Monitoring of Sharks in populated ports and visitor sites in Galapagos
The Galapagos National Parks Administration (GNP), with the support of the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), have been monitoring sharks at visitor sites and populated ports around the archipelago to learn which species frequent these areas and gather hard data on which to base management measures.
Preliminary results did not identify any unexpected species. The species observed at sites like León Dormido in San Cristobal were Galapagos sharks, silky sharks and hammerhead, at most 1.30 meters in length – i.e. juveniles. Sharks were observed in places where fishermen gut their fish, and GNP and the navy have stepped up efforts to make fishermen and tourists respect the prohibition against throwing organic waste into the ocean. Many sites inspected had no sharks.
Ongoing monitoring of sites and collecting data from tags on some animals will continue. A receiver station for shark transponders was placed at that site and five sharks were tagged to determine if those sharks migrate or remain in these areas.
Other San Cristobal sites monitored include La Lobería, Naufragio Bay and Tongo Reef; no sharks were observed there.