General News
19 November, 2021
A TIGER shark called Saki
A TIGER shark called Saki (Sah-Kee) has been adopted by a group of senior students from Peace Lutheran College and they are watching her every move, via satellite.
Saki was the focus of fundraising efforts by the students to purchase a satellite navigation tag so that the four-metre-long shark could be tracked by the marine research team at James Cook University.
The largest shark ever tagged in the Great Barrier Reef, Saki will enable the team to collect valuable data on migration patterns, movement behaviour and habitat use.
Her name was chosen by the students and is derived from “Sak” which is the word for shark in Torres Strait Creole. Senior Captains at the college decided to direct their focus during their graduating year on the plight of marine life in the world’s oceans.
They used Containers for Change as the main driver of their fundraising efforts and also organised many events and activities so that whole study body was onboard and excited about the project.
The students worked with Adam Barnett through the JCU tracking program and the Biopixel Oceans Foundation.
Adam is a member of Biopixel’s production team and is also known for his research for JCU, tagging and tracking sharks. He is involved in marine research across the East Coast of Australia, PNG and several other locations.
She was originally tagged in Repulse Bay in the Whitsunday Islands and has travelled more than 1100 kilometres in the Great Barrier Reef marine park.
Track Saki live on the Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef website: https://citizensgbr.org/explore/reef-tracks/b-saki
