Monday, August 4, 2008

7 Gill Sharks-Monsters of San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay is known for many things...monster sized sharks are not one of them.

We covered the 10 foot long critters that inhabit the waters off our shores last month, talk about an education...who knew?

Now researchers (the same lab involved in our Isla Guadalupe Project) are beginning to track and study these denzines of the deep. Better to know where these critters lurk so you can best avoid taking your dog for that Sunday swim:

The project, a collaboration between Aquarium of the Bay and the Biotelemetry Laboratory at UC Davis, began in May and could last five years. It will provide information about the history, behavior, movements, spatial distribution and migration patterns of the sevengills.

"Are they moving together? Are they moving individually? Do they have territories?" Slager asked. "We're also going to tag juveniles and see if there's age or size segregation."

San Francisco Bay might be the only nursery ground on the American Pacific coast for sevengill sharks, she said, which lends the project added urgency.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Check out the film City of the Shark that features capturing, tagging and tracking seven gill sharks in the San Francisco Bay.
Screening at the Aqaurium of the Bay or fore purchase from
seastewards.org