The Great Fiji Shark Count

Counting Fiji's sharks, rays and turtles

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You are here: Home / Shark Biology and Lifestyle / Shark Lifestyle

Shark Lifestyle

What is a shark’s life like?

Sharks have been on Earth for more than 400 million years. There were sharks before, during and after the time of the Dinosaurs, and they have certainly been around much longer than mankind. Their bodies are so well adapted to their lifestyle that there have been no major changes for millions of years.

There are now more than 450 kind of sharks on the planet, and they live in many different ways, from tiny deep-water scavengers to huge open-ocean filter feeders.

Whitetip Reef sharksMost of the sharks we come into contact with on coral reefs and in the shallow ocean share similar lifestyles. Most of them live either alone or in small groups, with males and female living apart except for mating times.

Most give birth to living baby sharks, although a few do lay eggs. Most do not mate until they are 7 to 12 years old, and then only have a few babies, normally between 2 and 10 at a time. Sharks can live for more than 20 years.

Grey reef sharksUnlike other kinds of fish, sharks do not have a gas filled “swim bladders’ to control their buoyancy (whether they sink or float), and do need to have water running over their gills at all time to breathe.

This means that many sharks have to keep swimming all the time so that they do not sink and stop moving. Other species can stop swimming and sit on the sea bed, but move their gill covers all the time to breathe.

 

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Welcome to The Great Fiji Shark Count !

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!

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  • RT @MarineEcoFiji: #MarineConservationSociety has released its latest #GoodFishGuide ratings, together with a new ‘Seafood Checker’ tool to… 09:30 October 12, 2022 from TweetDeck
  • RT @MarineEcoFiji: Best Practice #Mangrove Planting For #Fiji – A Discussion Document This review prepared by Dr Dick Watling is founded on… 03:38 July 31, 2021 from TweetDeck
  • RT @MarineEcoFiji: A Mangrove Management Plan for #Fiji Phase 1 - Zonation requirements and a plan for the #mangroves of the Ba, Labasa and… 03:21 July 22, 2021 from TweetDeck

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