Recaptured tagged shark sets new record… 26 years later
After swimming free for an incredible 9 591 days – that’s 26.2 years – a ragged tooth shark (Carcharias taurus) was recaptured with the same tag with which it was originally released.
March 13 was an historic day for the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) – Cooperative Fish Tagging Project.
Gareth Jordaan, ORI Tagging Officer said this was the 1 014th ragged tooth shark recaptured, with the previous record a raggie which was at liberty for 22.6 years.
However, this new record is for the longest time unconfined for a tagged fish, as well as the longest time that a single tag has remained in an animal.
“This female raggie was originally tagged by Geremy Cliff, from the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board, on December 9, 1993 at Leven Point, 22 kilometres north of Cape Vidal in KwaZulu-Natal. It measured about 1 800 mm in precaudal length (PCL),” said Gareth.
The tag was inserted underwater using a modified speargun.
Geremy said the recapture was excellent news. “It is great to know that all the fun we had tagging raggies at Leven has also had some important scientific value.”
After being at liberty for 1 397 days (3.8 years) she was first recaptured by Dr Vincent Taylor at the Strand, Western Cape, on October, 6 1997 (unfortunately no length was recorded), having moved 1 897 kilometres south.
After being released again, she was recaptured a second time some 8 194 days (22.4 years) later (with the same, original tag) on March 13, 2020 by Shawn Mey at Frankman’s Hoek, Western Cape, 435 kilometres north of the first recapture locality. She measured 2 010 mm PCL.
She only grew 210 mm in just under 27 years showing the extremely slow growth rate of these animals and was caught at various localities along the coast showing the typical migration pattern of raggies.
Shawn re-tagged her with a new tag, and she was released again to continue her journey and hopefully be recaptured again in the future.
Gareth thanked their taggers and the members of the public for their ongoing support and reporting these incredible recaptures to us.
*The Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) is a division of the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) which strives to stimulate community awareness of the marine environment through education and promote wise, sustainable use of marine resources through scientific investigation.
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