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. 2023 Sep;103(3):735-740.
doi: 10.1111/jfb.15464. Epub 2023 Jun 12.

Back to the wild: movements of a juvenile tiger shark released from a public aquarium

Oliver J D Jewell  1   2 , Ben D'Antonio  2   3 , Stacy Blane  4 , Emily Gosden  4 , Michael D Taylor  1   2 , Hannah J Calich  1   2   5 , Matthew W Fraser  1   2   6 , Ana M M Sequeira  2   5
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Back to the wild: movements of a juvenile tiger shark released from a public aquarium

Oliver J D Jewell et al. J Fish Biol. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Sharks are an important attraction for aquaria; however, larger species can rarely be kept indefinitely. To date, there has been little work tracking shark movements post-release to the wild. The authors used high-resolution biologgers to monitor a sub-adult tiger shark's pre- and post-release fine-scale movements following 2 years of captivity in an aquarium. They also compared its movement with that of a wild shark tagged nearby. Despite the differences in movement between the two sharks, with vertical oscillations notably absent and greater levels of turning seen from the released shark, the captive shark survived the release. These biologgers improve insight into post-release movements of captive sharks.

Keywords: Galeocerdo cuvier; Shark Bay; Western Australia; biologging; captivity; fine-scale telemetry.

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References

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