The Bazaruto Archipelago is home to approximately 147 shark and ray species.
The Mozambican coastline is one of the most important shark hotspots in the world and includes endangered hammerhead sharks. Thus, any type of data on shark species use coastal and offshore environments is of very high value, mostly for regulation and conservation purposes. There is a high scientific merit in learning more about shark movements, habitat use and behaviour, so they can be better protected.” – Dr. Mario Lebrato, Chief Scientist at BCSS
A bullshark roaming the shallower waters of the Bazaruto Archipelago, spotted in July 2020 by the BCSS team.
On the 14th of May, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) published an article emphasizing the crucial role that sharks and rays have, not only within ecosystems in Mozambican waters, but worldwide. The need to work together on this topic is growing as there are still a lot of gaps in the knowledge of shark and ray research, and the necessity to implement accurate conservation efforts is rising as the populations are declining. As a research center, BCSS is able to contribute to shark and ray research by providing an open-source database focusing on the BANP and beyond. The majority of the data that BCSS collects will be available to scientific communities and organizations that are working on shark and ray related topics. The data provides valuable insights into the BANP and Mozambican waters and can contribute to their conservation efforts in the area.
Part of the data that BCSS continuously collects, provides information regarding shark and ray populations and behaviors in the BANP and Mozambican waters in general. Examples of the data include observations and video/photographic footage, biological samples (for Isotyope/DNA analysis), spatial distribution data, trophic analysis and ecotoxicological studies. BCSS also helps other researchers to acoustically and satellite track the movement of various shark species in the BANP, which provides data on subjects like habitat usage, feeding ecology and inventory.
A reef manta ray (Manta Alfredi) spotted off the coast of Bazaruto by the BCSS team in May 2021.
For questions about this article, please contact:
Iris Uijttewaal, Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies
Iris.Uijttewaal@bcssmz.org
+44 7 882 030 249
BCSS
Host of the first permanent Ocean Observatory focused on multi-ecosystem time series research in Africa, the Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies (BCSS) was established in 2017 as in independent, non-profit organisation with a mission to protect and support the fragile ecosystems of the Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique. The research station is located on Benguerra Island, off the coast of Mozambique.
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