Divers off eastern Australia are being urged to take along digital cameras, so they can take photos of any sharks they come across. Given the hysteria surrounding the recent attacks in Sydney, I originally assumed that it was a media circus idea, to help them identify the culprit in the event of any more incidents. I suppose even that would be progress, as up until now the media seem to believe there is only one species, i.e. the “man-eating shark”, along with its sub-species, the “killer shark”.
Anyway it turns out the request comes from Sean Barker, a Macquarie University marine researcher, who is trying to compile a computerised photo album recording every grey nurse shark. In 2000 a New South Wales Fisheries survey estimated that there was less than 300 left on Australia’s east coast. Mr. Barker reckons that is pessimistic and thinks it’s more like 1,000.
Apparently each shark has a pattern of dots, highlighted in these 2 pictures, with which they can be uniquely identified. To help with this he needs photos, and has asked people to upload them to http://www.spotashark.com/. So if you are diving in that area and want to help out, you need to photograph the shark side on, from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail. Apparently the left side is preferable.
You can find out more by going to Spot a Shark website (from where these photographs came), and there is an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
