Sharks will transmit valuable data to aid in their own protection.

The Monitoring of 19 sharks is being carried out by the Malpelo Foundation in the marine area surrounding Coco Island. The biologists, a team of Costa Ricans, Ecuadorians and Colombians are hoping that this monitoring will help them to understand the sharks’ behavior, distribution and movement, as well as the depth and the temperature of the water in which they like to be. The experts are hoping that this information will help to reinforce the region’s protection program, as some of these sharks are in great danger of extinction.

One of the procedures took place out of the water; the experts cautiously brought sharks out of the water and had no more than 4 minutes to place a transmitter in their dorsal fins. The other procedure was executed underwater to attach further research equipment.

German Soler, one of the foundation’s biologists, explained that every time that one of these sharks will surface, a signal of its location will be sent, if a satellite happens to be nearby at this precise moment. When it surfaces, it transmits, when it dives, it reads movement, water temperature and depth information, and so on. Precise and immediate information of the animal’s behavior and movements will be collected this way. This will also help to establish whether the sharks around Coco Island, the Galapagos and the Malpelo Island are part of one or various populations.

Underwater receptors are also used in the establishment of an acoustic study and this will provide the biologists with precious additional information. This project has a cost of $85,000 and has been financed by MarViva and the International Conservation group.

The Malpelo Foundation and Other Marine Ecosystems is a non-governmental and non-profit ecological organization that was established in 1999, and works directly with and supports the Colombian Government in the conservation, preservation and investigation of the marine life, particularly in the Malpelo Sanctuary of Fauna and Flora (SFF).

Among its achievements it has helped the works of the Unidad de Parques Nacionales (Unity of National Parks) in the handling and the conservation of the SFF Malpelo and other protected marine regions. It has also set up the management of finances, logistics and human resources so as to continue the control and protection of these areas, as well as coordinate and lead scientific investigations carried on these waters. Their main goal is to gather information about the marine zones and create solutions to any problems that they find. The Foundation also works to educate fishermen, tour operators, environmental authorities, governmental and non-governmental organizations and scientific entities about conservation. It is responsible for the disclosure of research and studies to scientists as well as promoting the value of the marine resources to the general public.

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Filed under: Costa Rican Wildlife on June 19th, 2008