The movement and distribution of pregnant spotted ragged-tooth sharks, Carcharias taurus, in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa

View article
iabo
A PeerJ Hubs article published on behalf of
Biodiversity and Conservation

Main article text

 

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Study areas

Sampling

Remote underwater photography

Diver observations—in-situ surveys

Photo-identification

Index of popularity and density of each site

Results

Sampling effort

Identification of individuals with photo-identification

Pregnancies

Description of the sharks’ movements within the IWP

Index of popularity and shark abundance of each site

Discussion

Population assessment

Reproductive cycle

Description of movements

Spatial distribution

Conservation

Conclusions

Supplemental Information

Database of Carcharias taurus’ individuals in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (2018–2023): sex, sightings, and pregnancy status.

Raw data on all shark individuals identified during the 5-year study period (2018–2023): details on each individual’s sex (female or male), whether they were observed in more than one season (yes or no), the number of sightings per season, the total number of encounters, and, for females, their pregnancy status.

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.18736/supp-1

Additional Information and Declarations

Competing Interests

Jennifer M. Olbers is employed by WILDTRUST and an Honorary Research Associate with Nelson Mandela University. Geremy Cliff contracts to WILDTRUST and is also an Honorary Research Associate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Grant Smith is employed by Sharklife Conservation Group (managing director). Michelle Carpenter was consulting to Sharklife Conservation Group at the time of the study.

Author Contributions

Sara C. Cerqueira performed the experiments, analyzed the data, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the article, and approved the final draft.

Jennifer Margaret Olbers conceived and designed the experiments, authored or reviewed drafts of the article, and approved the final draft.

Grant Smith conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, authored or reviewed drafts of the article, and approved the final draft.

Michelle Carpenter performed the experiments, authored or reviewed drafts of the article, and approved the final draft.

Mário J. Pereira analyzed the data, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the article, and approved the final draft.

Geremy Cliff analyzed the data, authored or reviewed drafts of the article, and approved the final draft.

Field Study Permissions

The following information was supplied relating to field study approvals (i.e., approving body and any reference numbers):

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife approved the field work with an authorized Research Agreement (Permit RES2023/56).

Data Availability

The following information was supplied regarding data availability:

The raw data is available in Supplemental File.

Funding

Grant Smith of Sharklife Conservation Group was the primary funder for data collection. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

540 Visitors 548 Views 6 Downloads

Your institution may have Open Access funds available for qualifying authors. See if you qualify

Publish for free

Comment on Articles or Preprints and we'll waive your author fee
Learn more

Five new journals in Chemistry

Free to publish • Peer-reviewed • From PeerJ
Find out more