The recent recapture of a tagged ragged-tooth shark (Carcharias taurus) at Zinkwazi revealed that the animal was tagged by staff of the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB) in January 1990, making this the longest recorded time at liberty for this shark species in southern Africa, and possibly in the world.
Amazing video: See “Surfer stalks shark”.
The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board has been tagging sharks and rays since 1976 and to date has tagged more than 6 000 animals. It has been an active member of the South African National Tagging Program since its inception in 1984. This programme, which is administered by Durban’s Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI), is one of the longest operating tagging programmes in the world.
To the rescue: The KZN Sharks Board
Since the late 1980s the KZNSB has tagged all shark species found alive in the protective gear but initially the only tagging done by the organisation was of free-swimming ragged-tooth sharks. Most of this tagging has taken place near Leven Point in the St Lucia Marine Reserve. A pole sling was (and still is) used by KZNSB snorkel divers to insert a dart tag with a stainless steel head and plastic streamer.
The ragged tooth shark recaptured at Zinkwazi was tagged in this manner in January 1990 at Leven Point. At the time of tagging it was a mature female. It was recaptured 7 436 days later, i.e. 20 years and 7 months. To place this recapture in perspective, the previous record for time at liberty for a tagged raggedtooth shark in southern Africa was 12 years and 7 months. That shark was also tagged by KZNSB snorkel divers at Leven Point – on the same day as this latest recapture!
KZN’s Mr Shark Mike Anderson-Reade
This extraordinary recapture more than 20 years after tagging highlights the value of long-term tagging projects such as that run by ORI.
– Provided by Sabine Wintner; Senior Scientist. The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board