Why do sharks migrate?

In our Science Talks with Dr Dr Catharina Vendl today, we hear about research on one of the most feared animals in the country - the shark. Even as a child, Nicolas Lubitz was interested in these predatory fish, and then after his studies in the USA, he conducted research on sharks in many exotic locations around the world. Now, the PhD student is researching at James Cook University in Townsville to do his PhD on the migratory behaviour of bull and hammerhead sharks.

Als Teil seiner Forschung muss Nicolas Haie fangen und taggen Source: Nicolas Lubitz

Nicolas tagged ein Jungtier Source: Nicolas Lubitz

For the sea on the east coast of Australia is supposedly the best place in the world to do this research, because the receiving stations for the tags that are attached to the animals are in very many places - with many stakeholders, universities and other research companies, even communities and government organisations.

Nicolas bei der Feldarbeit Source: Nicolas Lubitz

Nicolas has already caught and tagged hundreds of sharks to compare their genetics with their migratory behaviour. Female sharks usually return to the same river channels to give birth to their young. There he then collects the genetic material of the juveniles to compare with that of the adult sharks in the sea. Of course, Nicolas Lubitz has to catch them first, which is not without danger. He tells our science journalist Catharina Vendl how he does this, how the animals are tagged, how the information can then be collected and compared, and how much we don't even know yet.

 

As a member of a team of scientists, Catharina Vendl is also involved in the production of the podcast series Boiling Point, which can be heard in English on the internet here:

Boiling Point auf eastside FM

Boiling point auf Facebook