Adoption of a hammerhead shark

By adopting a shark, you will be sponsoring the purchase of the investigative equipment needed to monitor the migratory movements of the hammerhead sharks within the region. For $500 you can adopt a hammerhead shark attached with an acoustic transmitter in the national park of Coco´s Island, Pretoma will then send you your shark’s mapped movements. For $2000 you can adopt a hammerhead shark attached with a satellite transmitter satelital, which you will be able to track live through the internet. By adopting a shark you will also form part of our corporate membership for one year.

Direct benefits of an adoption

• A certificate of recognition sent to the group or company for adopting a shark.
• The group or company of the adoption will have their logo included in all publications related to shark tagging
• Talks and presentations will be given to employees regarding the problems associated with shark fining in Costa Rica and worldwide.
• Given Pretoma T-shirts and baseball hats.
• The adoptee can name their shark.

Adoption of a hammerhead shark with an acoustic transmitter

The tagging of hammerhead sharks with acoustic transmitters is done by implanting the tag using a modified spear gun which only penetrates the shark’s skin so as not to harm the shark. The transmitter is embedded in the skin where the signal is picked up by receptors strategically placed in different area to monitor the shark’s movements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adoption of a hammerhead shark attached with a satellite transmitter

The hammerhead sharks are captured by using modified hooks; after they have been caught the satellite tag is screwed onto the shark’s dorsal fin. The whole process takes no more than 12 minutes to complete which allows the shark to be released back into the ocean safely and healthy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hammerhead sharks are highly migratory species; they make long journeys looking for suitable feeding, reproduction and socializing grounds. Hammerhead sharks have specific migratory routes; they have specific locations in which they congregate known as hotspots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a long time we have know the existence of these specific hotspot areas utilized by hammerhead sharks. Many of these areas are located around Islands such as the Galapagos in Ecuador, Matapalo Island in Colombia and Coco´s Island in Costa Rica.

During the year 2004 Pretoma formed an alliance with the “Shark Research Institute” (EEUU), with the goal to study and monitor the movements of the hammerhead sharks found within the waters surrounding Coco´s Island and joined forces with other shark protection organizations which formed MIGRAMAR, creating a joint effort between Ecuador, Colombia, Panamá y Costa Rica, to make the right decisions in the future regarding the protection of hammerheads found within this region.

Field Work

Preliminary information suggests that the hammerhead sharks are migrating between the oriental Eastern Pacific Islands following direct routes. A shark that was marked off of the Galapagos Islands travelled 693km to Coco´s Island in just 14 days. It has yet to be confirmed that movements exist between these islands and the mainland.

The establishment of regional management plans requires a good knowledge of the migratory routes which these sharks follow. If a marine park was created, where should the limits be? Should it be a permanent or temporal reserve? Do sharks benefit from an expansion in marine protected areas? There needs to be more scientific research carried out in order to respond to these questions, which is what MIGRAMAR is working to achieve.

During the start of the Pretoma shark tagging program all sharks were tagged with acoustic transmitters which limited the range in which we could monitor the shark’s movements, now with the use of both acoustic and satellite tags it is possible for us to study the migratory movements of these pelagic sharks.

Pretoma is also working with other distinct international organizations to improve on the current work strategies in place for the Coco´s Island area.

Our original shark tagging Project was only for the capture and tagging of hammerhead sharks, however in the last few year Pretoma has extended the Project to include other species of commercially important sharks within the Project, as the commercial market for sharks during the past few years has increased dramatically and now includes a wider variety of shark species, the Tiger shark is now frequently sold within the fish markets.

“Census of sharks within the Coco´s Island region”

Its objectives were:

1. Establish an investigation program to evaluate the actual state of the resident shark populations (all species) within the national park and the seasonality of the migratory species.
2. Establish a protocol to monitor the state of the resident sharks to detect and evaluate positive and negative changes to their stocks.
3. Offer the nesecary scientific authority in the national marine park of Coco´s Island to enable the correct desiciones to be made regrding the state of shark stocks. With this data it is then possible to mitigate political and economic pressures.