Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Great Barrier Reef sharks on the edge

Sharks living around the coral reefs of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) face imminent “ecological” extinction unless urgent action is taken to protect them from fishermen and poachers, according to the first study of the animals’ survival on the GBR.

Densities of grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) and whitetip shark (Triaenodon obesus) are down by as much as 97% in parts of the GBR that are fished compared to areas where fishing vessels are banned. So says Howard Choat, who carried out the study with colleagues at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. Fishing vessels are banned from “no entry” zones, which make up only 1% of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Read more about the plight of the sharks here

1 comment:

Viagra without prescription said...

I love the surf, for this reason I know that danger in the coral reefs, specially in Australia, this place is the home of many of the most dangerous sharks!