Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge - Research Tracking in Action

The Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge has revealed the science behind its new shark fishing tournament model with a tagged female and possibly gravid Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) reporting back to Mote Marine Labs this week.

"Bucky's Baby" is on a long distance swing outside the tournament area and providing real time data to waiting researchers who have launched an interactive website providing website viewers with:

- The option to subscribe to a daily project update by email (works great if you're interested in the day-by-day movements)

- Additional tournament info with links

- Specifics on Bucky's Baby and general information on bull sharks

- An option to "Adopt" Bucky's Baby to help fund the research

Shark conservation initiatives take many forms and are often lead by industry leaders willing to step out from traditional molds to create new conservation paradigms. The team behind the GHUSC are a unique group of thinkers and industry folks, from Mote Marine Labs, The Humane Society, to well known oceans advocate Guy Harvey who are trying to change the way we catch sharks, run tournaments, and ultimately treat the resource as a sustainable effort.

After three decades of protests and efforts to educate fishermen, shark kill tournaments are still the tournament of choice in the sport fishing industry. The GHUSC is one way forward to address sport caught shark take.

In tandem with other initiatives like the Shark Free Marinas these "out of the box ideas" to address shark conservation will effect real and lasting change. There are no silver bullets in the shark conservation world, just smart thinking, planning and execution.

Kudos to everyone involved.