Man Seeks Permit To Aggressively Tag Great Whites

Most fear them, others find them awe-inspiring – great white sharks – and the creatures are headed back to California’s coast.

The endangered predators are more rare than tigers. In two decades, something has killed off 90 percent of the great whites.

One scientist is asking the government to let him catch sharks with a hook, drag them for an hour, then haul them out to study them.

Marine biologist Michael Domeier has asked for a special permit to do this aggressive tagging in the Gulf of the Farallons National Marine Sanctuary.

Maria Brown, of the Gulf of the Farallons National Marine Sanctuary, said that people are concerned about removing a shark out of the water to conduct the research.

Domeier, head of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, said it's definitely stressful on the shark and in some ways it needs to be.

“The shark has to be sufficiently tired so he can't hurt us or himself when he comes out of the water,” he said.

To protect the species, Domeier said researchers must pin down where great whites go after they leave the Farallons.

“When they're not in the sanctuary where they're protected all the time, they're vulnerable,” he said. “Females will spend a year and a half in the middle of the ocean, never coming near land. They only come near land to mate and to give birth.”

Batteries limit ordinary satellite tracking tags to just one year, he said.

The only ones that last more than a year are ones that have to be physically attached to the fin, he said.

“You have to capture the shark to do that,” he added.

The Marine Sanctuary issued Domeier a permit two years ago to track female great whites when they left the Farallons.

Brown said this was to find out if the sharks were in danger or their pupping grounds in danger.

Domeier does have professional rivals.

At the same time he applied for his new permit, a person posted a picture on the Internet of a shark Domeier had tagged, showing a gaping wound on the animal.

Brown saw the image and said it looked terrible and she submitted the images to an independent group of shark researchers.

Some news outlets ran stories without finding out the source of the photo.

KTVU discovered the picture was from a video made by Stanford researchers who oppose Domeier.

Experts told KTVU that the whole video clearly shows the wounds are shark bites, not caused by its capture the year before.

Brown was reviewing the draft environmental assessment for Domeier's permit when she told KTVU she and independent researchers need to strike a balance.

“What are the risks to the shark and then what are the potential benefits to the research,” Brown said. “Is it going to allow us to conserve the shark species and protect more sharks?”

This summer, the public will be able to read the assessment online and comment on it to help shape the decision on the shark tagging.

San Francisco resident Jennifer Andary said she thinks the research is fine because it's for a good purpose.

Anni Mitchell, of San Francisco, said it’s for the greater good of the sharks, but added that it did sound kind of cruel what they planned on doing to the shark.

“Once we hear back from the public, additional researchers, we'll make a decision on the permit,” Brown said.

If approved, Domeier would be permitted to conduct this aggressive tagging in the Bay Area for one season beginning next summer.