SAMPLA Photo Gallery

In this section we are trying to explain what SAMPLA does in term of research, exploration and conservation in a more direct way: you will be the judge!

  • © Andy Brandy Casagrande IV - Whilst manually tracking white sharks in Mossel Bay they occasionally surface enabling visual tracking. Surface swimming appears more common when they move between aggregation sites.
  • © Russell Smith - SAMPLA scientist Ryan Johnson is circled by a great white while maintaining an acoustic listening stations. Encounters are frequent as receivers are placed in the midst of aggregation sites.
  • © Russell Smith - A white shark cruises past a listening station. The transmitter it carries emits a unique acoustic pulse that enables the receiver to archive the shark’s presence
  • © Enrico Gannari - The power strength of a great white shark bite
  • © Andy Brandy Casagrande IV - SAMPLA Scientist, Ryan Johnson, examines the bite strength of a sub adult white shark. Variation in bite force may explain the preference for juvenile white sharks to target fish, only switching to seals as they approach maturity.
  • © Enrico Gennari - SAMPLA Scientist, Enrico Gennari, observes an approaching great white. In murky conditions sharks often go undetected during their approach.
  • © Enrico Gennari - The Cape fur seal. To successfully hunt this maneuverable and intelligent species, the white shark needs speed, experience, and surprise.
  • © Enrico Gennari - Despite removal of flesh, Cape fur seals are remarkably resilient to white shark attacks, and frequently survive after having such wounds inflicted.
  • © Enrico Gennari - The inexperience of juvenile Cape fur seals make them the most vulnerable to patrolling white sharks. Fortunately, this juvenile could use its fore flippers to reach Seal Island after having its hind flippers incapacitated.
  • © Enrico Gennari - Cape fur seals need to enter water to thermo-regulate on hot days. By grouping (rafting) in the shallows they are protected from patrolling white sharks.
  • © Andy Brandy Casagrande IV - SAMPLA scientist, Enrico Gennari, waits for the white sharks dorsal fin to break the surface. Dorsal fin identification is a central component of SAMPLA’s population project that aims to calculate South Africa’s white shark population.
  • © Ryan Johnson - Dorsal fin identification enables white sharks to be monitored over multiple years. These three sharks have returned annually to Mossel Bay since 2001.
  • © Triosphere, Creative Difference - SAMPLA Scientist Ryan Johnson learns the ancient tribal dances of the Tembin Shark Callers. Such cultural dances pay a tribute to the art of shark calling practiced by a few tribes in Papa New Guinea.
  • © Trisopshere, Creative Difference - Ryan Johnson is studied by respected shark caller Salem. Salem hosted Jacques Cousteau, and the Cousteau society in 1978.
  • © Triosphere, Creative Difference - SAMPLA scientist Ryan Johnson and Dave Salmoni attempt to attract white sharks using recording of the shark callers. Despite showing curiosity towards the kayaks, no aggression was evident.
  • © MCM - A delicate moment as SAMPLA technical director, Stephen Swanson, attaches a satellite transmitter to a Cape fur seal. Seal movement data can reveal the extent of conflict between fishermen and seals.
  • © Ryan Johnson - SAMPLA offers its facilities and expertise for national and international collaborations. Here doctoral student Chryssa Gubili (University of Aberdeen) prepares to collect a genetic sample.
  • © Enrico Gennari - Common dolphins are frequently sighted along the South Africa’s coast.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - The Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is seemingly indestructible. However, in the face of human exploitation, it is classed as vulnerable to extinction.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - A baby blue shark travelling with a pilot fish
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Dancing manta rays off Mozambique’s coastline. These marine giants are one of the world’s most beautiful and graceful species
  • © Enrico Gennari - Over summer, Southern right whales enter the protected bays of Southern Africa for birthing and mating.
  • © Enrico Gennari - humpback whales annually pass through Mossel Bay as they migrate from their winter feeding grounds in Antarctica, to their northern mating and birthing grounds in Mozambique.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - The whale shark is a favorite amongst recreational divers and snorklers. Despite being the biggest fish in the planet, the whale shark is totally harmless to humans, and feeds exclusively off phytoplankton and zooplankton.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - A tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) is accompanied by pilot fish during a routine patrol. Tiger sharks are one of the only shark species that successfully attack dolphins as prey.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Hammerhead sharks school during mating season along South Africa’s coastline. Females within these schools often exhibit heavy mating scars inflicted by the males.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) has an interesting reproductive strategy called embryonic cannibalism (adelphophagy - Embryos within the female uterus feed off each other until only two remain at birth.
  • © Davide Gaglio - Marine seabirds are invariably attracted to a white shark predation on a Cape fur seal. However, rarely, also Cape gannets are seen to enter the feeding frenzy.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - In Mozambique, manta rays frequently interact with divers, allowing stunning photographic opportunities.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Research on coral reefs have illustrated incredibly complex three dimensional ecosystems containing the marine world’s most diverse ecosystems. Science frequently compares coral reefs to tropical rain forests.
  • © Enrico Gannari - Cape fur seals
  • © Fiona Ayerst - A humpback whales swims with its newborn calf. Such mother calf groups are often shadowed by a third female, commonly called a midwife.
  • © Enrico Gennari - Southern right whale
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Indian ocean bottlenose dolphins are common throughout the Southern Africa’s coastline. Like with the white shark, the dorsal fin of these cetaceans can be used for identification. For instance, the lower right dolphin has lost the top section of its dorsal fin.
  • © Mosselbaai Advertiser - Ryan Johnson and Enrico Gennari conducting dissections for Mossel Bay’s local schools during the 2005 National Marine week.
  • © Mosselbaai Advertiser - Enrico Gennari conducting a shark dissection for the local primary schools in Mossel Bay during the 2007 National Marine Week.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Dolphins have been reported to swim at speeds in excess of 9 knots (16 K/h ca. - This speed is achieved by making a series of sequential parabolic leaps (porpoising) that reduces water friction.
  • © Andy Brandy Casagrande IV - SAMPLA Scientist, Enrico Gennari documents the inshore movement patterns of white sharks in Mossel Bay. Movement pathways often follow the coastline, with sharks staying in water less than 10m deep.
  • Enrico Gennari - The white shark is a stunning species even just to watch
  • © Heather Ferner - To place satellite transmitters on the dorsal fins, white sharks need to be restrained within this custom designed cradle.
  • © Enrico Gennari - Daily expeditions to sea allow SAMPLA Scientists to witness unusual sights.
  • © Enrico Gennari - During mating season at Mossel Bay, female Southern right whales sometimes need to dissuade interested males. By rolling onto their back, and raising their flippers, females can resist the unwanted attention.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - A shark curiously circles a potato bass. On coral reefs, strange symbiotic relationships can often form; a recent study documented cooperative hunting between groupers and moray eels.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Zambezi sharks in Southern Mozambique. Zambezi sharks are unique in that they can survive in both fresh and salt water environments. This unusual feat is achieved by a specialized anal gland that allows salt to be retained or excreted.
  • © Davide Gaglio - A gliding Cape gannet. Renowned for their rocket like dives into the ocean whilst hunting fish. Recent studies have documented multitudes of hairline cranial fractures in elderly gannets as a result of continued impacts with the water.
  • © Davide Gaglio - Albatross are often found tracking long-lining vessels with some species (white chinned and grey headed albatross) been very susceptible to being captured in the fishing gear. This unnecessary capture can be prevented by night time setting of lines and deployment of ‘scare’ devices. However, compliance to using such mitigation measures is not universally adopted.
  • © Enrico Gennari - A white shark circles a SAMPLA research vessel. Using chum to attract white sharks is necessary to enable scientific observation and attachment of transmitters.
  • © Enrico Gennari - The electro-reception sense is unique to sharks. Fluid-filled canals around the shark’s snout (Ampullae of Lorenzini) conduct electricity, thus enabling sharks to detect prey through the electrical impulses generated by muscle movements.
  • © Enrico Gennari - Some controversy surrounds the use of chum and bait to attract white sharks, as it may lead to a conditioned response being established. Since 2001, approximately 7% of sharks visiting our research vessels have received a food reward, 93% fail to gain any bait.
  • © Enrico Gennari - As white sharks approach the bait, their dorsal fins often protrude from the water, enabling photos to be taken of the dorsal fins and pigmentation patterns.
  • © Enrico Gennari - In 2004, scientists from SAMPLA and Marine and Coastal Management discovered a new aggregation site teeming with juvenile and even new born white sharks. This site may represent one of the few known white shark nursery grounds in the world.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - As apex predators, sharks are naturally rare in comparison to fish. This biological fact makes them inherently vulnerable to over exploitation from human fishing.
  • © Ryan Johnson - Majestic grace, the silhouette of a great white passes above SAMPLA divers.
  • © MCM - After attachment of a satellite transmitter, every trace of the procedure must be removed. Here a SAMPLA scientist removes the final remnants of hooks prior to the sharks release.
  • © MCM - SAMPLA Technical director, Stephen Swanson, prepares to place a satellite transmitter onto a Cape fur Seal. Seal Movement data quantifies the conflict between seals and fishermen for fish stocks.
  • © MCM - A Smit-Pentow commercial diver prepares to maintain an underwater listening station in Mossel Bay. These commercial divers, dive daily within one of the planet’s largest concentrations of great white sharks, yet never an aggressive encounter has been recorded.
  • © Shark Project - The international shark conservation NGO Shark project sponsored the amazing SOV (submersible underwater vehicle) to spy on the lives of the great white shark. Here, Ryan Johnson peers through the top of SOV unaware of the circling shark.
  • © Lalo Saidy - Stephen Swanson and Ryan Johnson prepare acoustic transmitters to place. These transmitters allow continuous tracking of sharks, and they were the technology used to first discover great whites hunting at night.
  • © Lalo Saidy - Through media, the plight and vulnerability of marine predators can be effectively conveyed.
  • © Lalo Saidy - To document the predatory behavior of great whites, decoys, such as this, are occasionally used.
  • © Kim McLean - SAMPLA scientists spend much of their free time giving public lectures about their research and shark conservation. Only through engagment, will people’s mindset towards sharks change.
  • © Ryan Johnson uses acoustic tracking technology to located and follow the fine scale movements of a Bull shark at Ponto Do Ora, Mozambique.
  • © SAMPLA scientist attempts to place a tracking transmitter on a free swimming Bull Shark using a modified Hawaiian Sling.
  • © A SAMPLA scientist studies the pigmentation patterns of a Zambezi shark. The black line (added digitally) signifies the mark that we use to identify individual Bull Sharks for on going population studies. (NB – Needs Fiona’s watermark).