Divers, Fishers and Scientists Map Sharks and Rays to Save Them

Knowing where different sharks and rays reproduce, feed, hang out, and rest, is important for conservation. But it is hard to do – unless everyone joins in. Now, a new atlas of these areas is sparking optimism for these threatened fishes.

Writer: SL Wong

Editor: YH Law

Published: 14 October 2024

Explore the Interactive Map of Malaysia’s Important Shark and Ray Areas

(Feature video: Scalloped Hammerheads (Sphyrna lewinii) gather in Sipadan and Layang-Layang; where do they come from, and where are they going? (Credit: www.scubazoo.com)

(Feature video: Scalloped Hammerheads (Sphyrna lewinii) gather in Sipadan and Layang-Layang; where do they come from, and where are they going? (Credit: www.scubazoo.com)

THE CORAL reef wall at Hanging Garden, Sipadan, is colourful, popping with yellow crinoids, purple table corals and orange-and-white clownfish. But the scuba divers ignore it. Instead, they drift in the deep blue, away from the reef that plunges to a depth of 600 m.

Suddenly, they see them, a shiver of sharks with unmistakable hammer-like heads. And the divers whoop in celebration.

Every year between July and November, groups of magnificent Scalloped Hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) swim through here and South Point, two dive sites south of this Sabah island. On average, the sharks are in groups of 40. It is a spine-tingling sight. No wonder the divers whoop.

Hammerheads are known to be migratory, but why they keep appearing here, where they come from, and where they are heading, remain puzzles to be solved.

Still, their regular aggregation here alone has put Sipadan on a new global conservation list. The list of Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) comprises critical habitats of sharks and their relatives, rays, and chimaeras.

Malaysia’s 10 ISRAs comprise the expected, such as the Coral Triangle islands and the surprising, such as Kuala Pahang. Explore them all in Macaranga’s interactive ISRA map.

Malaysia’s 10 ISRAs comprise the expected, such as the Coral Triangle islands and the surprising, such as Kuala Pahang. Explore them all in Macaranga’s interactive ISRA map.

“This compilation of information at the species level and considering science-based criteria is the first attempt to ‘put sharks on the map’,” says Dr Rima Jabado, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group. These fishes are going extinct fast, second in scale globally only to amphibians. The Group developed the ISRAs to try to halt the loss.

Though not yet 2 years old, the approach is already seeing results. “ISRAs are being considered in marine spatial planning,” says Jabado. “They are being prioritised for monitoring and enforcement of protected areas. Some areas have led to the protection of species nationally.”

And since April, Malaysia has been part of that list with its 10 ISRAs, including Sipadan. This is critical for Malaysian sharks and rays: scientists warn that too many are ending up in fishing nets and soup bowls, as well as on charcoal grills. But officially, Malaysia denies the existence of targeted shark fishing. Instead, the government considers sharks as bycatch, caught by accident.

Hence, it is crucial to identify the areas that endangered sharks and rays use.

“There is so little data, information, and research on sharks and rays in critical habitats in Malaysia,” says WWF-Malaysia’s Serena Adam. As a IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group member, Serena coordinated the Malaysian ISRA listings.

“I’m still surprised that all the 10 areas we proposed were approved. The ISRA criteria is very tight.” Nine proposed sites made it as ISRAs; the remaining one designated as an Area of Interest could be upgraded to an ISRA with more evidence.

The IUCN criteria are built on “the complex behaviours, ecology, and biological needs of sharks including species’ vulnerability, range restriction, key life-history activities, distinctiveness, and diversity”, according to the ISRA portal.

The Sipadan ISRA, for one, meets several criteria. Vulnerable species visit the area for essential phases in their life history. The critically endangered Scalloped Hammerheads aggregate in Sipadan; the endangered Grey Reef Sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) reproduce there; and the vulnerable Whitetip Reef Sharks (Triaenodon obesus) breed and rest in groups there.

Meeting each criterion demands robust scientific evidence. Obviously, it will not do to hang about in the deep blue in Sipadan, willing Hammerheads to appear. But dive operator Scuba Junkie SEAS actually did something with these experiences.

Between 2010­–2019, they kept a detailed logbook of species sightings by their dive masters and customers. Logging ensures better service by underwater tour guides, dive tourism being an important, lucrative industry.

In all, they logged a whopping 13,308 dives. This data helped Sipadan qualify as an ISRA.

Global acknowledgement

“It is heartening to know that [Sipadan] now has formal recognition from world experts as a vitally important habitat for the shark species using it,” says Dr Catherine McCaan, a marine biologist who was conservation manager of the outfit then. 

“So far, the bulk of this has come from simple sighting data in divers’ logbooks. Hopefully, with this formal recognition, more targeted research will be carried out that would lead to the development and implementation of a long-term monitoring strategy.”

Citizen data like this was used as evidence for the listing of half the Malaysian ISRAs, says Serena. Social media was another important source of photos, videos and posts by divers, snorkellers, tour boat operators, and recreational anglers. The Malaysian team combed through hundreds of visuals and write-ups online to support their site proposals.

Why did they source data from the public?

To begin with, Serena says that too few scientists are working on sharks to produce enough data.

“But the main challenge was to fit what we had researched so far into the criteria,” says the shark and ray conservation officer. Scientists had mainly focused on fish landings in boats and at jetties. “So you know what is being caught but not where it is being caught.”

And even when scientists use underwater camera traps in specific locations to record sharks and rays, often, “we don’t have enough to tell exactly what they are doing there”.

Therefore, “we have to use complementary methods to find out what’s going on.”

In Mukah, Sarawak, coastal-marine researcher Dr Amy Then not only looked at shark and ray landings, she interviewed fishers who shared decades-long catch history and pinpointed exactly where they set their nets. This local ecological knowledge was what got Mukah designated as an important breeding site for Scalloped Hammerheads.

“For us to discover neonate sites – newborns – it’s really not common knowledge at all,” says the UM associate professor. “It’s only something that fishers who go in and out every day will know. Nobody dives in Mukah, so those things don’t get mapped.”

Science-friendly fishers

In Sabah, cooperating trawler fishers were what got East Tun Mustapha and Beluran ISRA status. Their respective delineation was based on images from cameras installed on trawlers by the Marine Research Foundation (MRF). The cameras took photos every 3 seconds, and using their GPS location and time stamps, scientists could map the ISRAs.

MRF conservation officer Ho Kooi Chee says, “Once [fishers] realised that we were keeping their identities and boat numbers anonymous, they gradually accepted the project and assisted in deploying the cameras.” They even spread the word among other fishers to allow cameras to be deployed.

Such buy-in from fishers might augur well for tighter conservation measures. Based on this evidence, MRF’s proposal to temporarily exclude fishing in East Tun Mustapha has been accepted by the Department of Fisheries Sabah, says Ho.

To aid in such decision-making is precisely the aim of ISRA listings.

“It will help highlight these areas’ importance,” agrees Izarenah Md Repin from the Department of Fisheries Malaysia fisheries conservation and protection division.

“And it can be a reference and strengthen justification for the government to potentially protect an area.” 

She adds that ISRAs’ scientific basis and global recognition save the government time in identifying protected areas. Malaysia wants to double its marine protected areas (MPA) to 10%.

More protection needed

Only 6 ISRAs overlap with MPAs. East Tun Mustapha will need additional attention, says MRF’s Ho, as it is a transboundary area with the Philippines.

“Also, ISRAs in protected areas like Tioman strengthen and justify the importance of existing MPAs, and their effectiveness in protecting sharks and rays,” says Izarenah. The West Tioman ISRA recognises aggregations of the critically endangered Bottlenose Wedgefish (Rhynchobatus australiae).

While holding much promise, ISRA listings are just the beginning. To properly manage them, every scientist who contributed to the listings advocates continued research and long-term monitoring.

Si Amil, Sabah, met the ISRA criteria with proof that threatened Shorthorned Pygmy Devil Rays (Mobula kuhlii) aggregate regularly there, sometimes up to 100 individuals (Video from proposal submission for ISRA listing for Si Amil, 2024).

Si Amil, Sabah, met the ISRA criteria with proof that threatened Shorthorned Pygmy Devil Rays (Mobula kuhlii) aggregate regularly there, sometimes up to 100 individuals (Video from proposal submission for ISRA listing for Si Amil, 2024).

In Sipadan, the fact that no one knows why the Scalloped Hammerheads aggregate, means more studies need to be done, says McCaan, co-founder of the Sea Collective. “This information could in turn feed into conservation measures for the animal, which could have far-reaching implications worldwide.”

The overall challenge, says Then, is that “different areas have recognitions for different species, and different species also have very different biology.” She reckons that some habitats might be more critical than others, for example, for neonates and feeding.

Serena is hopeful that the listing will attract research funding. For both her and Then, the listing exercise has also been personally meaningful.

Purposeful research

“As scientists collecting data, we want data not just to remain as data; we want it to translate into something useful,” says Then.

For Serena, working on ISRAs “is a turning point”. Future studies must answer several research objectives, she says, not just to determine species and population size.

“I would design our research to answer key criteria that’s needed for ISRA qualification such as predictable presence of species in the area, and what behaviour do they exhibit (ie. feeding, resting, courtship). Without these other aspects, you’re losing out information that is required to delineate – and better protect – an area.”

Siew Lyn drew heavily on three websites: the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) website (IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group); and for biological information on the sharks and rays, Fishbase, the global biodiversity information system on fishes, and The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Siew Lyn started working on the stories 3 months prior to publishing. She knew the bulk of the work would be on the interactive map, where she would need to contact the scientists and divers who had provided evidence for the ISRAs, to get quotes and especially photos from them.

Sadly, most of the photos featured dead sharks and rays, which was obviously because this was shark scientists' favoured research method : examining ocean catches. But dead fish do not work for this positive approach to shark conservation.

Giving up on on-site images, she took the same approach as the Malaysian ISRA team: scouring the Internet for good visuals and contacting the various visuals' owners.

In the end, she managed to secure photos and videos of live sharks and rays for every one of the ISRAs.

She thanks all the 15 scientists, divers and government officials for their quotes and images, and Cat McCaan, Amy Then and especially Serena Adam for their help in producing the story.

Yao Hua coded the interactive map.

If you like our stories and appreciate our effort, please share our stories and support us – be a member or contribute to our reporting funds. Thank you!

This story was produced with a grant from the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) and administered by Justice for Wildlife Malaysia (JWM). The contents of this story do not necessarily reflect the views of YELL, JWM, and their collaborators.

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