, 2010
We are extremely pleased to have been invited to talk at Kelly Tarlton’s, Monday 20th September. The talk will begin at about 7.00 and will focus on the plight of the white shark in New Zealand waters, exposing some of the myth the media portrays, and speaking about the Trust and our activities.
All are welcome!
Positive Result in Educating About Shark Products in New Zealand
August 6, 2010Not so long ago we launched a new page called “How You Can Help” to drew attention to companies in New Zealand that trade or use shark in restaurants , or or shark derived products on the market in health stores. We highlighted one particular company, Good Health that had two shark derived products on the market (Sharkilage and Squaline), the shark content apparently sourced from sharks caught in New Zealand. Our Conservation Biologist, Alex (Diverkat) was quickly on the case and put her research and legal hats on to approach Good Health. We published her initial letter in the last edition of SharkBites.
We are extremely pleased to follow this story up with some great news… Although Sharkilage is still present on Good Health’s website, they are selling it in order to exhaust their current stock, and will no longer source their chondroitin from sharks. Alex reported the chondroitin they will use in their joint care formulas is derived from bovine sources, and as they are farmed animals this is certainly more sustainable. Alex’s arguments about lauding the value of shark fin were also heeded and Good Health have changed the wording of the Sharkilage page so they are no longer indirectly showing support for an unsustainable practice. You can read the full story on Alex’s Diverkat website.
We would like to congratulate Alex on this victory and thank Brian Blanchard at Good Health for his positive actions. You will see Good Health has been removed from our list of businesses we encourage you to avoid.
Bill Wieger Supports the White Shark Conservation Trust
July 10, 2010It gives us great pleasure to announce Bill Wieger, renowned artist, has chosen to support the White Shark Conservation Trust.
If you are interested any of the work displayed or have any enquiries about Bill’s other work, please contact us and we will be only too happy to help you. Bill’s work is fantastically detailed and really captures the grace, beauty and power of the white shark.
Bill has also offered to produce for us a sculpture of our very own record diving male white shark, ‘Shack’.
We will post photos of Shack as soon as Bill has completed him!
Latest From Grim
July 2, 2010LITTLE SHARK ON A BIG MISSION:
Grim, a male juvenile white shark SPOT tagged off Stewart island in March this year has averaged 108km a day since being tagged!… The 2.8-metre-long shark, named Grim by conservation scientists, surprised researchers who are tracking him with his reluctance to follow his peers and move north to the tropics. In three months, Grim has travelled more than 2000 kilometres, averaging 108km a day on a journey that has taken him from Stewart Island to the Chatham Islands, then North towards Tonga before about turning to return to the Bay of Plenty.
The Department of Conservation and National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research had tagged six sharks in the summer, but Grim was the only one that chose to stay around New Zealand. “He’s on a real tiki tour around the North Island.” Yesterday, Grim was 7.5km off Te Kaha, the closest to shore he had been since setting off on his journey on March 29.
White sharks were protected in New Zealand in 2007 under the Wildlife Act, and the DOC study being carried out in conjunction with NIWA is to learn more about their movements. Earlier in the study, another shark named Shack surprised the team for diving to a depth of 1200 metres while migrating from Stewart Island to Brisbane. This is the deepest dive recorded so far for a white shark.
