Track a 12-foot tiger shark off Carolinas coast with new technology
Want to watch the travels of a 12 1/4-foot tiger shark as it swims along the Carolinas coast and possibly elsewhere?
It’s now possible through space age technology.
Marine biologists with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources recently affixed a satellite transmitter to the shark’s dorsal fin in Port Royal Sound, near Hilton Head.
Each time that fin breaks the surface, the data points of the transmitter log the location.
Persons who are interested can follow the female tiger shark’s movements in near real time by accessing the free online Global Shark Tracker or by downloading the Global Shark Tracker app available on Apple and and Android devices.
Those participating in the project decided to call the tagged shark “Harry Ette.” The name honors Harry R.E. Hampton, a conservationist who started the Harry Hampton Fund in 1981 to raise private money and assist in the conservation and protection of South Carolina’s wildlife and marine resources.
During the 1990s the number of tiger sharks along the Atlantic coast were in decline. But more recent studies indicate their numbers are increasing.
“Because tiger sharks are relatively fast-growing and have larger litters of pups, they’ve been able to bounce back quicker than other large sharks,” said Brian Frazier, the wildlife department’s biologist and principal investigator on the tagging project.
But until recently, researchers knew little about their life history – how long they live, how often they reproduce, when and where they migrate and how they use different habitats, especially the coastal waters of the Southeastern U.S.
Frazier added that fresh mating wounds on “Harry Ette” indicated that Port Royal Sound and other S.C. near-shore waters perhaps function as mating areas.
“We look forward to following ‘Harry Ette’ over the next few years, and hope she will help us better understand the reproductive cycle and movements of mature, pregnant tiger sharks,” he said.
Assisting DNR in the program are OSEARCH, the College of Charleston and Captain Chip Michalove of Outcast Charters in Hilton Head.
Incidentally, the world record tiger shark, weighing 1,780 pounds, was caught at Cherry Grove Pier in South Carolina on June 14, 1964 by the late Charlottean Walter Maxwell. He also holds the N.C. record for the species at 1,150 pounds, caught at Yaupon Beach Pier in 1966. Observer News Services
Catches of the week
▪ A 52-pound blue catfish at Lake Norman by Cliff Compton of Denver, N.C.
▪ A 10.5-pound striped bass and 5-pound speckled trout near Ocean Isle by Jeff Walker.
▪ A 5.1-pound speckled trout near Ocean Isle by Mike Cochrane.
▪ A 40-pound king mackerel off Hatteras Village by Kyle McLaughlin.
▪ A blue marlin boated and released off Hatteras Village by Virginian Bobby Freeman.
▪ A 64-pound bigeye tuna off Oregon Inlet by Paul Wannamker while trolling from the Trophy Hunter with skipper Kenneth Brown.
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Track a 12-foot tiger shark off Carolinas coast with new technology."