Project Parata: Satellite tag monitoring of C. longimanus in French Polynesia for horizontal movement ecology

The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus), is a globally understudied species with major data gaps in large geographic regions despite its global distribution. Here we present the first study to report horizontal movement data for the South Pacific, by investigating habitat use of six mature oceanic whitetip sharks tagged with fin-mounted satellite (SPOT/SPLASH) tags off of Moorea, French Polynesia. Sharks moved over net distances ranging from 1,625 to 7,885 km over periods of 83 to 227 days at liberty (days from release to last transmission). A total area of 11,100 km2 was utilized by the sharks, spanning three exclusive economic zones (French Polynesia, Kiribati, and Cook Islands), as well as unmanaged international waters. Analysis of movements using dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Modeling revealed core habitat use areas of 154 km2 (Kernel Density Estimation) spanning from Moorea westward to Raiatea of the Society Islands. Application of a two-state Hidden Markov Model differentiated movement along each individual track between transient and area restricted searching behavioral states that revealed a positive relationship between bathymetric features and horizontal movement. Here we report additional evidence of site fidelity for the largely oceanic species with 5 of 6 tagged sharks returning to Moorea and 4 of 6 sharks making three or more repeat visits to various islands or bathymetric features. Efficient management planning relies on baseline data, with habitat use and movement ecology being of particular interest when establishing protective measures. This study provides the first description of habitat use of C. longimanus in the South Pacific, contributing to the collective global knowledge of an enigmatic species as well as providing insight for effective management in French Polynesia, a designated shark sanctuary. 

Response to a humpack whale carcass within the lagoon of Maatea in collaboration with Asso Oceania on behalf of the DIREN: predatory event analysis and removal of carcass

In response with Association Oceania, Mao Mana Foundation traveled to the site in response to the humpback whale calf carcass report with the objectives to 1) investigate the presence of predators in response to the carcass 2) investigate predation marks on the carcass to identify species involved with predation 3) assist Oceania in their sample collection by providing shark safety in-water during sampling 4) assist in the towing of the carcass offshore to prevent attraction of predators to human populated areas. The predation on the carcass by two mature tiger sharks was documented offshore of Moorea.