Aerial surveys of juvenile white sharks CSIRO

Project Member(s): Gladstone, W.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation)

Start year: 2014

Summary: Aerial surveys of the white shark nursery area off Port Stephens have demonstrated the utility of this method for estimating abundance of juvenile white sharks. Aerial surveys will be coordinated by the University of Technology (Sydney). Collaborative data analysis will be led by CSIRO, building on the analyses that UTS has performed in previous survey trials, using refined correction factors based on acoustic and satellite tag data as well modeling of movement patterns. Twenty aerial surveys will be conducted during 2013-14. This will provide estimates of abundance for juveniles in the Port Stephens nursery area.

Keywords: great white shark, threatened species, marine conservation, aerial survey

FOR Codes: Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity, Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology), Marine biodiversity

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.