The Top Predator laboratory is starting the fourth season of its shark tagging project at the foot of Hadera power station,
The Top Predator laboratory is starting the fourth season of its shark tagging project at the foot of Hadera power station, where two different species (dusky and sandbar sharks) have been gathering every year from November to April. Captured specimens are subject to physiological measurements including length, fin width and girth. In addition, genetic (fin-clip), haematological (blood) and stable-isotope (white muscle tissue) samples are obtained, providing for biochemical analyses. Finally, the sharks are tagged with a visual spaghetti tag, as well as a subcutaneous PIT tag and an acoustic transmitter, which produces a unique signal that can be picked up by a set of our receivers distributed along the coast. An additional tag type that is deployed on a smaller selection of specimens is a satellite archival tag, which informs our scientists about large-scale distribution of the population throughout its full range of occurrence.
This season, we are expecting visits of collaborators from throughout the world, including Dr Neil Hammerschlag, who will be giving a talk at our upcoming Morris Kahn Seminar in December. We’ve also got new students and projects that will broaden our tagging protocol to new aspects of shark biology and this aggregation phenomenon, such as ultrasound, microbiome and new haematological parameters. We couldn’t be more thrilled to get started and keep you posted on our updates as we go. Stay tuned!!!
