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Eye

Sightings

Total Confirmed Unique Individuals in Spot a Shark Database

1157

Total Unique Individuals sighted in previous 15 years (2007+)

1121

Total Unique Individuals sighted in last 10 years (2012+)

452

Sightings can be few and far between for some individuals. If an individual has not been sighted for more than 15 years it most likely has died since these aggregation sites are well documented and the Grey Nurse sharks are habitual creatures that should be sighted at one or more of these sites throughout the year.  

Recent evidence suggests that whilst numbers of sharks may be increasing, the overall health of the East Coast population is reducing and affecting mortality rates.


All line fishing methods that use hooks have the potential to harm Grey Nurse Sharks. Aside from the countless sightings of these sharks with hooks in their gills, mouth and eyes, autopsies of Grey Nurse Sharks found that hooks can become embedded in the throat and stomach, and can puncture the shark’s large liver. This can lead to bacterial infection, septicaemia (blood poisoning) and ultimately death, and is the largest known source of human-induced mortality of the species.

Sightings since 2007v3.JPG

Number of Individuals sighted per location within our Spot a Shark database (at Oct 2021) 

Surveys

If you would like to participate in surveys, or donate money towards population surveys please contact Sean@spotashark.com to learn more about how to help.

The best method is for divers and Dive Shops to encourage photographers to upload their photos to Spotashark.com to help us continue this study.

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