Saving Great White Sharks in Mexico
The best well-known areas of great white shark abundance in the world are South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. However, recent data indicates that there are also important numbers of great white sharks in the west coasts of the USA and Mexico. In fact, until only a few years ago the presence of white sharks in Mexico was not confirmed, but now we know that the Gulf of California, the west coast of Baja California and particularly Guadalupe Island, host relatively important numbers of white sharks. Despite the fact that white sharks are listed as endangered species in the Mexican legislation, there is yet no real protection of this species in the practice. The problem is that due to their slow growth and reproduction rate great whites are very rare and extremely vulnerable to overfishing from both commercial and recreational fisheries. Therefore governmental efforts to protect the species across their range and especially in their areas of abundance are key to their survival.Dr. Ramón Bonfil, an independent shark researcher with more then 20 years of experience, is a "pro" when it comes to great white shark conservation. From 2002 to 2004 - while he worked as a conservation scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - he founded and was leader of a conservation research project in South Africa to gain more information about the ecology of white sharks and the threats they face. Using satellite tags he studied the migration patterns of these ocean giants in the waters of the Indian Ocean. Part of this work contributed to the successful listing of great white sharks in Appendix II of CITES (Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, www.cites.org) and produced a major scientific article in the journal Science reporting a number of extraordinary scientific discoveries about great white sharks.
But the successful study in South Africa was not enough for the shark champion: So he set up a new conservation project in 2005 with the goal of helping save this magnificent apex predator in New Zealand, where the species is not yet protected by legislation. This "Kiwi-project" will have a second expedition in spring 2007. In the meantime Dr. Ramón Bonfil and his team have developed and recently launched the newest project in Mexico. The pilot-expedition took place with co-financing by Shark-Tracker/NABU and the National Geographic Society, in October 2006 at one of the top places in the world for viewing white sharks in their natural environment: Guadalupe Island.
Objectives of the project
The goal of this new study is to obtain key scientific information on the distribution, abundance and movements of great white sharks and the main threats to their survival in Mexico. Identifying essential habitat for white sharks such as their mating or pupping areas is key to our ability to protect them.. Because governmental and other protection initiatives for the management of white sharks can only be effective if we have enough scientific information on the specific behaviour of great white sharks off the coast of Guadalupe Island!With their new satellite tagging study Dr. Bonfil and his colleagues want to find answers to the mysterious life of great white sharks. Using satellite tracking devices the scientists will gain a better understanding of the size of the sharks’ home ranges, of their movements around the west coast of Mexico and the routes and timing of their migrations. They will be able to identify critical habitats for white sharks in Mexican waters and to evaluate the main human-induced threats to them. Furthermore they will investigate the relationships between populations from Mexico and those in other parts of the world such as the west coast of the USA. In other words: Do Mexican white sharks flirt with the counterparts in the USA?
All of this information will be made available to the Mexican government and will prove to be a key contribution for the science-based management and conservation of white sharks in Mexico.
Guadalupe Island: a heaven for Great White Sharks
It was about five years ago that Guadalupe Island became known to the world as the best spot to observe white sharks in their natural environment. Cage diving to view great whites in Guadalupe is unsurpassed anywhere in the world for two main reasons, the clarity of the water which is the best (up to 30 m visibility under top environmental conditions) anywhere white sharks occur in predictable large numbers, and the relatively large size of the sharks that frequent this island (most sharks range in the 3.5 to 5.5 m size range).But the most important fact about this 37-km offshore island situated about 150 miles west off Baja California is that in 2005, the Mexican Government gazetted this unique island and the waters surrounding it as a biosphere reserve. Therefore all the native flora and fauna in the island and the waters around it are now protected. This has provided a heaven for the great white sharks of Mexico, since any shark present inside the protected zone (an area extending up to 79 km off the island) is automatically protected by law. A thriving cage-diving industry based mostly out of San Diego, in the USA allows divers to enjoy in awe these magnificent fishes in their natural environment while safely diving inside an aluminium cage.
