By Hans Nicholas Jong
JAKARTA — A project to revive zebra shark numbers in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago has welcomed the successful hatching of 24 pups so far this year, including five most recently in April.
The newest hatchling, Lingka, was named by the Indonesian public in an online poll. The name means “roaming” in the Acehnese language of northern Sumatra, at the other end of the Indonesian archipelago from Raja Ampat, with the hope that the shark will thrive in the wild and roam the waters of Raja Ampat.
Zebra shark pup “Lingka”. Image courtesy of ReShark.
Lingka is part of the StAR project, short for Stegostoma tigrinum Augmentation and Recovery. That project is in turn the first of several to be implemented under ReShark, a global coalition of more than 90 conservation organizations, aquariums, government agencies and more, dedicated to recovering threatened shark and ray populations around the world.
StAR in particular focuses on restoring zebra sharks, an endangered species found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific. For the project, adult zebra sharks at accredited facilities are being purpose-bred. Once they lay eggs, the eggs are shipped to the waters of Raja Ampat, where they are closely monitored at two nurseries. Each successful hatching then yields a 25-centimeter (10-inch) baby shark, known as a pup.
Lingka and another pup born in April, Spotty Dotty, were born from eggs that came from SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium in Australia. There, four sharks have been enrolled in the StAR project. Two are males — Leo and Gohan, who has already fathered a number of females — and the other two are females, Zimba and Kaya.
Zebra shark egg being prepared for shipment at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.
So far, six eggs flown from SEA LIFE have hatched, and four of the pups have been reintroduced into the pristine waters of Raja Ampat.
Lingka and Spotty Dotty are expected to join them soon, but for now are being cared for by specially trained aquarists in a marine nursery hosted by the nonprofit Misool Foundation.
“We’re so proud to support this multi-agency global effort in marine conservation. Never has human involvement provided so much hope for a shark species,” said Taylah Starc, an aquarist at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium. “To see sharks that were bred at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium, now hatched and swimming in the wild, where they once faced regional extinction is incredibly rewarding.”
The three other pups born in April were hatched from eggs from Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and Shark Reef Aquarium in Las Vegas. Named Wooly, Myra and Ethan, the pups are being kept in another nursery that’s part of the StAR Project and managed by the Raja Ampat Research and Conservation Centre (RARCC), a nonprofit of Papua Diving.
Raja Ampat used to teem with zebra sharks. But in the 1990s and early 2000s, they were severely overfished for their meat, fins and liver oil, used in making health supplements. As a result, the archipelago’s zebra shark population dropped to an estimated 20, with experts warning of a 23% chance the species could go extinct in the region.
Without human intervention, it could take 100 years to recover the species to a minimum viable population size in Raja Ampat. That’s where the StAR project comes in.
Within 10 years of the project’s start in 2022, it targets the release of 500 sharks into the wild, the minimum population required to maintain high genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding.
To date, five zebra shark pups have been released into the waters of Raja Ampat under the project. And conservationists say recently hatched pups like Lingka and Spotty Dotty will eventually join them once they’re deemed to be healthy and strong enough.
A young zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) swimming among the mangroves. Image courtesy of Indo-Pacific Films.
Raja Ampat was chosen as a release location for the project because it sits in the heart of the Pacific Coral Triangle, the most biodiverse marine area in the world, and thus has plenty of underwater terrain to support a robust zebra shark population.
Raja Ampat also has some of the strongest marine protection coverage in Indonesia, with the government declaring it a shark and ray sanctuary, where catching of sharks and rays is completely prohibited.
The strict regulations are bolstered by regular marine patrols and strong law enforcement, allowing marine wildlife to thrive.
“With the safe arrival of the latest pups, Lingka and Spotty Dotty, we are witnessing a beacon of hope for the future of zebra sharks in Raja Ampat,” Starc said. “With pilot projects like this, it is hoped we can establish similar initiatives for other marine species which are also sadly in decline.”
Banner image: Project diver observes zebra shark “Audrey’ in Wayag Lagoon post release. Image courtesy of Indo Pacific Films.
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This article was originally published on Mongabay
