Scientists and divers tag record number of threatened oceanic whitetip sharks in the Bahamas; now tracking them via satellite

The Cape Eleuthera Institute -

The oceanic whitetip shark ( Carcharhinus longimanus) was once considered to be one of the most numerous large vertebrates on the planet. Yet ongoing exploitation of this species for it fins, for use in the Asian delicacy shark fin soup, has caused precipitous population declines in many parts of the world.

This species has been especially hard-hit in the northwest and western central Atlantic Ocean, where it is now difficult to find them in significant numbers. Despite the inherent difficulties in finding and studying large, relatively rare oceanic sharks, an international team of researchers successfully satellite-tagged a large number of these animals off Cat Island, The Bahamas, this month in order to track their movements to enable more effective conservation of this top ocean predator.

Edd Brooks, Annabelle Oronti and Sean Williams of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the Cape Eleuthera Institute , Lucy Howey-Jordan and Dr. Lance Jordan of Microwave Telemetry, Inc., Stuart Cove and the staff of Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, Dr. Demian Chapman of Stony Brook University and Debra Abercrombie of Abercrombie & Fish, undertook a 10-day expedition to Cat Island to conduct the first instalment of a long-term project to study the movements and habitat use of oceanic whitetips. 

“I have been trying to get down to the Cat Island aggregation since the Shark Research and Conservation Program was founded five years ago, and now, with the incredible support offered by Microwave Telemetry and Stuart Cove and his staff, we have finally got our chance.

This species is one of the most endangered pelagic sharks in the world, yet virtually nothing is known about its basic biology and ecology, something this project will hopefully change.” said Edd Brooks, Program Manager of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at Cape Eleuthera Institute.

“This project has been a very unique collaborative initiative between shark diving operators and scientists. In addition to Stuart Cove’s generous support, we were very lucky to be assisted by Jim Abernethy of Jim Abernethy’s Scuba Adventures, who helped locate sharks during a couple of slow days, and Vinnie and Debra Canabal of Epic Diving who have been keeping an eye out for our tagged animals.

The future success of the project will depend in part on the ongoing support of our partners in the shark diving industry.”

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