Shark survey searches southern seas

A marine research project is calling for members of the public to report any shark sightings in southern waters.

The New Zealand Marine Studies Centre, based at the University of Otago, are conducting the study called Shark Spy.

Project co-ordinator Rob Lewis said spiny dogfish, reef and carpet sharks had been spotted around the Nugget Pt and Kaka Pt areas.

These sharks only reached about one metre and were important to the middle of the food web, as they kept small fish from over grazing, Lewis said.

The study involves both members of the public and students from five Dunedin schools joining monthly boat trips to spot sharks and egg cases.

Lewis said it was the first systematic scientific study of multiple species of sharks that had been carried out in the area, outside the gathering of fisheries data.

The researchers had worked with the Kaka Point Surf Life Saving club and planned to work with Southland students as well.

The scientists are asking anyone to take photos and record video of any sharks they see.

‘‘The more sightings we get the more data we have to help us understand more,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘There’s a lot we don’t understand about why we are seeing certain sharks at certain times of the year. We are collecting data to get a baseline and hopefully we can get a better estimate of what animals we should see where and when.’’

Footage collected by school students showed that spiny dogfish, a species where juveniles and adults usually live in different schools, mix together as one population off the Dunedin coast during winter.

Members of the public can report sightings via the Shark Spy Facebook page, email or via a portal called iNaturalist.