Australian Divers Urged To Take Pictures Of Grey Nurse Sharks
Researchers in New South Wales, Australia are seeking underwater images of local grey nurse sharks, in an effort to document and protect the dwindling populations. At some point, grey nurse sharks were almost hunted to extinction. It is estimated that fewer than 1,000 individuals are left.
Spot-A-Shark is a non-profit dive community research project that has been
established in conjunction with the Marine Ecology Group at Macquarie
University. They utilizie software to
identify individual grey nurse sharks. Each grey nurse shark has a series of
pigmentation spots on either side of their body. These markings are
unique to each shark (like human fingerprints). SpotAShark is asking divers and underwater photographers to send
in their photos of grey nurse sharks to help catalog the population along the east
coast of Australia. Suitable photos will then assist marine
biologists to learn more about these endangered creatures.
