Page 129 iStudy Guide 2019/20
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129
How do you plan to monitor
the behavioural patterns of
elasmobranchs and identify their
core environmental needs?
CM:
To understand our shark populations here, I
am deploying a network of acoustic receivers along
a 500km stretch of coastline which will detect the
movements of any tagged animals that swim within
800m of the station. I will then be deploying tags on
bull, hammerhead, tiger and oceanic blacktop sharks
to track their movements and identify hotspots and
the seasonality of their sightings.
Calum, why have you chosen
to focus your PHD research on
elasmobranchs (sharks and rays)
in Mozambique?
Calum (CM):
The southern Mozambique area hosts a
range of sharks and rays that have not received much
research attention due to the remote nature of the
region and, therefore, we are lacking basic information
about their life cycles and seasonal movements.
I chose to focus specifically on large sharks in the
coastal environment since these animals are harvested
and may represent a threat to coastal communities.
Why is the presence of
elasmobranchs so important
to Mozambique’s coastal
environment?
CM:
Sharks and rays are top predators and, therefore,
keep the ecosystem healthy by feeding on old and
sick fish. Furthermore, they stop certain species from
becoming overabundant by applying top down
control on their populations, which means that we get
more diverse and healthy ecosystems than we would
without the presence of these animals. An analogy I
often use with students is: if you do not tend to your
garden, it becomes overgrown with weeds, but if
you do tend to it, you can have a whole host of
flowers in your garden – so predators are basically the
oceans gardeners.
How do you plan to monitor
the behavioural patterns of
elasmobranchs and identify their
core environmental needs?
CM:
To understand our shark populations here, I
am deploying a network of acoustic receivers along
a 500km stretch of coastline which will detect the
movements of any tagged animals that swim within
800m of the station. I will then be deploying tags on
bull, hammerhead, tiger and oceanic blacktop sharks
to track their movements and identify hotspots and
the seasonality of their sightings.
Calum, why have you chosen
to focus your PHD research on
elasmobranchs (sharks and rays)
in Mozambique?
Calum (CM):
The southern Mozambique area hosts a
range of sharks and rays that have not received much
research attention due to the remote nature of the
region and, therefore, we are lacking basic information
about their life cycles and seasonal movements.
I chose to focus specifically on large sharks in the
coastal environment since these animals are harvested
and may represent a threat to coastal communities.
Why is the presence of
elasmobranchs so important
to Mozambique’s coastal
environment?
CM:
Sharks and rays are top predators and, therefore,
keep the ecosystem healthy by feeding on old and
sick fish. Furthermore, they stop certain species from
becoming overabundant by applying top down
control on their populations, which means that we get
more diverse and healthy ecosystems than we would
without the presence of these animals. An analogy I
often use with students is: if you do not tend to your
garden, it becomes overgrown with weeds, but if
you do tend to it, you can have a whole host of
flowers in your garden – so predators are basically the
oceans gardeners.
