Tigers by the tail
OCEARCH tagging program #ExpeditonAustralia reveals interesting habits of our tiger sharksPrivate American-based shark-tagging organisation OCEARCH has to date tagged three sharks in Queensland waters.
The first of the tagged sharks, named Jedda and released near the tip of Fraser Island on February 2 sporting her new satellite-tag ‘jewellery’, is a mature female tiger shark measuring 3.50 metre long.
When we last looked, Jedda had travelled 1803km, and cracked more than 73km in a single day.
She’s swum out near Lady Elliot Island and further north to Stuart Shoal near Lady Musgrave (February 17), perhaps looking for turtle tucker, but she’s returned time and again to her local haunt of the tip of Fraser Island.
?Above all else, Jedda has favoured the northern beaches of Fraser from Rooney Point to Sandy Cape and out to Breaksea Point, proving that she is indeed one territorial tiger sharks.
MAROOCHY PREFERS INSHORE
Maroochy, an immature three-metre long tiger shark weighing 239km, also tagged on February 2, has clocked up a few less frequent fin miles, accounting for 981km, half that of Jedda, with a top day of 65km, according to the latest data.
Spending most of her time in Hervey Bay up to Bundaberg, well inshore from Jedda, Maroochy has ranged as far north as the bottom of Lady Musgrave Island before returning back to her stamping ground between Burnett and especially Burrum heads.
Tagged on February 12 off Cairns, Chips is just a pup of a tiger shark, weighing just a smidgen under 40kg and measuring 1.80m long. She’s spent a fair amount of time over the edge up north to near Escape Reef before venturing back around her favourite Opal and Tongue reef area. On March 6 she ventured well out to sea to wide of Hastings Reef, accounting for 476km all told at last report (March 18).
AND MORE TIGERS
Despite the set back of a cyclone, OCEARCH has managed to tag at least five other sharks off Cairns,
They include Trinity, a 3.17m female tiger weighing 268kg; and Zac, a 420kg male tiger measuring 3.52m long, named in honour of Zachariah Young, whose brother Sam was there for the release (second photo). Zac was sporting a new high-data sat tag.
There was also Mackay, a 2.87m long, 132kg tiger; Ned, a 2.25m long, 70kg tiger; and Cathy, a 2.10m tiger weighing about 205kg (opening underwater shot above).
You can follow the satellite and acoustic tagging project and track the sharks at www.ocearch.org on your desktop and handheld devices.
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