Seasonal and long-term changes in relative abundance of bull sharks from a tourist shark feeding site in Fiji.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21346792.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0016597 and PMC identifier 3029404.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Shark tourism has become increasingly popular, but remains controversial because of major concerns originating from the need of tour operators to use bait or chum to reliably attract sharks. We used direct underwater sampling to document changes in bull shark Carcharhinus leucas relative abundance at the Shark Reef Marine Reserve, a shark feeding site in Fiji, and the reproductive cycle of the species in Fijian waters. Between 2003 and 2009, the total number of C. leucas counted on each day ranged from 0 to 40. Whereas the number of C. leucas counted at the feeding site increased over the years, shark numbers decreased over the course of a calendar year with fewest animals counted in November. Externally visible reproductive status information indicates that the species' seasonal departure from the feeding site may be related to reproductive activity.
Medical subject headings
- Feeding Behavior
- Population Dynamics
- Sharks