Sat nav sharks reveal secrets
Seas off west coast of Scotland are basking shark
hotspot
Nature experts are using satellites to track basking sharks in
Scottish waters to try to discover more of the animals'
secrets.
The seas around the islands off the west coast of Scotland are
known to be a hotspot for basking sharks.
Twenty of the creatures, which are the second largest fish in
the sea, after whale sharks, have been tagged with tracking
devices.
The tags send information by satellite to tell scientists where
each shark goes. Although most of the animals have stayed around
the Inner Hebridean islands, they have each swum up to 1,000
kilometres since July!
After around nine months the tags will fall off and wash up on
land. There is a £100 reward for anyone who finds and returns one
of the trackers. Although the devices send lots of information by
satellite, even more can be found out from the machines
themselves.
Basking sharks appear off the islands of Coll, Tiree, Hyskeir
and Canna every summer. They have been seen feeding, jumping out of
the water, and maybe even flirting with each other!
The tracking project is being run by Scottish Natural Heritage.
The organisation hopes to find out more about the sharks' life
cycles and how much time they spend around the west coast of
Scotland.
You can follow eight of the sharks live online - go to the link
on the right of this story. One of these sharks has been named
Elgol by the children of a primary school of the same name on the
Isle of Skye. Another is called Roy.
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Sat nav sharks reveal secrets
Tracking project could lead to extra protection for
basking sharks
The seas around the isles off the west coast of Scotland - Coll,
Tiree, Hyskeir and Canna - have been identified as a hotspot for
basking sharks. The huge fish appear there every summer and are
observed feeding, as well as socialising and breaching - leaping
out of the water. The area therefore seems to be important for key
life cycle stages of basking sharks.
Because of this, the area from Skye to Mull is now being studied
to see if it should become a Marine Protected Area (MPA).
If the area does become an MPA it could have implications for an
offshore windfarm which is planned to be built near the island of
Tiree.
Scottish Power Renewables, who want to create the windfarm,
believe that the site could generate enough green energy to power
up to one million households.
Now, they will have to take the basking sharks into
consideration in their plans for the scheme, and the government
will have to decide whether to allow it to go ahead.
But first, a greater understanding of shark movement, behaviour
and habitat use is needed.
Twenty basking sharks have been tagged with satellite
transmitters since July. The tags send messages to satellites,
which enables scientists to follow them live over the internet.
Tracking the sharks will help to answer the following
questions:
1. How do basking sharks use the area around Coll, Tiree, Hyskeir
and Canna?
2. How long do basking sharks stay there?
3. Are there any areas that are used to a greater extent than
others?
4. To what extent is this area essential to key life cycle stages
for basking sharks?
The trackers transmit information on the position of each shark
every time it comes to the surface of the sea. Some of them are
fitted with GPS - Global Positioning Systems - which can give
really accurate data on the sharks' whereabouts.
The tracking website has already proved popular with the public,
with 42,000 hits since it went live on 15 July.
Names for the eight of the sharks have been chosen from over 200
suggestions from the public. They are Elgol, Solas, Cearban, Gill,
Marna, Cailleach, Roy and Fionnlagh.
Dr Suzanne Henderson from SNH, who is managing the basking shark
tagging project, said:
"It's fascinating to see where the sharks have been going since
they were tagged. We're keen to learn more about the behaviour of
the sharks during the summer months, when they can be seen at the
surface in large numbers around the islands of Coll, Tiree, Canna
and Hyskeir. And we're particularly intrigued to see where they go
during the winter."
Click here to try our basking sharks quiz
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