Be a Site Custodian!
The Grey Nurse Shark Watch team are seeking Reef Check Australia members to become site custodians of their local grey nurse shark aggregation site for the January/February survey period. Being a site custodian involves diving at your grey nurse shark site during the survey period to count the number of sharks present, photograph as many sharks as possible then submit this information through an easy to use form on the Reef Check Australia website.
To become a site custodian, sign into Reef Check Australia and click on "edit my details" then complete the Grey Nurse Shark Watch section. Members who are unable to become site custodians for the current survey period are still encouraged to join Grey Nurse Shark Watch to become site custodians for the July/August surveys or to submit grey nurse shark sighting records and photographs collected during their recreational diving or fishing activities at any time during the year.
Members of Grey Nurse Shark Watch will also be able to use upcoming features of the website including the ability to track identified sharks and receive regular quarterly updates on the program's progress. For further information, see the methods manual in the Grey Nurse Shark Watch section of the Reef Check Australia web page or email deborah.bowden@uqconnect.edu.au.
What is Grey Nurse Shark Watch?
Grey Nurse Shark Watch is a community grey nurse shark photographic identification monitoring program. It is designed to capture data on grey nurse shark numbers, movements and distribution during different stages of their life cycle throughout their range in both the NSW and QLD marine regions. It will do this by monitoring individual grey nurse sharks identified by their unique spot patterns over time.
Photographs submitted by you will contribute to a national database on the grey nurse shark, which will be made available to stakeholders, researchers and managers. Public access to data will also be facilitated, to allow contributors to see their own sightings, and those of others.
The photographic identification monitoring program is designed to monitor the recovery of the Australian east coast population of grey nurse sharks and to assist in the identification of critical areas for sharks in different stages of their life cycle. This program aims to ultimately lead to the improved conservation of this important species.
Having been hunted almost to the point of extinction in the 1950s, the Australian east coast population of grey nurse shark is listed as Critically Endangered under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. Critical information about the grey nurse shark is still unknown and is needed to help ensure the population is not at risk of further decline. You can help to monitor this species, and contribute to its ultimate recovery.
How can you help?
Opportunistic encounters: Are you a diver or fisher who occasionally encounters grey nurse sharks? If you have a good quality side photo of any of these sharks, you can submit your sighting and/or photographs on line at any time during the year using a simple on-line form. Please sign up as a member to be able to submit your data and photos.
Scheduled surveys: Are you a regular diver-photographer who would like to become a site custodian? Can you commit to a more intense survey at your favourite local site between July/August and January/February? If so, nominate yourself as a site custodian before the first scheduled survey period. First sign up as a member by providing your details, then indicate your nominated site and season. Already a member? Login and then edit your member details to become a GNSW and/or nominate yourself as a site custodian.
More details, including the GNSW Methods Guide, how to record your grey nurse shark sightings and upload your images and how to become a site custodian are available on the Grey Nurse Shark Watch Database. Please sign up as a member to view these details.
Scheduled surveys 2012
Survey 1: January/February 2012
Survey 2: July/August 2012
Grey Nurse Shark Watch in the News
- Grey Nurse Sharks Missing in Action (Dec 2011)
- Fraser Helps Grey Nurse Sharks (Dec 2011)
Coming soon!
- Project updates and reports
- GNS Photo-ID Library
- Google Earth maps
- Shark identification--Identify YOUR GNS from the photos and match them to existing sharks or identify them as a new shark!
Project support...
Grey Nurse Shark Watch is the project of primary partners, the Department of Environment and Resource Management, the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management Ltd., Fauna & Flora International, and the University of Queensland. Support for this project has been generously provided by Australian Capital Equity and the Ronald Geoffrey Arnott Foundation (managed by Perpetual). Reef Check Australia is the host of the Grey Nurse Shark Watch website and database, and is also helping to promote opportunities for community engagement in the project.
For more information please contact Sue Sargent at sue.sargent@fauna-flora.org or alternatively greynurseshark@derm.qld.gov.au .
