A successful deployment of the first acoustic receiver array in Shark Bay!

26-June-2024 (written by Nils Kreuter)

The SequeiraLab team has just returned from a field trip to Shark Bay, Western Australia, after deploying the first acoustic receivers in this region! This work is the result of a collaboration with IMOS, the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System, and is a great advancement for our ongoing tiger shark research in the region through the Gathaagudu Animal Tracking (GAT) Project. The potential for this project to be extended to include acoustic tracking of other marine megafauna is part of the SequeiraLab plans.

Over the coming months the data collected by the receivers deployed will help understanding how tiger sharks utilise the covered area within the bay. Any animal tagged with an acoustic tag will be able to be detected by our receiver array, which will then record the occurrence of these tagged individuals. Acoustic telemetry can give information on small-scale behavioural features that are usually not detected by satellite tags. While we were in Shark Bay, we also double tagged tiger sharks with both satellite and acoustic tags so we can completement the acoustic tracking information with the large scale movements captured by the satellite tags to get a more comprehensive picture of how these animals use space within and outside Shark Bay.

Thanks to all our collaborators in the region, including the Malgana Aboriginal Corporation, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). A huge thanks to our philanthropic funders , including the Jock Clough Marine Foundation, and also to the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment for the grant awarded to our PhD student Nils Kreuter - who had a blast preparing deploying the acoustic receivers!