For Australian diving icon Valerie Taylor, the results of Australia’s first harmonized grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) census were a heartbreaking culmination of decades of hard work.
The grey nurse shark inhabits coastal waters of warm-temperate and tropical regions, with a disjunct … [+]
A species that inhabits coastal waters of warm-temperate and tropical regions, with a disjunct distribution worldwide, these sharks have had a tough time lately. In addition to having low fecundity, they also undergo intrauterine cannibalistic and oophagous phases during fetal development. As a whole, these species have faced widespread overfishing, which has led to them being classified as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2000. Currently, the major grey nurse shark populations exist only on the eastern coasts of North and South America, South Africa and Australia, where they have two distinct genetic populations. In the east Australian population, which is found off Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW), there have been numerous disturbances over the past century that has led to the population being estimated at approximately 2,000 individuals. Due to this, this population is listed by the IUCN as ‘Critically Endangered’, and is protected under state and Commonwealth laws.
Once living peacefully off Australia’s eastern shores, it wasn’t until the 1960’s and 70’s that things took a turn for the worst for this species. Back then, newspapers labeled grey nurse sharks as the ‘usual suspect’ for any shark attacks in the area due to our little understanding about their docile behavior. This sensationalist and inaccurate reporting caused the general public perception of these sharks to be a bad one, with most seeing them as dangerous. It was deemed a heroic act to kill these sharks… and grey nurse shark aggregations became a target for spearfishermen throwing explosive underwater powerheads, which further decimated this supposed man-eater population. One of these fishermen was Ron Taylor who, with his wife Valerie, were convinced these sharks were exactly that: monsters. “People became terrified to go to the beach,” Taylor, now 87, says. “Gung-ho men took it upon themselves to kill sharks.”
A renowned underwater filmmaking pair, they knew shark footage sold and would seek out sharks of all … [+]
A renowned underwater filmmaking pair, they knew shark footage sold and would seek out sharks of all different species to make a living – a career that led them to work with then-little-known director Steven Spielberg for the movie Jaws. It would end up being both a career triumph and a wake-up call for her: “Jaws is a fictitious story about a fictions shark. Ron, myself, and Universal were horrified by the adverse reaction of the public. It seems people wanted to believe there was a monster waiting to attack them if they went swimming. The media, seeing a dramatic story, helped reinforce the fear mongers.” It took a while for the Taylor’s to shake themselves free of the mentality that sharks were man-eaters, but were amongst the first Australians to recognize that their local grey nurse should be protected. “It took only a year or so to learn the habits of the sharks along the East coast and we very quickly discovered that the grey nurse [sharks] were peaceful bottom feeders,” she says.
The couple decided to use their expertise to highlight the plight of this shark through film, a documentary that was initially supposed to be called ‘The Grey Nurse Shark’ but was changed to ‘The Vanishing Grey Nurse’ when their filming expeditions resulted in very few sharks. “In one gutter off Seal Rocks we saw over 30 dead sharks [that were killed by explosive underwater powerheads]. After that, I went to work to get the grey nurse protected by law. It took a lot of effort, but eventually because of my efforts, the grey nurse became the first shark in the world to be protected.” After the government of New South Wales designated them as ‘vulnerable’ in 1984, other Australian states followed suit in protecting their local populations. Despite the fact that it gave her hope at the time, Taylor feels disappointed on what has happened since. “The grey nurse [sharks] have never recovered. The numbers are still way down.” While the declaration has stopped divers from killing grey nurse sharks for fun, the species is a slow breeder and is still struggling decades after the fact to rebound. They produce only one or two pups every two to three years and because of this slow breeding rate, the grey nurse shark population has been slow to recover from the dramatic population decline they faced due to previous persecution from the Australian public.
Volvo’s Ocean Lover’s Festival in Sydney recently saw a census of grey nurse sharks throughout their … [+]
Volvo’s Ocean Lover’s Festival in Sydney recently saw a census of grey nurse sharks throughout their known range in the eastern part of Australia. Led by Taylor and Captain Gordon Scott, both were disheartened when less than 300 individuals were ID-ed. In Taylor’s opinion, the low numbers of these animals are due to inadequate government protection. Fighting for these animals most of her life, she thinks only one thing will properly conserve these sharks: “The only hope this magnificent fish has of surviving into the future is total protection of their habitats. It’s no use protecting the tiger if you don’t protect the jungle where it lives. There are thousands of kilometers of water along the coast just put aside all the know shark gutters as no take zones. The marine biodiversity will improve and as a result so will the numbers of fish and grey nurse sharks.”
Today, there is no better way to see one of Australia’s most endangered and iconic marine species up close than by diving with the large, free-ranging sharks. Although grey nurse sharks look frightening, they pose no threat to divers and have yet to hurt or bite anyone. Because of its large size, slow movements, tendency to aggregate, and relatively placid nature, the grey nurse shark is an ideal candidate for eco-tourism in eastern Australia, since divers can easily interact with the sharks without fear of attack. As a consequence, there have been scuba diving operators established nearby aggregation sites for many years. “There are dive shops all along our coast who rely on taking divers out to dive with and photograph the grey nurse,” explains Taylor. “I have swum with them for over 63 years. They are my favourite shark, sweet-natured, beautiful to watch and very accepting of divers who visit their domain.”
Efforts to protect the shark’s habitat will hopefully bring a happy ending to a decades-long struggle for the grey nurse sharks. At least, that’s what Taylor is hoping for.
