Poster Presentation Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2024

Tiger Shark Highway: mature male tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) movement along eastern Australia (#314)

Alexandra I Ikpe 1 , Paul Butcher 2 , Johan Gustafson 1 , Christofer Clemente 1 , Alexis Levengood 1 , Bonnie Holmes 1
  1. University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD, Australia
  2. Department of Primary Industries, New South Wales Government, Parramatta

The waters off the east coast of Australia are more than just highways for migratory whales. Tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier, utilize the coasts and pelagic waters of the Coral and Tasman Seas to trek massive distances over the course of days to months. Current research suggests a strong link between directionality and water temperature, based on data from tagged female and juvenile individuals. For undetermined reasons mature male tiger sharks have remained far more elusive, resulting in skewed conclusions on species movement. As sex-biased movement appears time and again from species to species it’s imperative to gather movement data from this subset of the tiger shark population. Using external satellite tags I’ve been able to target mature male tiger sharks to begin unravelling the movements of this cryptic group, and assess overall population dynamics and behaviour. Insight into the movements of an apex predator, both fine- and broad-scale, is integral to understanding ecology of this region, particularly in a time of rapid change, as well as for conservation work intent on protecting biodiversity and ecological systems.