SHARK ON FRONT COVER OF THE 2015 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MARINE LIFE SA CALENDAR

The MLSSA 2015 South Australian Marine Life calendar is now available. The retail price is still $10 per calendar. The Facebook page for the calendar is at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marine-Life-SA-calendars/238264916242379 .The calendar can be seen in its entirety at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/110478079/MLSSA%202015%20cal.pdf. Email to sdfsa@adam.com.au
to place any orders for the calendar. Postage is extra. Copies will be available at SDF & MLSSA meetings.

Regular contributor to the calendar, Alexius Sutandio, took the stunning shark image for the calendar’s front cover.

Every SA Marine Life Calendar comprises of 12 main images (Jan to Dec), an additional image for Jan of the following year, 12 small images (Jan to Dec), plus the front cover image and the rear cover summary of the 12 main images. To pay for your calendar order, pay $10 per cal + P&H ($2.50/1 cal, $3.50/2-3 cals) by EFT to People’s Choice Credit Union, Marine Life Soc, BSB 805 050, a/c 61573714 or mail cheque to MLSSA, C/o CCSA, Level 1, 157 Franklin St, Adelaide SA 5000.

Captured shark released back into the water at Wallaroo jetty

Congratulations to 10-year old Jessica Griffiths of Malvern for returning the Port Jackson shark, that she caught in her crab net, back into the water at Wallaroo jetty (after the obligatory photograph).

TALK ABOUT SHARK RESEARCH

Dr. Jonathan Sandoval-Castillo is giving a talk about shark research at the Flinders University Underwater Club (http://underwater.flindersclubs.asn.au/ ) in Bedford Park on 19^th June (see http://wp.me/p4BvtZ-4U and http://www.flinders.edu.au/people/jonathan.sandoval-castillo ).

NZ SHARK-FINNING BAN

A ban on shark finning comes into force in New Zealand on 1^st October this year. The ban applies to all shark species in NZ fisheries. The Animal Welfare Act already prohibits the removal of fins from live sharks. The new ban makes it illegal to kill sharks for their fins.

SHARK DETECTION TECHNOLOGY BEING DEVELOPED

The company that launched “anti-shark wetsuits” last year is now developing a buoy to alert lifeguards of the presence of sharks. Shark Mitigation Systems, together with Optus, is developing shark detection technology which uses sonar to scan the water for shark-like objects. A 25-kg buoy would communicate with sonar transducers mounted on a frame on the seabed. An alert would be sent via satellite to lifeguards. Such a method would alleviate the need for shark culling procedures.