Craig Taylor feels comfortable with a shark swimming straight over him with his teeth shown.
The 62-year-old has been submerging in the turquoise waters of Shellharbour on the New South Wales Ilwarra for decades.
The star attraction of the rugged coastline is the gray nurse shark, and in recent weeks, it has seen more than ever.
“They’re basically ocean farmers, that’s what I tell people,” he said.
“They are very docile, they will swim up to you and pass you by.”
Shellharbour diver Craig Taylor says he has seen more gray nurse sharks than ever at Bass Point in recent weeks. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)
Sharks are listed as a critically endangered species along the east coast of Australia, with only an estimated 2,000 remaining in the wild.
Their numbers began to decline in the 1960s and 1970s, in part due to a spearfishing frenzy inspired by the hugely successful film Jaws.
But Taylor believed his population was growing after counting dozens in Bass Point over the past 12 months.
“They’re more prolific than they were last year,” he said.
“Even though they build this time of year before they leave in the winter, seeing so many sharks here is unusual.”
Biologist Adam Stow says anecdotal reports of a large number of gray nurse sharks do not necessarily mean an increase in population. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)
Still under threat
Conservationist biologist Adam Stow, an associate professor at the Macquarie University School of Natural Sciences in Sydney, has been studying the gray nurse shark for nearly 20 years.
He said the species was still in danger of extinction.
“What the gray nurse shark usually does is move up and down the coast annually and stop at particular aggregation sites up and down the east coast,” he said.
“Even if you see fluctuations as an increase in the number of gray nursing sites in particular aggregation sites, it is not necessarily an indication that the general population is growing.
“We need to keep a close eye on the gray nurse shark because it is very much at risk.”
Aggregation sites are known meeting points for sharks and are listed as “critical habitat” by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI).
Bass Point was removed as a critical habitat site in 2013, but its rocky canals and underwater caves continue to attract shark-seeking sharks.
Adam Stow says climate change could be influencing where nurse sharks congregate before migrating to breed. (Provided by: Craig Taylor)
Impacts of climate change
Stow said it was important to continue evaluating and monitoring all existing and potential aggregation sites to understand the species’ recovery.
He said more research was needed on the impact of climate change on their movements.
“There are reasonably long-term climate changes, we are seeing it right now, where we are going through a phase of La Nina.
“Therefore, such changes in the environment could influence the favorability of different aggregation sites.”
Soluble hooks
Trevor Daly, senior director of IPR-threatened species fishing, said much work is being done to monitor sharks, monitor their population and conserve the species.
“One of the things we would like to look at is whether we can develop, through technology, a soluble hook,” he said.
“They often ingest the hook by accident, the line is cut and the shark swims away, but it still has the hook inside doing internal damage.
“So if we can design a new hook, that would probably help the survival of many gray nurse sharks and other large fish that are caught accidentally.”
Bushrangers Bay at Bass Point is one of several areas in Shellharbour that is home to gray nurse sharks. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)
“They’re coming back”
Experts agree that citizen scientists and divers play a key role in reporting sightings of gray nurses.
“It’s great to have this kind of information coming from recreational divers, more and more citizens involved in the scientific process are providing very useful information for the conservation of our endangered species,” Stow said.
Craig Taylor held out hope that the placid creature population would stabilize.
“I think they’re coming back, I think they’re thriving,” he said.
“Since the days of the massacre in the late 1960s, yes, they are on their way back.”
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