In early August, NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) launched an interactive website that tracks 18 sharks around the world, representing four species. The site allows users to see where and how far these sharks travel over time.
The site, which launched to coincide with The Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” is being used to enhance scientific research.
Since the inception of NSU’s GHRI shark-tagging program in 2009, the project has located, caught and tagged four different species of sharks found all over the world: mako sharks near New Zealand and in the west Atlantic; tiger sharks near Western Australia, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Chub Cay and Grand Cayman; oceanic whitetip sharks near the Bahamas and in the Caribbean; and sand tiger sharks in the Atlantic.
Matthew Johnston, a scientific computer programmer, research scientist and main developer of the site in 2011, said he feels the importance of the project is “gaining visibility for the institute and public knowledge for the sharks.”
The site features a virtual map in which visitors can select specific shark paths, species or individual sharks to follow. For example, Johnston said he gets excited to watch Harry Lindo, a tiger shark with the project’s longest tracking history, who has swum more than 27,000 miles since 2009.
There are two types of tags used as transmitters. SPOT tags are mounted to the shark’s fin. These tags have an antenna that extends upwards and a saltwater sensor that tells researchers when the shark is out of the water. When the tag breaks the water’s surface, it transmits its location to a satellite, allowing researchers to track the shark over the life of the tag’s battery, which is usually 10 to 30 months.
Pop-up tags are satellite tags that are typically inserted near the shark’s dorsal fin and collect and store data within the tag. After a pre-determined amount of time, the tag releases from the shark, floats to the surface and transmits the stored data to a satellite. From there, scientists can determine the shark’s position, its depth in the water and water temperature the shark prefers to spend time in.
Information found on the shark-tracking website is received mainly from the SPOT tags and shows data collected from the thousands of miles these sharks have traveled.
Johnston said he didn’t expect the tiger sharks to have such large migration patterns.
“I was very surprised how much time they spend in the middle of the ocean,” he said.
He also said one of the project’s goals is to find out what the sharks are doing in the places they migrate.
The website is free for all users and no registration is required. There is also a short informative video on the site’s main page that further explains how these sharks are tracked. NSU’s GHRI shark-tracking website can be accessed at nova.edu/ocean/ghri/tracking.
