Good question!
And the answers are right here.
Well done El Diego, Amigo de los Tiburones and, obviously, piscatorial pride of Colombia!
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Diego Cardeñosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diego Cardeñosa. Show all posts
Friday, June 03, 2016
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Sharks in the Navua River - Paper!
Zero gravitas: Kira, Josh and El Diego - source.
Remember Victor?
No?
Sure you do - that's the dude who investigated the presence of Sharks in Fiji's rivers using LEK and TEK and later on, by fishing for Sharks in the nearby Navua.
Back then I said that there needed to be follow-up.
And there has been, and here is the paper.
Courtesy of Project Abroad's Shark Program, it documents a further extensive LEK survey along with 385 hours of fishing that yielded 2 juvenile Sicklefin Lemons and two juvenile Scalloped Hammers in the estuary, plus only a measly 9 juvenile Bull Sharks - meaning that a) either the breathy hype was totally unwarranted or b) that El Diego actually knows what he's doing but that something has changed compared to 2010 when Victor was able to catch 5 Bulls in a fraction of that time.
My vote goes to the latter - reluctantly!
Once again, the bloody peer review has nixed what I believe is the most important aspect, i.e. that in the meantime, the Navua has been subjected to massive dredging for gravel in mid-river, along with further dredging at the river mouth. Think that maybe, there could be a correlation with the reduction in juveniles as this may have spooked the pregnant females and/or chased away the juveniles and/or destroyed important nursery habitat?
But who I am to say - right?
Anyway, the investigation continues.
Keep watching this space!
PS - and talking of possible Shark nurseries in Fiji, read this!
Very well done Tom!
PS - and talking of possible Shark nurseries in Fiji, read this!
Very well done Tom!
Thursday, January 29, 2015
¡Hasta Luego, Tot Ziens, Goodbye!
Standing, ltr: Miti, El Diego, Tumbee, Andy, Ana, Papa, Salesh, Ned, Jone and Silio - sitting: Rusi, Kira and Nani.
Projects Abroad's Fiji Shark conservation Campaign is one year old, and they are moving on to new challenges and new adventures. We did one last Shark dive, tears were shed, speeches given, kava consumend, Isa Lei sung - and off they went.
Safe travels and godspeed.
You've become like family, and we will always be happy to see you again!
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Stingrays in Beqa Lagoon!
Watch.
This is one of Projects Abroad's BRUV drops.
Quick thinking by El Diego!
Species? :)
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Shark Reef - the Party is over!
Recognize the dude?
Yes this would be Whitenose - for obvious reasons!
This is the very first Bull Shark I've named 12 years ago, and he's still going strong! I wasn't on the dive but El Diego who sent me the picture tells me that he was making sure that everybody knew he was back!
Remember what that means?
Indeed - together with the fact that we're not seeing any more fresh Shark bites, his visit officially concludes the very early, and very short mating season!
Now, the action will slow down as everybody quickly assumes the correct rank within the newly established hierarchy - and then we wait. In four-five months, we'll know who's pregnant and who is not, and compare that to our observations from the last five weeks.
Oh, and Alex:
Guess who was there, too! :)
Oh, and Alex:
Guess who was there, too! :)
Gracias Diego - much appreciated!
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Michael!
Left-to-right: Mavoa, Michael, Api, Aceni, Tumbee at the top an Manoa at the bottom, El Diego, El Ciro and Rusi!
What can I say.
He was here.
For those of you in the know, this is nothing short of a miracle - who would have thought this possible just a couple of years ago!
But I've finally done what I always wanted to do and thrown him to the Sharks. As is usual during this time of the year, the dive was not for the faint of heart, see below - but I can report that he did not even flinch!
But I've finally done what I always wanted to do and thrown him to the Sharks. As is usual during this time of the year, the dive was not for the faint of heart, see below - but I can report that he did not even flinch!
I must really say that Michael Domeier is one great guy.
And lucky, too - his wife Amy Grace is one helluva nice lady!
Anyway, I've had a fabulous time, and so did El Diego and El Ciro that joined us on the dive and later, for an extended round of discussions. Oh - and I'm now the proud owner of a jar of very rare and very premium Great White Honey - simply delicious, get one!
Great stuff!
Moce mada amigo - and come back soon!
Friday, October 24, 2014
El Diego - it's a Boy!
Bravo!
El Diego has just published his master's paper.
I must say that in its details, it far surpasses the knowledge accumulated in my truncated biology studies many decades ago - but what I (maybe) understand, is that it provides evidence for two distinct populations of Pelagic Threshers in the Pacific. Considering that this is an extremely wide-ranging epipelagic Shark, this is rather spectacular - as is the fact that individuals from the two groups are living sympatrically in Hawaii without interbreeding, a fact that could indicate that they may well be distinct subspecies or species.
Or maybe I understand nothing and it's all different.
You be the judge of that - open-access paper here!
Enjoy!
Sunday, October 05, 2014
El Diego - Interview!
Nice!
Meet El Diego!
Please don't tell him, or he may get even cockier than he already is - but I actually do agree with Jillian that he's a really nice guy with tons of passion, and a huge positive influence on the Shark research of Projects Abroad.
Monday, September 22, 2014
El Diego - Fly with me!
Nice!
This is the positive side of the drought.
Even on a less favorable tide, the viz has been good - and when the tide is right, it is simply stellar, as in gin clear!
That is, unless we get jinxed by Kira!
Anyway.
Enjoy!
Friday, September 19, 2014
El Diego - that's how you do it!
Finally!
Look at that picture!
Yes El Diego (aka the piscatorial pride of Colombia) is finally displaying some long overdue decorum - remember the boisterous showmanship that earned him a highly disapproving glare from Kira, and a scathing review by El Not Impressed D'oh?
All I can say is that it was about bloody time he cleaned up his act!
But on a more serious note.
That's a juvenile Hammerhead from the Rewa river where Diego has been invited to join a research trip to study Hammerhead shark populations in Fiji. Like announced last year, Juerg and Projects Abroad have now started to cautiously engage with local tertiary institutions. The Hammerhead study is a brand new project by the new Head of the School of Marine Studies at USP, Professor Ciro Rico, and it really looks like this is but a first step towards what will become a rather close cooperation - both academically but also in other matters that will be hopefully announced shortly.
Ciro is planning to finally elevate the School to its true potential, for which he will need to quickly attain critical high-quality mass - meaning that he is eager to hear from talented graduate students!
So if yer diligent and hi-powered - here's you chance!
And... in your time off, you can come and experience the Best Shark Dive in the Word! :)
Now how good is that!
To be continued!
Sunday, September 07, 2014
Friday, September 05, 2014
New Girl on the Block!
Bravo El Diego!
As the curator of the FB list, he has become a veritable ID pro.
Case in point, he has just spotted this new small female with her unmistakable rounded first dorsal.
And the name?
Usually, it reflects the distinguishing feature, and this one is no exception: meet Oceania - because her first dorsal is vaguely reminiscent of that of an Oceanic Whitetip!
And because it's a nice name, too!
Monday, August 11, 2014
BRUVS' in Beqa Lagoon - cool!
After the teenage Tiger on steroids, now this.
Last week did yield one big Tiger overhead, one small nosy one, one whopping Lemon, a beautiful Zebra and the cutest tiny Silvertip, ever! All of course part of Projects Abroad's stellar Fiji Shark program.
Enjoy!
Friday, July 04, 2014
Feisty Tiger in Fiji!
Epic!
This is from three days ago.
El Diego decided to do someting different and instead of performing one of Project Abroad's usual standardized BRUV drops, he tied a whole Tuna carcass to a cinder block.
Talk about a teenage Tiger on steroids!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
El Diego!
So this is he, the piscatorial pride of Colombia.
Standing, ecstatically - by popular demand!
Sorry no bikini clad "disenfranchised youth" quite yet - but we're working on it!
Monday, April 21, 2014
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie!
Bravo!
We got ourselves another minuscule Bull Shark!
Kudos to Projects Abroad's Shark supremo Diego for having doggedly persevered and finally managed to hit the right combination of habitat, current, temperature and salinity!
May this be the start of many more such exploits?
We shall see. For now, it's an A+ for sheer determination - the question being, is this the pathway to triumphal glory or will it lead to utter piscatorial ignominy instead?
No pressure!
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