The Dorsal Fin

The Brisbane Times is reporting that the Queensland government will be spending $125,000 on a five-year program to tag and monitor bull, tiger, and white sharks in an effort to "reduce the risk of attacks." Acoustic tags will be used to report data to monitoring stations when tagged sharks are nearby. Shark control program manager, Tony Ham, said that they expected to tag 150 sharks in three years (which seems like an odd statement, considering that the article reports the duration of the study to be five years).

In addition to the shark monitoring aspect, the Queensland government will also invest in new and improved acoustic alarms to alert whales and dolphins of the existence of shark nets." The new alarms will use a longer lower pitch signal at a louder volume to give cetaceans a more advanced warning of the nets. The shark nets have come under criticism due to whales and other marine life becoming entangled in them.

Roberts Grove (located in Placencia, Belize) recently posted a few short videos on their YouTube Channel featuring some footage of whale sharks at Gladden Spit. While there’s nothing groundbreaking in these videos, I never get tired of seeing footage of whale sharks.

Having been out to Gladden Spit multiple times during "whale shark season", I highly recommend it. There is plenty of great reef diving in the area, as well. While the whale sharks can be hit or miss even around the full moons of the spring months, dolphins and bull sharks can be commonly seen at Gladden Spit, as well. So, even if you miss the whale sharks, you likely won’t leave disappointed.