Labeling the leek "Louisa" in the Mediterranean Sea/photo: Hagai Midrashi
A team of researchers from the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station from the Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa identified and tagged two sparrow sharks and their fins off the coast in Hadera. The names of Fernando and Luis - Fernando and Luisa," said Dr. Aviad Sheinin, head of the super carnivore department at the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station of the University of Haifa.
The shark tagging study is part of a long-term ecological study conducted for the ninth year on the super carnivore population in the Eastern Mediterranean, where sharks are an important part of the fabric of life in the sea.
During the winter, sharks congregate in the warm waters in the Hadera, Ashdod and Ashkelon areas, and so far most of the research has been carried out at the outlet of the warm water at the Orot Rabin power plant in Hadera, during which 109 sharks were tagged until yesterday.
This is the only long-term shark tagging study in the entire Mediterranean and is carried out under a permit from the Nature and Parks Authority.
Sharks are an important part of the fabric of life in the sea.
Past tagging of a shark in Israel/Hagi Nativ, Morris Kahn Marine Research Station
"Maintaining shark research in the shadow of the difficult war is a challenge for us, but we are determined to maintain it"/ Hagi Nativ, Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station
Israel - an oasis for sharks
Most of the shark species in the Mediterranean Sea are in serious danger of extinction, and Israel is an oasis for them because they are protected there.
So far, 71 sparrow sharks have been tagged, most of them females, and 38 fin sharks, most of them males.
"The arrival of Luisa the finner in our area is a relatively rare and very exciting event. The finner sharks are in danger of extinction in the Mediterranean Sea. Receiving the acoustic tag allows us to examine her movement along the coast of Israel and to understand more deeply what their 'motivation' is to reach the warm waters and check whether she will return to the area This is also in the years to come," said Dr. Scheinin.
In the coming years, following the winning of National Geographic grants, the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station's shark research was expanded to Turkey, Italy, Albania while collaborating with local shark researchers. During the research, the researchers receive training in Israel with the aim of learning how to tag a shark correctly and safely. "Having shark research in the shadow of the difficult war is a huge challenge for us, but we are determined to carry it out despite the difficulty in order to understand why the sharks come in the winter, where they swim in the summer and how we can protect them better", he concluded Dr. Sheinin.
More on the same topic:
sharks
Haifa University