Baits, underwater cameras to help count world's sharks

Canberra

Using bait attached to underwater cameras at 400 reefs worldwide, scientists are embarking on their first-ever attempt to count the world's sharks, researchers said Tuesday.

By 2018, the program, called Global FinPrint, aims to provide a clear picture of where shark populations are healthy and where they are struggling, and how sharks impact the health of coral reefs. "People may not realize it, but people need sharks," said marine biologist Mike Heithaus, a leading shark researcher from Florida International University.

As top predators in the oceans, sharks play a key role in the food chain. They help control the natural balance underwater by eating turtles and sea cows and keeping down populations that might otherwise overgraze on sea grass, which is important habitat for smaller fish and shrimp that people consume, he said. But sharks are in trouble in some parts of the world. As many as 100 million sharks are taken from the oceans every year for their fins and meat, Heithaus said.

The Global FinPrint project is getting four million dollars in investment from Microsoft cofounder Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Inc., which funds a series of scientific initiatives on ocean health, space flight, and understanding the human brain.