WELLINGTON, Jun 21 (NNN-RNZ) – New Zealand scientists are studying sharks, in the southernmost part of the country, to understand effects of climate change.
Sharks are an apex predator, with a crucial role in the ecosystem and can be indicators of the health of an environment, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) fisheries scientist, Brit Finucci, said yesterday.
The team from NIWA and the Victoria University of Wellington, spent a week in Fiordland, New Zealand’s South Island, attaching transmitters to broadnose sevengill sharks, to track their behaviour and movements.
The project, funded by the Save Our Seas Foundation, saw 11 sharks tagged, with divers installing 29 acoustic receivers on the seafloor.
The tags will transmit data for up to the next 10 years and the receivers put on the seafloor will collect data every time a shark swims near it, said Finucci.
The team will return to Fiordland every six months, to gather data from the receivers. They will monitor the short and long-term information on their movements, to understand the sharks’ behaviour and how this may be changing.
The broadnose sevengill, a globally threatened species, is commonly observed in Fiordland, reaching over 2.5 metre in length. Fishing activity has reduced shark numbers in some locations. However, little is known about the impacts of climate change on their health and population, Finucci said.– NNN-RNZ
