Aww Sharks

Perched precariously on the bow of the boat I shine a light into the darkness ahead. A new moon throws it’s shade onto the sky and under star spangled darkness we whip around a bank and target Orion’s belt low behind the mountains. On a mission to catch, measure, tag and release juvenile sharks which have been known to amass in and around the Ba River mouth. Ba is up the northwestern part of Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu.

Sharks are an all too familiar presence for the local community, ending up on the ends of lines intended for fish. Children play on banks of the mineral rich black sands, brought down by the river from the volcanic interior, knowing full well it is a common thoroughfare for preggy sharks. One of my crew the ever wise Titoko earlier pointed out a spot where he recounted a large bull shark breach the water at top speed and came down with a dozen pups, not a hundred meters from where the kids are playing.

We know little of the scattering of the several shark species here but what we do know is that their future may not be certain with an increasing human presence. Their existence could very well be perched precariously so I intend to shine a light into the darkness ahead.

A healthy juvenile scalloped hammerhead shark tagged and released.