Big Shark Swim will help generate funds for research

Dubai: Swimmers relax: No sharks will be directly involved in The Big Shark Swim planned around The World islands on June 19, but the funds raised will definitely help to study and monitor sharks in the region.

The Big Shark Swim is the first swim around the Nakheel offshore development where swimmers can enter to swim 27km inside the breakwater to raise money for the Arabian Whale Shark Research Programme 2010 Musandam Research Expedition.

Shark researchers and film-makers will study and record shark populations in Musandam for a week from June 20, in conjunction with the Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, the Marine Conservation Society of the Seychelles and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Jonathan Ali Khan, a Dubai-based film-maker and founder of research project Shark Quest Arabia which is producing two documentary films on whale sharks specifically and another on other shark species, will be heading the expedition.

Protected areas

The swim challenge is organised by Element Fitness, a personal training company based in Dubai. Sharon James, director of Element Fitness, said each team needs to have five swimmers, and together Dh4,000 has to be raised per team.

Registration is open until tomorrow. A total of seven teams will be able to participate. However, should more people wish to take part, they should be able to provide their own support boat. The swim is expected to take at least six hours for good swimmers.

During the expedition, remotely operated cameras and equipment positioned at varying depths will be used by the researchers to film and record sharks.

The aim of the study is to learn more about the nursing grounds of sharks, to eventually develop them into protected areas, said Khan.

Several numerical tags and satellite tags will be deployed as well. These will detach from the sharks after several months and pop to the surface, at which point the path travelled by the shark will be revealed including water depth and temperature.

Several fixed cameras on mounted stands will be left to run for up to 12 hours at a time with baited poles to attract sharks.

"We want to find what shark species are here. We know from fishermen and fish markets that hammerheads, mako and tiger sharks are in these waters but this will be a comprehensive survey," said Khan.

The footage will be ready to view in its finished format in December at The 2010 Arabian Seas Whale Shark Research symposium in Fujairah. In its second year, the symposium will be running for three days with a special focus on the shark fin trade.

"There is no real method in place to stop shark finning and catching — we are missing the education component. From talking to shark fin traders and distributors it is recognised that this is a dying business because the populations are in decline," said Khan.

An ex-fin trader in the business for 25 years in Dubai reported that in the past up to seven containers of shark fin were exported from the UAE, but today this has dropped to just 400 kilos per month, said Khan. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation eight per cent of shark fin going to Hong Kong, originates from the UAE.

You can take part

To register a team for The Big Shark Swim please visit www.element-fitness.net  and if you want to get involved with shark conservation projects go to www.sharkwatcharabia.com and submit any photos of sharks you have seen in the water or in the fishmarkets.

Each team needs to have five swimmers, and together Dh4,000 has to be raised per team. Registration is open until June 12.

Do you think education will help reduce the number of shark finning? Is educating the public the best way to help stop over fishing? What other ways could be more effective? Tell us...