April 2012 Preliminary Great Fiji Shark Count results

Preliminary results of the Great Fiji Shark Count, April 2012

In the month of April, 3,693 divers recorded their shark sightings during 855 dives.

The average diver had done 458 dives in Fiji (many were local divemasters), indicating that their observations were very reliable.

During those dives, 12,073 shark sightings, of 11 species, were recorded, plus 5 species of ray, and 2 species of turtles.

Regular shark feeding dives attracted many more sharks, and some species that were not seen on non-feeding dives, but the majority of observations were natural encounters, not feeding dives.

Feeding dives are indicated in Red italics.

Table of commonness of shark species seen on dives in Fiji coastal waters

Most Common Sharks	English Name	Scientific Latin Name	Average number sharks per dive	Notes
1	Bull	Carcharhinus leucas	1.123866	Shark Feeds predominantly
2	Whitetip Reef	Triaenodon obesus	0.881651
3	Grey Reef	Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos	0.599583
4	Blacktip Reef	Carcharhinus melanopterus	0.296363
5	Tawny Nurse	Nebrius ferrugineus	0.152319
6	Scalloped Hammerhead	Sphyrna lewini	0.14561	Schools seen on South Vanua Levu
7	Indo-Pacific Lemon	Negaprion acutidens	0.049242	Shark Feeds only
8	Silvertip	Carcharhinus albimarginatus	0.033955
9	Leopard (or Zebra)	Stegastoma fasciatum	0.00581
10	Tiger	Galeocerdo cuvier	0.00098	Shark Feeds only
11	Guitarfish	Rhynchobatus sp.	0.00051
12	Great Hammerhead	Sphyrna mokarran	0	None seen

Table of number of dives and sharks recorded in each region of Fiji in April 2012

Region of Fiji	Number of observations recorded	Total Sharks recorded	Average number of sharks per dive	Number of species found
Beqa Shark Feed	330	8269	25.06	8
Beqa Non Feed	255	348	1.36	5
Coral Coast	327	167	0.51	6
Kadavu	181	139	0.77	5
Lomaiviti	148	340	2.3	5
Mamanucas	841	475	0.56	5
Namena	52	207	3.98	2
Savusavu	322	953	2.96	4
Suva	12	1	0.08	1
Taveuni	769	767	1	5
Vatu-i-Ra Passage	455	407	0.89	4

Grand Total	3693	12073

Maps showing number of sharks and shark species in each region

Shark numbers are expressed as the average number of sharks seen on a single dive, to discount multiple sightings by more than one diver per dive.

Apart from the regular feeding dives, the most sharks were seen in Beqa, Namena, Savusavu and Lomaiviti, but a wider variety of species was found in the Mamanuca Islands, the Coral Coast of Viti Levu, Beqa, Kadavu and Taveuni.

: Mapped average number of sharks per dive

: Mapped number of species

Graphs showing numbers of sharks and shark species seen in each region(Shark feeding dives removed)

: Shark numbers graph

Apart from at feeding dives, the highest average shark numbers per dive were seen in Namena and Savusavu, where schooling Scalloped Hammerheads and other pelagic species are regularly seen, followed by the Lomaiviti area, Beqa (non-feeding) and Taveuni.

: Shark species graph

The largest variety of species (apart from the feeding dives) was found on the Coral Coast, where Tawny Nurse and Leopard Sharks are regularly seen in the passages, and Guitar fish occasionally.

Most other regions featured 4 or 5 species most of the time, with Suva and Namena recording a lower number of species.

Table of average number of shark species seen per dive in each region Special sightings

		Number of divers	White-tip Reef	Silvertip	Tawny Nurse	Indo-Pac Lemon	Leopard/ Zebra	Blacktip Reef	Grey Reef	Bull	Tiger	Scalloped Hammerhead	Great Hammerhead	Guitarfish
Region	Beqa Shark Feed	330	4.094	0.345	1.779	0.591	0.018	2.767	2.367	13.097	0.012	0	0	0
	Beqa Non Feed	255	0.557	0	0	0	0	0.306	0.102	0.388	0	0	0	0
	Coral Coast	327	0.309	0.024	0.024	0	0	0.122	0.024	0	0	0	0	0.006
	Kadavu	181	0.503	0.033	0.011	0	0.028	0	0.193	0	0	0	0	0
	Lomaiviti	148	1.074	0	0	0	0.014	0.108	1	0	0	0.101	0	0
	Mamanucas	841	0.429	0	0.008	0	0	0.108	0.018	0.001	0	0	0	0
	Namena	52	1.192	0	0	0	0	0	2.788	0	0	0	0	0
	Savusavu	322	0.752	0	0	0	0	0.075	0.488	0	0	1.646	0	0
	Suva	12	0.083	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Taveuni	769	0.921	0	0.005	0	0.01	0.009	0.052	0	0	0	0	0
	Vatu-i-Ra Passage	455	0.666	0.004	0	0	0	0.062	0.163	0	0	0	0	0
Fiji Average	Including feeding	3693	0.882	0.034	0.152	0.049	0.006	0.296	0.6	1.124	0.001	0.146	0	0.001
Fiji Average	Without feeding	3363	0.59	0.006	0.004	0	0.005	0.072	0.439	0.035	0	0.159	0	0.001

Schooling Scalloped Hammerheads were reported from the Savusavu/ South Vanua Levu reefs.
Guitarfish have only been reported from the Coral Coast of Viti Levu.
Lemon Sharks and Tiger Sharks have only been seen on shark feeding dives.
Bull Sharks are occasionally seen on other reefs, but predominantly on feeding dives

Throughout the months of April and November every year, you have the opportunity to help celebrate and record Fiji’s amazing coral reef biodiversity, show you care about our world’s delicate coral reef systems, and have fun, by taking part in the FIJI-WIDE SHARK COUNT!

Easy to do, this is suitable for visitors and locals alike, whether you like to fish, snorkel, or SCUBA dive. We hope that tourists, school children, scientists and all people with an interest in the marine environment will take to the reefs with us to search for the Sharks of Fiji!

The Great Fiji Shark Count will be held across Fiji every April and November every year.

You can do a single count, or take part as many times as you like during that month, so that you cover different reefs. All data will be gratefully accepted!

So, see your resort, watersports operator or travel agent, get your Shark identification materials and dive into the beautiful blue waters of Fiji, to be a part of history!