Saturday, December 26, 2015

Healing in Sharks - Paper!

Click for detail!

Love it!

Check out this new paper.
Much like we continue to document the miraculous healing power of our Bulls, the authors describe the same faculties in Blacktip Reefies, often equally through observations in the field.
Very nice!

And I like the part about releasing hooked animals!
Our Sharks regularly steal bait and fish from the local fishermen, and we get to see countless individuals sporting hooks, with and without lines; and with the notable exception of Pointer that got hooked in the throat and had a rope trailing from her gills for several years, we could not discern any notable reduction in the Sharks' fitness, with all hooks disappearing within weeks to as couple of months.
With that in mind and considering the substantial fragility of some species, I totally agree that it's probably best to forego hook removal in favor of minimizing handling time and thus potentially lethal stress for the animals, and that all unwanted Sharks should be released even if mechanically injured.

Anyway, very well done indeed.
Enjoy the paper!

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