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Report Title
Finding home: The first acoustic tagging of a sicklefin lemon shark at Curieuse Marine
National Park, Seychelles.
Objectives
Increase scientific knowledge and interest for Curieuse Island through conservation
research, community education and tourist awareness.
o Increase scientific knowledge and baseline data on the health of ecosystems on Cu-
rieuse Island.
Continue to collect data on the flora and fauna of Curieuse Island.
Provide project partners with an ongoing assessment of the health of ecosys-
tems and flora and fauna of Curieuse Island.
Build local capacity to support long-term conservation of biodiversity and sustainable commu-
nity development in Seychelles.
o Provide training and practical field experience for nationals in a variety of research
areas.
Summary
This month, our team has undertaken the first-ever acoustic tracking of a juvenile
sicklefin lemon shark at Curieuse Marine National Park. A great deal of hard work and
patience among staff, volunteers, and our partners has paid off and we are now collecting
data to provide an estimate of critical habitat for juveniles of this species within the
Marine National Park. GVI staff, volunteers, interns, and our partners have been working
together, learning new skills, and collecting exciting and valuable new information that
will further inform the management of this species using the best available science.
Report
This February, the team at Curieuse Marine National Park began an exciting and important
mission: to determine where the juvenile sicklefin lemon sharks of Curieuse call home.
Understanding the critical habitat of a species is vital to any conservation efforts and
management actions. Put simply, critical habitat represents the areas and environments in
which an animal spends the majority of its
time. Collecting this type of information on a
wild shark is no easy task; however, we were
more than ready for the challenge. The theory
behind the active tracking of a shark is
relatively simple; you implant an acoustic tag
into a shark, and then follow it around with a
hydrophone and receiver to track its
movements. Easy, right?
GVI.2016.1
number of juvenile sharks are caught at this time of year compared to peak reproductive
season over October and November. We werent discouraged, though after two more early
morning sessions went by without a shark, we began to wonder when we would finally
begin tracking.
Then at 05:53 on February 16th - as our American volunteer Kalina and Science Co-
ordinator Pete were silently holding a gill net in waist-deep water, it was on. A shark
suddenly thrashed wildly in the net next to Kalina. Unflinchingly, she remembered her
training, flicked up her headlamp and scooped up the flailing elasmobranch with precision
whilst shouting LEMON! our teams call for a landed shark which was met with much
cheering from shore through the darkness.
Since the tag implantation, Kalina has been tracked regularly within Baie Laraie and has
increased in weight in a subsequent capture. This data, along with the sharks we tag in
the future, will help provide an estimate of critical habitat for juveniles of this species
within Curieuse Marine National Park. Critical habitat estimates will allow our partners,
the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA), to manage this population using the best
available science.
GVI.2016.1