YouTube video by Sharks and Rays

Acrylic Paint, Pastel Pencils, on 18X24 Canvas, 2023.

SINGAPORE – In the dead of night, a small shark less than a metre long crawls among seagrass meadows, using its fins to push itself along as it searches for a meal. Known as the Indonesian speckled carpetshark, this creature belongs to one of the six species of walking sharks found in Indonesia and is found exclusively in the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia. While all walking shark species are protected in Indonesia, their nocturnal behaviour and tendency to hide in coral crevices make it difficult for scientists to map the distribution of each species accurately. To better monitor these creatures, Indonesian scientists have developed a new method to detect walking sharks in the waters of Raja Ampat using only seawater samples. By testing for genetic material in the water left behind specifically by the sharks, researchers can determine their presence without diving or carrying out nocturnal reef surveys, which in turn informs their planning and management of conservation areas. The research was conducted by a team of scientists from research non-profit Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia, Indonesian government agency National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), national foundation Konservasi Indonesia, and other partners. After collecting around three to five litres of seawater...