- DISCOVERY Yacht Valkyrie
Tracking Shark Movements in Southern California
- August 22, 2025
- Anacapa, California
Project Overview
Hundreds of individual animals across dozens of species have been tagged with acoustic transmitters on the US west coast. Often these animals cover great distances and cross state and international boundaries. By deploying a ‘gate’ of acoustic receivers between Channel Islands Harbor and Anacapa Island, we improve the chances of capturing animal movement through the Southern California Bight. These acoustic receivers are on loan form the Ocean Tracking Network, and provided through a grant.
Application
Short term, The research team will see if any of their previously tagged animals (white sharks, bat rays, leopard sharks, and angel sharks) are crossing back and forth across this region. They can gain further information about seasonal movement and migration for these species based on when and how often animals are detected crossing the gate. Longer term, they will share detections with other researchers, so they can see when their tagged animals cross the gate.
Expedition Summary
On August 22nd, 2025, SeaKeepers assisted the California State University Long Beach Shark Lab with an instrument deployment aboard DISCOVERY Yacht Valkyrie, with Captain Tom Petersen at the helm. The team successfully dropped 18 receivers from the vessel starting at Anacapa Island, and ending at Channel Islands Harbor, California. Each receiver is anchored with sandbags, and equipped with a release so they can be recovered after 6 months. The expedition went smoothly and was completed after only a day out at sea.
Location
Anacapa Island/Channel Islands Harbor
Duration of Project
The receivers will be recovered after six months to download the data; then will be redeployed for another 6-month period. The receivers are intended to stay indefinitely.
Leadership
Research Team
- James Anderson (Postdoc)
- Zach Merson (Field Technician)
- Amanda Ho (Field Technician)
- Delaney Sauer (Field Technician)
- Brayden Ortiz (Undergraduate)
- Sonny Anderson (Volunteer)
Partner Sites
Publications
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher-Lowe-11
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