Research
Tagging
Whale Sharks: Mandu
Silence from Mandu not necessarily bad news
Last update - 19 August 2002.
Mandu, the 7m male whale shark scientists have been tracking
since he was fitted with a satellite tag in June 2002, has stopped reporting
his position.
Mandu has not reported its position
since Friday, August 1 and has got to within 100 kilometres of Indonesia.
Mandu was tagged in June in a co-operative effort between the
CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the West
Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management (DCLM) and the Ningaloo
Marine Park whale shark ecotourism industry.
The Mandu tagging team consisted of Roland Mau and Adam Meyer,
from the Department of Conservation and Land Management, with Peter Lake
and David Hall representing whale shark tourism operators. The tagging
was recorded by videographers Lindsey Alsap and Kristin Anderson
"We have had a regular pattern of position reports since the tagging
and from this we can see a distinct path being taken by Mandu towards
Indonesia,"says Dr John Stevens, from CSIRO.
"There is no way of knowing for sure what is happening but similar
tracking work overseas has shown that sharks can remain submerged for
several weeks, during which time the tag cannot transmit," Dr Stevens
said.
Mr Mau, a marine conservation officer with DCLM, said there had been
much interest in both Hope Traveller and Mandu.
""There will be many people waiting for Mandu to surface again
and tell us where he has got to," Mr Mau said.
Ningaloo Reef is a Marine Park along 260 km of coastline and out to 15
nautical miles offshore. The whale sharks are tagged during the annual
aggregation months of April to June.
The project is being funded by Woodside Energy Ltd, CSIRO, the Australian
Institute of Marine Science and the Department of Conservation and Land
Management, with assistance from ECOCEAN. A grant from the Natural Heritage
Trust has provided ECOCEANand CALM with funding to conduct an 'Urgent
Risk Assessment' of the conservation concerns for the shark.
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Last updated
12/11/08
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