Shark Focus

CAMPAIGN CORNERSupporting the European Elasmobranch AssociationThe Shark Trust4 Creykes Court, The MillfieldsPlymouth PL1 3JBTel: (+44) (0)1752 672008/672020 Fax: (+44) (0)1752 672008Email: enquiries@sharktrust.orgWebsite: http://www.sharktrust.orgShark Focus EDITORIALA recent visit to South Africa reminded me of the depressing reality that the struggleto ensure a future for wildlife on our planet will not and cannot ever end. We’ll winAs Europe debates the future of the European SharkFinning Regulation, the Shark Trust demonstrates thestrength of support from the Great British Public to theUK Fisheries Minister.Unmanaged exploitation of sharks is a matter of publicconcern, as clearly demonstrated by the tremendoussupport for European Shark Week events and activities.Across the UK, these were enthusiastically delivered byindividuals, organisations and the network of UK aquariums.In February, the Shark Trust met with UK FisheriesMinister Richard Benyon, a committed supporter ofthe fins naturally attached policy. Benyon received aHousekeeping“Some beans and some beans is four beans”Baldrick.Spring is nearly here according to the Met Office, butthey want a super computer costing £14 million a yearfor the next 3 years, to ensure accuracy. Look out of thewindow it’s cheaper! Lloyds Bank unveils £3.5 billion inlosses but still pays out £375 million in bonuses. We arein the wrong business! The Olympics is going to cost theUK £24 billion, yes, £24 billion, originally the costs wereestimated at £2.37 billion, obviously their abacus wasmissing a few beads when they worked it all out. I coulddrone on about financial incompetence and put my bloodpressure through the roof. Instead I will spread goodnews about a shark charity that does exceptional workand whose financial control is as tight as a drum.It is nearly the end of the financial year and despite theeconomy it has been a good one for the Shark Trust. Wehave secured new members, increased the adoptionprogramme and benefitted hugely in donations andgrants from many wonderful people. The Trust continuespresentation on behalf of over 60,000 British citizenswho have joined the Shark Trust and UK Shark Alliancecolleagues in calling for improved shark conservationmeasures. Benyon, who has led the UK in championingtighter shark finning regulations, has been vocal in hissupport throughout the campaign.During European Shark Week a total of 164,404signatures were collected across Europe with a staggeringcontribution from the UK. On top of the 60,060 Britishsignatures included in this total, a further 6599 werecollected on UK soil representing over 100 nationalities.to be in the forefront of shark conservation and worksvery hard to achieve its aims.This is all done on budget, within our means, utilisingevery penny donated, granted and procured, to thefullest. It did not require a super computer, huge salariesor bonuses, nor did the projections come in 10 times overbudget. We watch every penny closely, not just becauseI am very mean, but because we appreciate donatingto charity in the current economic climate requiresserious thought. You support us generously to help sharkconservation so the least we can do is ensure yourmoney goes to the work it is intended for, helping sharks,and rest assured it does.Once the audit is completed in April you are able to readthe accounts through Companies House and CharitiesCommission web sites. Do take time to look at them asthey highlight the serious work achieved over the year,shows clearly that the money you give is serving it’spurpose and that the percentage used for governanceand administration is very low.Shark Trust and SEA LIFE London aquarium celebrate thefantastic British support for amending the EU finning ban.© Andre Camara.Thank you for all of your support and for signingthe petition – see page 9 for the latest updateson the review of the finning regulation andwatch this space for further results!Glenys Heafield,Financial Administrator &Company Secretary.So from all of us here at the Trust, thank you for allyour support, we are very grateful and we know wecould not do it without you.Issue 43 March‐ 2012Features4 Demonised Darlings: Addressing the Plight of the Cownose Ray5 A Quick Guide to Marine Ecology6 Shark HardTalk9 Strengthening the EU Finning Ban12 The Deep Sea World Angelshark Breeding Project14 A Most Peculiar Fish: Insights into the Rarely Encountered Sawfish16 The Times They Are A’ Changing…18 Continuing Threats to South Africa’s White SharksRegulars8 Shark Trust and World Shark News10 Member’s Pages13 Ask an Expert19 Web News19 EEA News and Upcoming EventsEdited by the Shark Trust©Shark Trust 2012Shark Focus is published three times a year in March, July and November. Copy date forthe next issue is May 31st 2012. Shark Focus is copyrighted and therefore those wishingto reproduce articles must first contact the Shark Trust. The views and opinions expressedby the authors in Shark Focus are not necessarily those of the Shark Trust.Established in 1997, the Shark Trust works to advance the worldwide conservationof sharks through science, education, influence and action. The Trust is the UKmember of the European Elasmobranch Association and currently provides theEEA’s secretariat services.Trustee/Directors: Richard Peirce (Chair), Susan Bates, George Bowser, Roger Covey, Paul Cox,Sarah Fowler OBE, Heather Koldeway, John Nightingale and Christopher Pringle.Patrons: Nick Baker, John Boyle, Leonard Compagno, Marc Dando, Bob Earll, Bernard Eaton,Ian Fergusson, Mariella Frostrup, Loyd Grossman, John Gummer MP, Monty Halls, Martha Holmes,Kate Humble, Sir David Jason OBE, Gordon Ramsay OBE, Simon Rogerson, Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch,Michaela Strachan and Ron and Valerie TaylorRegistered Company No. 3396164. Registered Charity No. 1064185.The Shark Trust is supported by: the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Pew Foundation,Save Our Seas Foundation, Natural England, DEFRA, Seafish and Fondation Ensemble.Design: Fluke Art. www.flukeart.comPhoto. Cownose Rays schooling. © Sandra Critelli.a battle here and a skirmish there but the war will never be over. Twenty-one yearsago South Africa passed a law protecting the White Shark. Despite this law, anddespite the huge revenues generated by eco-tourism, the sharks now face increasingpressure from illegal targeted angling, and a possible nuclear power stationdevelopment that activists fear will seriously degrade the marine environment in theDyer Island area (see page 18).The Shark Trust is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, and more than everwe have a job to do, helping to secure a future for this vulnerable group of animals.This is underlined by the fact that China consumes 95% of the world’s shark finproduction, and by the time the Shark Trust is thirty years old there will be another250 million Chinese middle class consumers! Throughout the year we will bepublishing a number of reports, and in November there will be a special birthdayissue of Shark Focus. We are also hosting various events and activities, so keep aneye on the website for updates.Blue Shark angling catches crashed in recent years from a 1961 high of over 6,000to a low of 86 in 2000. Anglers in Cornwall and Pembrokeshire recorded increasingnumbers in 2011 for the second year. Fishing effort does not appear to haveincreased significantly so we’re hopeful this apparent trend will continue and mightmean something positive.Our conservation team remain focused on the review of the EU shark finningregulations, and on the domestic front meetings with the Fisheries Minister enablethe Trust to maintain pressure from the UK on EU policy.At least two Basking Sharks were sighted on the south Devon coast in late Decemberand early January. Readers will probably be aware that whilst winter sightings are notunprecedented they are very unusual.The Queen named 1992 her annus horribilis, and from an attack and human fatalityperspective 2011 was a shark annus horribilis. As far as we can determine a totalof 75 attacks were recorded which resulted in 14 deaths; I won’t say anymore incase I tempt fate, but a summary of 2011 by George Burgess of the InternationalShark Attack File can be found at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/2011summary.htmlAn old Devon farmer friend informed me of a lunar (not lunatic) theory that hasconvinced him that summer 2012 will be as good as the still talked about recordsummer of 1976. I hope so because the recent unsettled years have seriouslyimpeded my various British shark filming and photographic projects. If it happensand you come to Cornwall hoping to see sharks please look me up.Go well,Richard Peirce.2 www.sharktrust.org/campaign Shark Focus 43 Shark Focus 43 www.sharktrust.org 3

Sharks of the Desertby Dr. Charlie UnderwoodA barren and rocky desert may not at firstseem the obvious place to study sharkevolution. In the Egyptian Western Desert,however, the rocks are full of the fossils ofbones and shells of animals that lived in anancient tropical sea and provide a fantasticwindow on the faunas of sharks and raysthat lived in that ancient world.At the end of the Cretaceous period things got abit nasty. Fluctuations in sea levels and globaltemperatures, volcanoes pouring gasses into theair, and to top it all a vast lump of rock ploughinginto the Earth, were too much for many animalsand plants, and many – including some importantgroups of sharks and rays – were lost forever. Overthe following five million years, sharks bouncedback, and most of the groups around today becameestablished. For 25 million years there wasrelatively little change in shark faunas; and whilemany of the sharks present would be recognisabletoday, the structure of the faunas would not.Although the sand tiger sharks (odontaspids)comprise only rare species today, they dominatedthese ancient faunas with large numbers of speciessmall and large. In contrast, the whaler sharks(carcharhinids) were small and rare, in starkcontrast to their dominance in modern tropicaland subtropical seas. Whilst the fossil sharks ofEurope and North America have been known fora long time, these all come from rocks depositedaway from the equator and presumably in coolerwaters. In these areas the change from the sandtiger dominated faunas to the more modern onesoccurred about 20-25 million years ago. However,in areas that would have been more tropical,evidence suggests that this may have happened alot earlier.Fossils of the FayumLeaving behind the noise and pollution of Cairo, thedrive across the monotonous buff desert comesalmost as a relief. After passing through the lushfarmlands of the Fayum Oasis and back out ontothe desert plains, the first signs of the fossils tocome are indicated by the desert surface changingfrom pale brown to silver-grey. Look closer at theshiny silver desert surface and fossils becomevisible as millions of coin-sized discs cover thedesert surface, each polished to a metallic sheenby millennia of sand blasting. These are theremains of gigantic single celled organisms calledNummulites, a sign that not all in these ancientseas was similar to today. But it was not giantprotozoans that we had come to see, it was farlarger and more impressive specimens, and theappearance of dramatic sandstone cliffs on thehorizon herald some of the most extraordinaryfossiliferous rocks I, for one, have ever seen.The fossils of the Fayum are by no means a recentdiscovery. This area has been the source of vastnumbers of important fossils for over 120 years,with sharks, as well as whales and other fossils,being reported in the earliest expeditions. Whilstmost of the rocks close to the Fayum Oasis weredeposited in lagoonal or floodplain environments,rocks further to the west are largely open-marineand therefore far richer in marine fossils. Indeed,2so many fossils of the ancient whale Basilosaurus(formally known as Zeuglodon) are present thatthe area was named Zeuglodon Valley. Despite this,the early expeditions concentrated on the largeland mammal fossils that would make impressivemuseum exhibits rather than either the small teethof sharks or the large and bulky remains of whales.It is probably as much down to the invention offour wheel drive vehicles as renewed interestin whale evolution that caused the changes inpalaeontological interest that opened up ZeuglodonValley, now renamed Wadi Al-Hitan (Valley ofWhales in Arabic) to study. Over the last 30 yearsthis study has recorded about 300 complete orfragmentary fossil whales in the area, as well asfossils of seacows, turtles, crocodiles, fish andmany others, all in marine rocks from about 34to 38 million years old (within the later part ofthe Eocene Period). As the importance of the sitebecame more evident, so did its accessibility,and it became a popular day out from Cairo, oftenculminating in picking up a couple of whale bonesas souvenirs. In order to protect the site, it wasproposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, andgained that status in 2005. With the protection ofthe site secured, it was developed for public access,and many of the fossils are now laid out where theywere uncovered (or at least close by), and is now afeature of many tourist excursions from Cairo.The sharks and rays shared this ancient sea witha range of other animals both familiar and exotic.There were a wide variety of marine mammals.Seacows were very similar to modern dugongs, andlikewise probably grazed the seagrass meadows ofthe shallows. In contrast, the whales are anythingbut familiar. Several different species were present,with two being especially common: the smallerDorudon and larger Basilosaurus. Dorudon wasup to four metres long and vaguely dolphin-likewhilst Basilosaurus was up to 16 metres long withstrangely elongated vertebrae, making the wholeanimal long and thin. Both had small back legs,which, unlike their direct ancestors, were not largeenough to walk on but still formed small flippers.They also had the head of a carnivorous mammal,with a skull more like that of a wolf and teethmore like those of a lion than of any living whale.There were also several types of crocodile, turtlesand large sea snakes. Bony fish were diverse andmuch as would be expected in a shallow tropicalsea, with fossils of barracudas, puffer fish andswordfish all being present.Ancient teethAnd amongst all these other animals there werethe sharks and rays. Within the series of rocksrepresenting a relatively (geologically) shortperiod of time, a range of different environmentsare represented. The rocks in Wadi Al-Hitan aremostly sandstones laid down on a sandy seafloornear a tropical coast. There are some large rostraof sawfish, both the extant Pristis and the extinctPropristis, one on display in the public park beingover 1.8 metres long, but most of the shark fossilsare quite small. Crawling over the wind-blastedrock surfaces, shark and ray teeth are sometimespresent in their hundreds. The vast majority ofthese are the same: teeth of a small species oflemon shark (Negaprion); and other than a fewteeth of bat rays all other shark species are farrarer. But this is only half of the story as manysharks and rays have minute teeth that are noteasy to see in the field. Sieving these sands toextract even the smallest teeth produces a wealthof other species, and reveals a very differentcommunity. In these fine fractions, the commonestspecies is a small weasel shark with teeth almostidentical to modern species that are specialisedpredators of octopus and cuttlefish which wouldhave been abundant in the shallow seagrass beds.Other teeth reveal diverse rays including guitarfish,stingrays and sawfish as well as rare butterfly andelectric rays. There are very few fossils of openwater predators or plankton feeders.Pelagic predatorsDeeper water mudstones are also present in thearea giving an insight into the sharks of moreoffshore areas. Here the midwater predators reallycame into their fore. Teeth of a mako-like ancestorof the modern White Shark are common, as areteeth of thresher sharks, but these were far fromthe largest sharks in the area. The large serratedteeth of Carcharocles, a direct ancestor of thefamous C. megalodon, indicate the presence ofa large and powerful predator. The open seaswere also home to at least four different types ofplankton feeders, the small teeth of which are oftendifficult to assign to any group. A single, large,sand tiger was also common here but had robustand wide teeth unlike the slender teeth typical forthis group. The seafloor was inhabited by diverserays, as well as common snaggletooth sharks(Hemipristis) and tiny species of catsharks, topes,sawsharks and bullhead sharks.Inshore diversityThe rocks overlying the open marine successionsare very different, indicating deltaic and lagoonalenvironments criss-crossed by huge tidal channels.The faunas here are altogether different. Whilstlemon sharks are still very common, they are hererepresented by a different, larger, species. There arealso more stingrays, including a range of differentspecies of bat rays and common teeth of a cowtailray (Pastinachus). More significantly there arecommon teeth of a true whaler shark. This is theearliest common occurrence of these sharks andconfirms that the change from archaic to moderntype shark faunas started here, in the tropics, onlylater occurring in cooler waters elsewhere. Whilstthe sharks of the shallow lagoons are relativelysimilar wherever you look, in the tidal channelsthere is added diversity. Some of the very deepchannels allowed deep water passage to offshoresharks, mixing with the local lagoonal forms. Atother times, shallow channels rich in river waterwould have been almost freshwater and had a verydifferent shark and ray fauna, dominated, just astoday, by species tolerant of low salinities such aslarge whaler sharks, sawfish and stingrays. But justwhen it looks as if the sharks are all just like youwould expect to find on a tropical shoreline today,the fossil record throws something odd into the mix,in the form of the bizarre barbed teeth of a shark,or maybe ray, called Odontorhytis. What this wasis currently anyone’s guess, with the teeth having aroot a bit like that of a skate but a crown more likethat of an angler fish.What is most striking after looking at other sharkfossils of the same age is just how modern sharksand rays all are. Go to a coastal area which hassimilar environments: the Gulf of Mexico, thecoasts of Indonesia or around northern Australia,and the sharks and rays that you get will be prettymuch the same. So far from being a rather oddplace to look for sharks, the Egyptian desert isstuffed with their long forgotten remains, and givesan insight into an ancient world where modernshark faunas were just becoming established.3456Main image:Bones of the whale Basilosaurus eroding out of sandstone.© Charlie Underwood.Image 2:Tooth of the giant shark Carcharocles. © Charlie Underwood.Image 3:Bones of the whale Basilosaurus. © Charlie Underwood.Image 4:Wind eroded rocks in Wadi Al-Hitan. © Charlie Underwood.Image 5:The beauty of the small; tooth of an extinct weasel shark, thescale bar is 1mm. © Charlie Underwood.Image 6:1.8 metre long rostrum of the extinct sawfish Propristis.© Charlie Underwood.Dr. Underwood is a lecturer at the BirkbeckUniversity of London’s Department of Earthand Planetary Sciences; his research interestsinclude the evolution and palaeoecology ofsharks and rays.4 www.sharktrust.org/sharks Shark Focus 42 Shark Focus 42 www.sharktrust.org/facts 5

MEMBER’S pagesOnly 7 Days DivingStory and images © Clare and Spike BrownAsk an Expert...Recently a curly question ended up on the Shark Trust desk: how manyteeth does a Basking Shark have? Colin Speedie, a prominent UK BaskingShark researcher, gets to the bottom of it:Clare and I had been looking at going to dive Cocos Island for several years, but had beenput off by the combination of cost and the fact you need two weeks of holiday for sevendays diving. Eventually, however, we took the plunge and booked a trip on Sea Hunterwith Maldives Scuba Tours for August – apparently a good time for shark sightings. Aswe had not been to Costa Rica before we decided to add on a few days to spend sometime on the mainland so as to see some of the country.The trip started at some unearthly hour on a Sunday morning to get to Heathrow for a6am check in, followed by a ten hour flight to Houston, a four hour stop over, then a fourhour flight to San Jose.On Friday morning we transferred to Puntarenas to board Sea Hunter, casting off atlunchtime for the 36 hour crossing to Cocos. Luckily the crossing was relatively calm andit gave us plenty of time to assemble dive kit and cameras. On the Sunday morning wewoke to find ourselves moored in one of the islands bays.We planned on three or four dives a day, the last one either a dusk or night dive. Jumpingin for the checkout dive (Manualita Inside) we saw Scalloped Hammerheads, loads ofWhitetips, Galapagos Sharks, lobsters, Marble Rays, stingrays, flounder, tarpon, GiantMoray, Starry Moray, Garden Eels, Black Frogfish, Chinese Trumpet Fish and BluefinTrevally. I don’t think we had ever seen quite such a variety of life on a first dive!On the following two dives that day we went on to see a large school of hammerheads,Eagle Rays, Bluelined Snapper, Pacific Creole Fish and hundreds of Whitetips. Duringthe evening there was a short presentation about the three-man submersible Deep Seeoperated by the Sea Hunter Group from their flagship Argo; luckily there were two tripsavailable so we bent the plastic and booked for the following morning.On Monday morning we left our fellow divers and headed over to Argo. There we hadthe briefing on the safety procedures for Deep See including what to do in the event offire/the cabin filling with smoke and how to bring it back to the surface in the unlikelyevent the pilot becomes unconscious – needless to say Deep See has carried out over1200 dives with a perfect safety record. We then had to change into rather fetching bluejumpsuits and time for a final visit to the bathroom; the ‘head’ on the submersible is abag of absorbent crystals, luckily we didn’t need to try it out.We were then sealed inside the 7.5cm thick bubble of acrylic that is the cabin of thesubmersible, followed by a half hour surface tow to where we would begin the dive.During this time we were briefed on what we might see, technical details of the sub and afinal run through the safety procedures. The reason for the overalls was to avoid transferof traces of diesel/oil since the cabin is effectively the inside of a re-breather with carbondioxide scrubbers and pure oxygen being introduced into the environment.The dive began with a shove under the surface from the surface support snorkeler toget us just below the surface and descend under our own power, so began the tripdown. Around 100m down the lights were turned on. As we headed down the side of theseamount we saw Fried Egg Jellyfish, plus lots of Lizardfish and Scorpionfish. Around300m there were Jellynose Fish – a species discovered by Deep See, White Frogfish,conger, White Gorgonians and on our way back up to the surface a mobula circling in ourbubbles. Two and a half hours after beginning our decent we were back on the surface; itwas probably one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.That afternoon we were back to ordinary diving, seeing more hammerheads, Silkies,Blacktips, Silvertips and more Whitetips. A gentle dusk dive off Viking Rock becamenoteworthy after a Whale Shark decided to join us. Every dive bought more sharks andnew creatures that we’d not seen before – marlin, Humpback Whales, dolphins etc.On Thursday we had our briefing for our night dive on Manualita Coral Garden to see theWhitetips hunting. A brief mention was made about the possibility of Tiger Sharks. Weentered the water and the sight of hundreds of Whitetips in what can only be describedas a feeding frenzy was incredible, on several occasions there were so many sharks youcouldn’t see the bottom. After around 40 minutes of an amazing dive, by which time wewere about a metre from the surface in four metres of water, I checked my dive computer– 44 minutes, time to think about surfacing and relief that we hadn’t seen any Tigers. Ilooked up from my computer and there in my torch beam was a three and a half metreTiger Shark coming straight at me out of the darkness. I admit I froze, completely forgotto take a picture and tried to remember the details of the briefing. Luckily it turned to myright affording me a perfect view of its stripes as it checked out the rest of the group andthen swam off having satisfied its curiosity – much to our relief. We then made a fairlyhasty exit from the water. Back on the boat it was a strange mix of fear, excitement andrelief in having come face to face with one of the most beautiful and unpredictable speciesof shark (I did ask the dive guide how often he had seen a Tiger on the night dive, this wasthe second time in four years so we were, in his opinion, “very lucky”).A couple of days later we boarded our flights, arriving home on the Wednesday morning.On reflection it was probably the best holiday we’ve ever had; don’t be put off by the travelif you’re lucky with the conditions it’s worth it.“Most shark enthusiasts know that the Basking Shark filter feeds on zooplankton andis, in effect, a carnivore. But many are unaware that the Basking Shark has teeth,running along a ‘lip’ on the upper (6 rows) and lower (9 rows) jaw of the animal. In anadult these teeth are 5-6mm long, hook-shaped, and there may be as many as 1500visible, as only the first three or four rows on the upper jaw and six on the lower jawappear to be functional at any one time.Why would a shark that has evolved to filter feed on such tiny prey require teeth? Is itthe case that the teeth are simply vestigial, and will disappear over evolutionary time,or do they still perform some function? Some researchers believe the latter hypothesismay have some validity, citing the many other shark species that pectoral bite duringmating, and it’s true that the occasional Basking Shark has been sighted with whitemarkings consistent with abrasion on one or more pectoral fins. It’s also true that abasic examination of the teeth of a large (8.5m) adult male shark stranded in Cornwallhad distinct signs of wear on the teeth, which raises the obvious question of howthey became worn in the first place. Basking Shark skin, in common with other sharkspecies, is made up of tiny dermal denticles which are themselves highly abrasive, andso it might be the case that the wear on the teeth came from contact with shark skin(as on pectoral fins), and that might provide further evidence to support the ‘active’ useof teeth.But until someone in the field is lucky enough to actually witness and record a pair ofBasking Sharks engaged in the act of copulation (and pectoral biting), this must remainsimple speculation, another intriguing piece of the life history jigsaw of our biggest (andbest!) fish that remains to be put into place.”Inside a Basking Shark’s mouth: tiny white teeth are visible along the lower gumline. © Ali Hood.Sponsored Events and donationsThe Shark Trust is very grateful to those who continue to give generously, even during these financially difficult times, through donations and by organisingfundraising events. Over the past couple of months we’ve been particularly inspired by the dedication and passion of several athletic supporters:Sarah Han-de-BeauxOn the 31st July, Sarah Han-de-Beaux tookpart in the London Olympic Triathlon event atthe ExCel Centre. Sarah swam 1500m in theThames Docklands, then cycled for 60km beforecompleting a 10km run, all while wearing a sharkfin on her back! Sarah raised over £600 andincreased awareness about shark conservation toall attending the event. Below Sarah explains whythis cause is so important to her:‘When I was just 6 years old my dad took me toan aquarium and I fell in love with sharks thereand then. I remember being mesmerised bySarah Han-de-Beaux.their grace and beauty and was simply in aweof them. I grew up wanting to research sharks inmy career but somehow life got in its way and I never fulfilled that dream. Instead I have spentyears trying to change people’s opinions about sharks but unfortunately even in my lifetime somesharks have gone extinct. I wanted to take part in this event to not only raise money for the SharkTrust but mainly to raise awareness.’Sarah has kindly written an article about her fundraising experience for the Shark Trust website,which can be found on our fundraisers wall of fame.Thanks toOther fundraising activities include: Charlotte Ford, who organised asponsored beach clean raising £174; Aaron Carcharhinus Thomas,who ran the Wallingford 10K Thames Run, raising £159 and LottieAnning, aged 11, and her friend Emily, who completed a 25 milecycle in 3 hours, raising £80.50p!Finally the Trust would like to thank all those individualswho have given generously in memory of Shark Trust TrusteeGrant Bates, who was a passionate advocate for the charityand shark conservation.As always we’re extremely grateful for all yourcontributions and support, which allows us to continueour work and secure a better future for sharks.14 www.sharktrust.org/members Shark Focus 42 Shark Focus 42 www.sharktrust.org/fundraise 15

Britain’s Own‘White Shark’The Biology and Ecology of the Porbeagle SharkDr. Nicolas PadeThe Marine Biological Association, PlymouthIt seems that every summer the tabloids go crazy with the prospect of aWhite Shark prowling the Cornish coast. Every year videos and picturesof sharks, shadows and dead seals are presented as evidence for theirpatrolling of Devon and Cornish beaches. If we were to believe thesearticles, the first Cornish surfer should have been attacked a long timeago. Usually the pictures and videos turn out to be of one of our localnative species, in particular Basking Sharks and Porbeagle Sharks. Forsome reason this always seems to disappoint. Perhaps it is becausepeople do not realise that we have in fact got our own, cold water ‘WhiteShark’ living right on our doorstep.Warm Blooded SharksThe Porbeagle Shark Lamna nasus belongs to the familyof sharks known as the Lamnids, or Mackerel Sharks.This group contains five of the largest predatory sharks:the two species of mako shark Isurus spp., White SharksCarcharodon carcharias, Porbeagle Sharks, and theirclosest relative, Salmon Sharks Lamna ditropis. Thesespecies all share a crucial biological advantage – theability to warm essential regions of the body (regionalendothermy). This not only makes them amongst the fastestsharks in the ocean, but also enables enhanced sensoryabilities, generates the power to jump clean out of thewater, and allows them to survive and thrive in cold waters.Lamnid sharks have the rare capacity amongst fish toretain metabolic heat generated by their large powerfulswimming muscles through a series of reconstructionsand reconfigurations of their circulatory system. The largeswimming muscles are enveloped in counter-currentcapillary networks, called rete mirabile, allowing themetabolic heat generated from active movement to heat theanimal’s blood. Similar networks are found in the head, withthe brain and eyes also having capillary nets to warm themover the temperature of the surrounding water.However, the crucial adaptation for warm-bloodedness isto avoid heat loss from the blood when it passes throughthe gills, where it comes into close contact with cold water.To avoid this heat loss, a reconfiguration of the circulatorysystem enables a portion of the blood to by-pass thegills, thereby retaining much of their heat. Being warmblooded gives Lamnid sharks several advantages: warmmuscle performs far better than muscle that is at the sametemperature as the surrounding water, effectively enablingthem to out-perform their prey and attack at spectacularspeeds. Furthermore, by warming the brain, these sharksbenefit from improved vision, faster reflexes and improvedsensory detection of prey.Whilst all Lamnid Sharks exhibit regional endothermy,Porbeagles are believed to be the masters of the skill ofbody-heat retention. Studies have shown that this speciesis capable of core temperatures some 8-10°C warmer thanthe surrounding environment. It is this characteristic thatenables the Porbeagle to occupy the cold temperate watersof the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans.Cold Water SpecialistsPorbeagle Sharks are cold water specialists and inhabitwater temperatures ranging from 1-23°C. They are foundacross the North Atlantic from 30-70°N, around all of theBritish Isles, and in a band across the entire SouthernHemisphere between 30-50°S. Porbeagles migrateseasonally and occupy different habitats during thespring/summer and autumn/winter. During the spring andsummer these sharks tend to occupy shallow waters on thecontinental shelf, coming within a few hundred metres of theshore. At this time of year, Porbeagles off the Cornish coastfeed on diverse prey, from demersal (bottom living) fish tosmall pelagic (mid-water) fish. However, hunting differentprey requires a range of strategies.Tagging of large shark has shown that these animalsare not creatures of habit that perform the same tasksover and over again. On the contrary: when hunting,sharks adapt their strategy depending on the type ofprey they are looking for. For example, when hunting fordemersal species such as cod, Porbeagles follow thecontours of the seabed,only venturing to the surface veryoccasionally. In contrast, when hunting small fish suchas herring, Porbeagles seek out the frontal zones – areaswhere different water masses meet - which aggregatezooplankton that the small fish feed upon. Once in theseareas, the sharks will move up and down through the fullwater column to locate their prey.Migration and ReproductionAlthough many Porbeagles spend all year at highlatitudes it has become apparent that some migratesouth in the winter. Recent research has shown smallmale Porbeagles undertake a winter migration of morethan 2400km from Ireland to Morocco. The exact reasonfor this is not known, although it has been suggested thatthe smaller sharks are not capable of surviving the coldwinter temperatures encountered in high latitudes.However, larger sharks may migrate south for verydifferent reasons. A recent study in Canada found thatpregnant female Porbeagles were travelling south tothe Sargasso Sea. To get to these southern waters thesharks must cross the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.To avoid the tropical conditions of the Gulf Stream thefemales would dive below the current and move throughcooler waters below. The females travelled at depthsof up to 845m, sometimes diving all the way to 1300m– amongst the deepest dives recorded by a pelagicshark! It seems likely that these pregnant females areundertaking long migrations to give birth in the deepwaters of the Sargasso Sea. If this is the case then itwould be an extraordinary feat to have discovered thepupping ground for a pelagic shark species. However, italso rings alarm bells. If pregnant females must travelthrough, and give birth within unprotected internationalwaters, then conservation efforts for this highlyendangered species could be compromised.Porbeagles, along with most other elasmobranchs, arehighly vulnerable to overfishing. They mature late and atlarge sizes (males mature at 6-10 years, 155-177cm;females at 12-16 years, 200-219cm) and give birth tosmall litters after long gestation periods. Porbeagles usuallygive birth to litters of 2-4 large pups after 8-9 months andinvest heavily in their offspring to ensure their survival.Like all other Mackerel Sharks, this species is viviparous,meaning that it gives birth to live young. Embryos areformed in egg capsules and are fed from a yolk sac. Oncethe embryo attains a length of 3-4cm it has developedexternal gills and small teeth and it is at this point that itemerges from its egg capsule. However, the hatchling isstill retained within the mother. From this stage onwardsthe embryos are fed on unfertilised eggs produced by themother. This allows the pups to grow to large sizes beforebirth and subsequently greatly reduces the numberof predators capable of feeding on them. They areeffectively born as miniature adults measuring 58-67cm,fully equipped and ready to feed. However, this long, lowoutcome strategy also makes the species very slow torecover from over exploitation.Porbeagle FisheriesThe Porbeagle has been targeted as a commercialspecies since the early 1800s, mainly by theScandinavian countries. Traditionally Porbeagles werefished by line fisheries, with Norway, Denmark, Britain,and France operating specialised vessels in the northernNorth Sea and off the Scottish coast. During the first halfof the twentieth century catches increased until 1947when they peaked at about 6000t. However, by 1953catches in the Northeast Atlantic had dropped to about1200-1900t per annum. In response to this fall, theNorwegians began exploiting the fishing grounds of theNorthwest Atlantic and by 1964 were landing more than9000t. By 1965 Porbeagle catches were already decliningand landings fell to 1000t by 1970. Nonetheless, thefishery remained, landing a total of

1 metreThis project is funded by: Save Our Seas Foundation.SOSF is an international conservation organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland with offices in the USA, UK and South Africa. SOSF is committed to protecting ouroceans by funding research, education, awareness and conservation projects focusing on the major threats to the marine environment. www.saveourseas.com.Basking sharkPhoto-identificationWeb NewsWebsite QuestionnaireThank you to everyone who completed the online questionnaire; we receiveda fantastic response, gaining very useful insight into how the currentwebsite is used and ways in which we can improve. We have big plans inthe pipeline and are currently working on creating fresh, new content, aswell as other exciting developments. So do make sure to keep returningto the site. Please also continue to email me should you have any furthersuggestions or ideas about the website at hannah@sharktrust.org.The Shark Trust Attendsthe 2011 EEA Conferencein Berlin1OBITUARY – GRANT BATESPetitionIn September we went live with the online petition in support of the SharkAlliance campaign. The petition was launched in conjunction with thisyear’s European Shark Week, and will run until next year. If you haven’talready done so please help us to strengthen the current EU Finning Ban bysigning online at www.sharkalliancepetition.org. Downloadable versionsof the petition are also available on the Shark Trust website, should you liketo collect paper signatures at www.sharktrust.org/esw.Paper petitions and online signatures will be presented to EU FisheriesMinisters in 2012. So far 32,000 people have signed online and the SharkTrust is already receiving vast amounts of paper petitions in the post. Wehope that with such overwhelming public support the EU Commission willact to close existing loopholes in the current legislation by ensuring that allsharks, caught in EU waters, are landed with their fins naturally attached.Let’s make the final push for shark conservation and make our voice count!Adopt a Whale SharkThe Shark Trust Whale Shark Adoption Programme is now available onlineand would make an excellent gift this Christmas. Money raised throughWhale Shark adoptions supports The Maldives Whale Shark ResearchProgramme, which undertakes vital research into these magnificentcreatures. So why not purchase an adoption pack, as well as one of ouradorable Whale Shark cuddlies, the latest addition to the Shark Shop.To find out more about this programme and meet the sharks you will beadopting please visit:www.sharktrust.org/adopt.Also, for those who are getting organised this year and already thinkingabout Christmas gifts, why not visit the Shark Trust Shop for someinspiration at: www.sharktrust.org/shop.Shark Angling CD-ROMAs part of the HLF-funded Angler Recording Project, the Shark Trust hascreated an interactive CD-ROM: Sharks: Identify Record Release. TheCD-ROM is packed full of information including a short film outlininghandling techniques for medium-to-large sharks, extensive ID Guidesfor all British sharks, skates and rays, catch-logs and Sea AnglingAdvisories. All of these resources can also be accessed online from theShark Trust website at: www.sharktrust.org/hlf.If you’re an angler who is interested in participating in this project pleasecontact the office and we’ll send you a free copy of the CD.Members AREA Login DetailsUsername: Goblin, Password: SharkPlease Note: These membership login details are shared by all SharkTrust members, therefore when logged in under these details no itemsshould be purchased from the Shark Shop, username and passworddetails should not be changed, and the shark forum shouldn’t be used.(Please note the Shark Trust takes no responsibility for the content ofthird party blogs.)The 15th European Elasmobranch Association (EEA) Scientific Conference washosted by the German Elasmobranch Group (DEG) in East Berlin. The conferencewas set in the stunning backdrop of the Berlin Natural History Museum fromthe 28th – 30th October and had over 90 delegates attending, representing 27countries in total.Heike Zidowitz, the current EEA Vice President and DEG representative, opened the eventfollowed by an introduction from Peter Bartsch, curator of the museum’s ichthyologicalcollection. During the welcome reception, delegates were given a unique opportunity to explorethe museum throughout the evening while it was closed to the general public. The hugeBrachiosaurus skeleton in the entrance hall was an instant attraction, and boasts the title oflargest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world. Fascinating digital telescopes allowed you topoint at any of the dinosaurs in the room, and then instantly recreate the organs, muscles andflesh of that particular species and place it back in-situ in the Jurassic period. Other exhibitsincluded a cast of a Megalodon jaw and an especially impressive collection of preservedspecimens with 276,000 vials containing one million animals stored in eighty tonnes of ethanol.The keynote speakers for the conference, Shelley Clarke and Sonja Fordham, started offthe proceedings on Saturday with informative presentations: Keeping the Science in SharkConservation and EU Shark Conservation respectively. A number of interesting talks followed,ranging from elasmobranch conservation, fisheries management, taxonomy, anatomy,morphology, behaviour and population dynamics. The prize for the best titled presentationcertainly went to a talk entitled Hidden treasures in the nasal passageways of a Ghost Shark.The Shark Trust conservation team contributed with a presentation given by John Richardsonentitled Assessing the Footprint of the UK Over-10m Fishing Fleet: 1985 – 2010, as well as aposter presentation Basking Shark Photo-ID: Creating a Centralised Database from Cat Gordon;posters were also on display for the general public to view in the museum itself. As EEA Secretary,Ali Hood attended the Board Meeting and also acted on behalf of Treasurer in the absence ofGlenys Heafield. The charitable auction during the conference dinner raised an astounding €1200which will be used to fund student bursaries for the 2012 conference.Overall, the 2011 conference was a very successful and inspiring weekend, with a fantasticchance to form links with other organisations and researchers, as well as hear of some excitingnew developments taking place in the world of shark research.Keep an eye on the EEA website (www.eulasmo.org) for details of where the 16th EEAConference will be held, key dates, and registration details.Copyright Rachel Ball/Liverpool Museum2BAsking shArk Photo-iD Project:creating A centralised DatabaseIntroductIonThe Basking Shark Cetorhinus maximus was once a target species for commercial fisheries havingbeen heavily fished for their liver oil, meat, fins and cartilage, yet it has now emerged as an iconic,charismatic ambassador for marine wildlife. Seasonal visitors to the UK coastline, they feed onzooplankton at the surface during spring and summer months. These encounters provide researchersand enthusiastic amateurs with the perfect opportunity to photograph these normally elusive sharks.Photo-IdentIfIc at Ionas a research toolPhoto-identification is a powerful, non-invasive field technique for studying sharks in their natural environment. Many sharksdisplay significant and recognisable markings on their fins, which can be natural (pigmentation) or acquired (injuries andscars). These can be used to identify individual sharks, allowing researchers to re-identify them between seasons. Photoidentificationaids researchers in understanding life histories and shark movements, which is especially important for avulnerable and highly migratory species such as the Basking Shark.shark trust data holdIngsThe Shark Trust’s collection of sightings dataand associated images has grown over the yearsand has been provided by a number of differentsources. Work is currently focussing on analysingand archiving the sightings and cataloguingdorsal fin images for this entire collection. TheShark Trust holds approximately 7,000 images intotal; the majority of these images were providedby researcher Colin Speedie and date from 1998– 2006, other research organisations (such asthe Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust) have alsoregularly contributed images while the remainingdata held makes up public sightings data. As thelargest data holding, priority for analysis wasgiven to Colin Speedie’s records and all 4061 ofthese images have now been analysed with 2017deemed suitable for the database, representing417 shark encounters between 1998 and 2006.A grading system (A-C) has been adopted wherebyA1 grade sharks represent those displaying highlydistinctive features, and C grade sharks displayno distinctive features, making them difficultto distinguish. The majority of sharks currentlyanalysed have been given a C grading (63%) astheir fins are in very good condition with no nicksor scars and no obvious pigmentation marks.Just 5% of the fins analysed have been recordedas A1 grade fins; these are usually categoriseddue to large notches, missing fin tips, distinctivemarkings etc. The other three categories all haverelatively low gradings with 11% representing A2,11% as B1 and 10% as B2 fins.man’s ImPactDespite being heavily protected in UK and EU waters (underthe Wildlife and Countryside Act, the Countryside Rights ofWay Act, the Northern Ireland Wildlife Order and the NatureConservation (Scotland) Act), Basking Sharks are stillnegatively affected by man’s activities. Basking Sharks rarelyevade approaching boats, and as a consequence commonlydisplay scars from boat collisions, propellers and netentanglement (these tend to be the A grade sharks). Learningmore about how Basking Sharks are affected by man’sactivities will enable the development of better strategies forprotecting the sharks in EU waters.34A1A2B2A1B1Ccatherine A. gordon – the shark trust - cat@sharktrust.orgcentralIsed communItydatabaseWith funding from Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF), the Shark Trust has collaboratedwith Marine Conservation International, Manx Basking Shark Watch: A Manx WildlifeTrust Project and the Irish Basking Shark Study Group to create a co-operativedatabase which efficiently stores Basking Shark photo-identification images from allassociated projects.A ‘Catalogue Protocol’ was agreed upon at the Basking Sharks: A GlobalPerspective conference held in the Isle of Man (2009). This protocol describes acomprehensive list of fields and provides options from either drop-down menus oropen fields for comments, all of which must be completed when cataloguing images.Data must be submitted according to this protocol in order for it to be entered into thedatabase, ensuring that all community partners’ data is filed consistently. Informationrelating to the shark sighting (photographer, region, date, time, location, size of sharketc.) can be entered along with a detailed analysis of the dorsal fin (fin shape, finapex, surface features, leading edge features, trailing edge features). All associatedimages will then be displayed along with whether extra detail (if the shark was tagged,or a genetic sample or pole cam image taken) is held by the research group. With theneed for objective results to support comparisons between reviewers, this protocolwas designed to make sure that data is entered consistently from each organisation.A number of meetings were established with a student from Marine ConservationInternational (MCI) to calibrate classifications of fin markings and quantify imagesheld by both MCI and the Shark Trust. The online centralised ‘community’ databaseacts as a safe repository for images while allowing access for associated organisationsparticipating in Basking Shark research. Additional organisations are in the processof being identified and invited to become community partners, enabling them to batchupload their own data from season to season.The Data Archive for Seabed Species and Habitats (DASSH) team at the MarineBiological Association, Plymouth has constructed this online database using MySQLand it has been designed to have an unlimited capacity for storing data. The first phaseis complete and has been tested by Shark Trust staff members and several communitypartners for efficiency. Search and browse functions will allow comparisons to bemade between dorsal fin images, with the capacity for users to tag images as being ofthe same individual. Comparisons with other photo-ID projects can take place to chartshark movements through European waters.resourcesNew public engagement materials have been developed in conjunction with the database,aiming to improve the quality of data submitted to the project by the public. A BaskingShark Photo-ID Handbook has been produced and distributed to over 500 organisationsthroughout the UK along with an updated Code of Conduct leaflet/poster. The handbookis intended to increase the flow of useful data submitted to the project by encouragingpeople to participate by taking good photographs and submitting their records, whileraising awareness and ensuring that the Code of Conduct and all legal guidelines areadhered to. Basking Shark biology, conservation, protection and the use of photo-ID arejust some of the topics covered in this booklet.Photo-Id challengesPhoto-ID is highly dependent on quality images. Unfortunatelymany of the earlier images processed for the database areof poor quality as they are scanned photographs rather thandigital copies, this makes it particularly hard to determinesurface features on the fins and picture quality is lost whenzoomed in. The majority of public sightings data submittedto the project are images that have been taken from theshoreline at a distance, and so again, detail of the fin’s surfacefeatures can’t be seen. Many of these images therefore can’tbe used for photo-identification purposes, unless the fin is aparticularly distinctive shape. All submissions have howeverstill been entered into the database to provide useful sightingsinformation. It is hoped that with the production of additionalresources for the Photo-ID Project, the quality of photosubmissions from the public will vastly improve.Advancing the worldwide conservation of sharkswww.sharktrust.orgMain image Delegates at the 15th EEA Conference © EEAImage 2 Specimen display at the Berlin Natural History Museum© Ali HoodImage 3 Basking Shark Photo-ID poster, displayed by Cat GordonImage 4 John Richardson of the Shark Trust presenting at theEEA Conference © Ali HoodShark Trust board member Grant Bates passed away on the 18th September 2011 followinga six month battle with cancer.Grant was one of Britain’s leading ENT surgeons, a keen diver, committed shark enthusiast,and staunch supporter of the Shark Trust. He started diving at the age of 13 in Guernseyand over a period of 30 years diving at Ras Mohammed noticed an ever-decreasing numberof sharks. This prompted his shark conservation efforts and he joined the Trust in 1999,becoming a successful volunteer presenter, before joining the Board of Trustees in 2005.His hobbies included windsurfing, diving, skiing, sailing, golf, sports cars, cycling, and wine.These activities reflected a love of the outdoors and of nature and those interests wereshared by his family; Sue, Rebecca and James.A very keen underwater photographer, he once told me that one of his ambitions was totake just one stunning underwater photograph. I knew what he meant, but actually he tookmany. Grant dived with sharks all over the world, and his personal experiences and thephotographs he took on his dives bought his talks alive, and helped make him an effectiveand commanding public speaker in support of shark conservation.The temptation with a man like Grant is to keep on using superlatives, and banging onabout what a good chap he was. In a funny way I feel that approach would devalue him, asI remember a modest, self effacing, quiet man who was almost uncomfortable with praiseand superlatives when applied to him.He fought his battle with cancer with quiet courageous dignity and a positive attitude.Whenever I spoke to him his main concern was never himself, it was always his family.Grant’s wife Sue, daughter Rebecca, and son James are all committed to carrying onsupporting shark conservation, and so keeping his passion for sharks alive in the Batesfamily. I know this would make Grant both very happy and very proud of them.All involved with the Shark Trust will miss Grant, and it was a pleasure to have had his helpand support for the last twelve years.Grant Bates © Shark Trust..Richard PeirceChairman18 www.sharktrust.org/forum Shark Focus 42Shark Focus 42 www.eulasmo.org 19

THEGREATEGGCASEHUNTNEEDSYOU!Photo © Photographer.© SandsBEACHCOMBERSWA N T EDJoin the hunt for shark, skateand ray eggcases.DO YOU…● Love going to the beach?● Own a pair of wellies?● Enjoy rummaging throughthe strandline?If so, pick up an eggcase ID guide,head for the beach and then visitwww.eggcase.org to report yourfindings.www.sharktrust.orgGEH is supported by