I completed my undergraduate degree in Marine Biology at James Cook University in Townsville Australia in 2006. I then received a first class Honours in Marine Biology at Charles Darwin University in Darwin in 2007; the title of my thesis being 'An information theoretic assessment of spot-pattern matching software and its application to population estimates of whale sharks'. I recently completed my PhD on reef shark movement and feeding ecology at Charles Darwin University.
Abstract: Movements of reef sharks at Ningaloo Reef are being tracked over the next three years using the Australian Acoustic Tagging and Monitoring System (AATAMS). Sharks are being monitored to establish long-term patterns of habitat use and dispersal, which is essential information for effective management of populations. Water temperature is also monitored to examine its effects on movement and distribution of sharks. We have so far tagged 83 sharks with acoustic tags (34 at Mangrove Bay; 49 at Coral Bay) since November 2007, and collected > 100,000 receiver detections of the 49 Coral Bay sharks. Half of the sharks tagged in 2007 (n = 5) are still being detected at Coral Bay, indicating some degree of residency. Juvenile blacktip reef sharks have only been detected inshore at Coral Bay, whereas adult blacktip and grey reef sharks have been recorded at both inshore and mid-reef receivers. Both adult and juvenile blacktip reef sharks show 24-hr periodicity in visiting inshore areas, but may be using the area at different times. Another 45 sharks will be tagged over the next two years, of which 10 will be continuously tracked. This active tracking will provide fine-scale movement patterns of reef sharks which will assist in determining home-ranges and habitat use.
