January 19, 2016
Dear Caine [Director of Science and Research at Ocean First Education],
I would like to take a moment to update you on the progress of our research expedition to study sharks off the coast of Japan.
Over the last week, our team has successfully installed six acoustic receivers around the island at depths ranging from 60-80 feet which will monitor the habitat use and presence of sharks we have tagged. Through free-diving techniques, a total of 10 scalloped hammerhead and Galapagos sharks have been tagged with acoustic telemetry tags, including two individuals with satellite tags. These are the first sharks to ever be studied using this technology in Northern Asia. These sharks will be passively monitored by our receiver array for the next year, when we will return to download and recover our data and continue our tagging efforts. Data from our satellite tags will begin coming in within the next 6 months. We have been amazed at the number of sharks in the area – our team has spent considerable time in the water (~70 hours) searching for these amazing animals including swimming into schools of hundreds of scalloped hammerhead sharks. In addition to collecting these important data points, we have documented our project heavily through photo and video – the content is stunning.
On behalf of our entire research team, I would like to thank you for supporting this project and helping us make history. In the coming weeks, we will put together a formal press release describing the highlights of this trip, and an official GoPro-sponsored film documenting the trip is also in the works. Attached please find a selection of photographs documenting our team in action. Please feel free to share them widely via your social networks!
Thank you again for your support of our research, I look forward to keeping you posted!
Kind regards,
Dr. Austin J. Gallagher
President and Director
Beneath the Waves, Inc.
Team Members:
Dr. Austin Gallagher, Beneath the Waves/Carleton University/University Miami, USA
Tre Packard, Pangeaseed, USA
Dr. David Jacoby, Zoological Society of London, United Kingdom
Dr. Yannis Papastamatiou, University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom
Dr. Yuuki Watanabe, National Institute of Polar Research, Japan
Mark Healey, Healey Water Ops, USA
