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Seychelles
whale shark monitoring newsletter
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Jun 2008 Vol
6, No. 2
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NOTICE
BOARD |
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Whale
Shark Sightings
April - June 2008
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In-water Sightings
33 Reported sighting
22 in-water encounter
12 shark identified
10 shark sexed (4M/6F)
Note: this is not the peak whale shark season yet and no
monitoring trips were run
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Whale
Shark Internships |
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All
our whale shark internships for the
coming season are now full.... Sorry! You can put you name
down for 2009 though! |
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Please
send us any comments or news for inclusion by clicking |
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www.mcss.
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News On IRIS Photo-identification Program
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The new
I3S photo-ID program now updated specifically for
whale shark use . Image MCSS.
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The
IRIS photo-ID spot-matching program has been used by whale
shark researchers in many areas for several years now and
the latest version has taken on-board suggestions to make
it more applicable to this species. Originally the program
was developed to assist in the matching of spot patterns
in Ragged-Tooth sharks off
South
Africa
but its global adoption by whale shark researchers has
prompted the designers to update the interface to suite
this species.
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Full article>> |
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| Save
Our Seas Shark Conference & Centre
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The
Save Our Seas Foundation
(SOSF) recently held a meeting for
all their shark programme leaders in
Simonstown
,
South
Africa
and also opened a new Shark Centre
at
Kalk
Bay
to provide information and create a
centre for public awareness about
sharks.
Kalk
Bay
is situated in the
False
Bay
area south of Capetown and is an
area renown for great white sharks;
as such, while eco-tourism to see
the sharks is booming, there are
local concerns about the presence of
these large predators.
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Full
article>> |
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| First
Seychelles Whale Shark for 2008 |
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The
first of this seasons whale sharks have been sighted off
Mahe; a group of 12 sharks were found in the last week of
May some 14 miles of the South West of Mahe by the crew of
Reel Time, one of the boats that work on the MCSS
monitoring programme. The following week the first
in-water encounter was reported of a 3.5 metre shark by
divers from the Underwater Centre, diving at Shark Bank.
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Full
article>> |
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| Expanded
Environmental Monitoring Programme for Seychelles |
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This
year the
Seychelles
whale
shark monitoring programme will be expanding to include a
broad range of environmental monitoring during the whale
shark season due to support from the Save Our Seas
Foundation. The expansion comes after the analysis of data
from the last six years which has shown that the
distribution of sharks is localised and changes over the
course of the ‘season’.
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Full
article>> |
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| If
you see a whale shark.... |
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Please let us
know! Please get as much information as possible, where
when, how many, how big, what it was doing etc. then call
us, e-mail us or fill out our on-line sighting form every
sighting is important in building a picture of these
sharks movements and behaviour around Seychelles
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More details>> |
| Adopt
a whale shark.... |
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By becoming
a whale shark foster parent you are ensuring that research
on whale sharks is continued. Your support will assist in
protecting these amazing creatures and ensure that they
continue roaming the world’s tropical oceans.
Adopt
me !
Mazarin
(s275): A 4½ m juvenile male whale shark tagged on
the 25th January 2003 near L'ilôt Island. He has a
distinct scaring pattern and is easily recognized.
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More details>> |
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