The Coralina Corporation, environmental authority of the Seaflower biosphere reserve, announced the successful transfer of a female tiger shark in San Andrés. The entity had recently requested the support of national and international experts to capture the two specimens that live in the protected area of the archipelago and take them away from the coast to preserve their lives.
The transfer of these animals arose after the death of a foreign tourist who was bitten by a tiger shark last week. Although the authorities warned Antonio Roseto Degli Abruzzi not to swim in the area because of the presence of the specimens, the tourist ignored it.
The citizens of the archipelago began to consider the presence of sharks a danger and have sought “revenge”. During this week there have been several cases in which citizens catch sharks and in some cases even torture them to death. On March 21, the Coralina Corporation denounced the hunting of a nurse shark, which poses no danger to humans.
With this panorama, the corporation showed on social networks the successful transfer of one of these animals to preserve its life.” This afternoon, shark experts and Coralina staff captured and placed in a safe area the 3.6-meter female shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) that prowled the Pox Hole sector,” the entity wrote in its Twitter account. At the same time, he commented that the specimen had a satellite tag installed to monitor its route.
Coralina also shared a video showing part of the procedure:
When the experts captured the animal, they took a genetic sample to conduct an in-depth study on tiger sharks in the reserve. “Later, he was released more than 10 miles from San Andres Island in a deep fishing area,” the corporation added.
This procedure is the first done in San Andrés and they achieved it thanks to the support of Dr. Diego Cardeñosa, from Florida International University. The expert “brought satellite tags to support us with the safe capture of the animal and long-term tracking,” the environmental authority said in a press release.
The shark can be tracked in real time, and according to Coralina, an application will be enabled so that the general public can see the animal and learn more about its behavior and importance to ecosystems.
The entity also asked the inhabitants to protect the species found in their natural habitat and invited citizens to contact 123, in which case they saw illegal fishing activities for sharks, rays, chimeras, protected species in the territory.
It should be recalled that sharks have protection by regulation at the national level and additionally local protection within the framework of popular action that has obliged all authorities to protect them for more than 14 years.
The behavior of a tiger shark
Due to the controversy generated by the death of the Italian tourist, Coralina provided information about tiger sharks. The environmental authority assures that these animals only approach the shores of the ocean at night, since during the day they prefer deep waters. Therefore, seeing them from the banks is extraordinary.
On the other hand, tiger sharks are alpha predators: they eat virtually everything from fish, reptiles and mollusks to other sharks. As biologist Carlos Julio Polo explained to the newspaper El Tiempo, they do have some preferences: human flesh is not appetizing for sharks due to its lack of fat and that is why they put other marine mammals, such as seals, sea lions, whales, among others.
In the presence of a human in the ocean, a tiger shark can attack because it is hungry, mistook the person for a seal and decided to hunt it. It will be more difficult for you to discern thanks to the reflection of the sun in the water and the poor vision of your eyes.
KEEP READING: