Ambiente y Conservación
MAKO SHARK ST. MARYS COMES CALLING ON PUERTO RICO Pesca, Playa y Ambiente welcomes the visit
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UERTO RICO— Caught and tagged off Ocean City, Maryland last May and named for an Ohio elementary school, a fast tracking, young shortfin mako shark, dubbed St. Marys, is visiting the waters off Puerto Rico today. The five and a half foot juvenile male shark is among over 40 mako sharks satellite tagged and being tracked by scientists from the Guy Harvey Research Institute GHRI at Nova Southeastern University in South Florida. The institute began tagging mako sharks in 2009 to study their migratory patterns and now undertakes expeditions worldwide to study them. The school's marine experts have tagged mako sharks as far away as Mexico and New Zealand. In addition to makos, GHRI scientists are also tracking tiger, oceanic white tip and sand tiger sharks, as well as blue and white marlin. St. Marys, caught and tagged on May 17, 2014, has traveled over 7,300 miles, traveling to the waters off Nova Scotia, south through the open Atlantic to Venezuela and north towards Puerto Rico. This visit by St. Marys the mako, according to Israel Umpierre, a lawyer, founder and collaborator of Pesca, Playa y Ambiente, Inc., a non-profit group based in Puerto Rico, is a sign of better things to come for the growing movement to conserve sharks. Umpierre an avid recreational fisherman said research is the key to protecting apex species such as sharks, which play an im-
portant role in the marine ecosystem. Pesca, Playa y Ambiente, which gained national recognition for the last two years in Mega Limpiezas Mega Clean Ups in Puerto Rico, is dedicated to the conservation of natural resources through education, restoration and field activities. Though the organization’s promotion of sustainable fishing practices and fisheries management, Pesca Playa y Ambiente has recently promoted a Shark Friendly Marinas program in Puerto Rico. Club Náutico de San Juan and Sun Bay Marina in Fajardo, are the first two marinas that have join this important conservational effort. Dr. Mahmood Shivji, Director of Nova Southeastern University’s GHRI and Save our Seas Research Center said his researchers have special interest in understanding mako shark migratory behavior because this information is essential for proper fisheries management and conservation of this internationally roving species. The public can follow St. Marys and other shark movements in near real-time courtesy of an interactive online website set-up by GHRI: ghritracking.org.
Dr. Mahmood Shivji, director del Guy Harvey Ocean Research Institute y su equipo de trabajo midiendo un tiburón Mako previo a ser liberado.
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Náutica Puerto Rico Mag
The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation along with GHRI recently launched an innovative Great Shark Race that allows businesses and/or individuals to enhance research on these declining species by sponsoring sharks through the purchase of satellite tags. The tags enable researchers to study the sharks migratory behavior and the public to follow these animals via the internet as they travel in near real-time.
The Great Shark Race consists of two divisions – the Shortfin Mako Shark Division and the Oceanic Whitetip (OWT) Shark Division. Participants sponsor satellite tags $5,000 each, which are affixed to either a mako shark or an oceanic whitetip shark in the Caribbean. Then the shark in each division that travels the furthest in six months wins. Renowned marine wildlife artist and conservationist Dr. Guy Harvey and Sir Richard Branson are competing in the first race by sponsoring tags for mako sharks. To learn more about the Great Shark Race visit www. GreatSharkRace.com. About the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation: The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation is a leader in international efforts to protect our oceans and marine environments. The GHOF advocates for sustainable fishing practices, funds inspired scientific research and supports innovative educational programs to encourage conservation and best management practices. A principle objective of the GHOF is to help ensure that future generations will enjoy and benefit from a naturally balanced ocean ecosystem where fish and other marine wildlife flourish. http://www.GuyHarvey.com
Tiburón Mako debidamente marcado con tag satellital en su aleta dorsal. Cada tag tiene un costo aproximado de $5,000