Remote camera in place eDNA Sampling
Dominik on shore cover
The expedition week flew by. Our first camera deployment didn’ t quite go to plan. The camera weights were too heavy for divers and snorkellers to transport, while our 4mm shotlines created so much drag in the tidal flow that cameras began drifting off station. Fortunately, none were lost. By the end of Day 2, we had nearly lost two cameras; all we’ d managed to film was a solitary duck underwater! Undeterred, we refined the systems, adjusted camera positions and locations, and improved our deployment and recovery techniques. By Day 3, we had cracked it – and captured our first glimpse of tope sharks underwater!
The camera work continued to improve throughout the week.
This went against the conventional approach, where bait is often used to attract sharks to remote video systems. But a nonbaited system was simpler to deploy and, more importantly, allowed us to observe and record the sharks behaving naturally rather than gathering around a food source.
Armed with a few action cameras, branch members Richard Slater, Neil Wilson, Mark Warner and Sir Paul Tarn set about developing ideas for remote camera rigs. The prototypes were tested in the pool at Dearneside Leisure Centre, refined and tested again.
Ultimately, we developed three versions of camera systems, each ready for the waters of Tiree.
A final round of BSAC Skill Development Courses, along with training in camera deployment and recovery, completed the team’ s preparations.
Ready to go
On the early morning of 31 July, the team finally set sail from Oban for Tiree. After months of planning and preparation, the expedition was underway.
In another stroke of good fortune, Professor James Thorburn and Natasha Yates from Edinburgh Napier University were also on the island, conducting shorebased research into the tope aggregation. Their presence gave us a fantastic opportunity to benefit from first-hand advice and guidance from the people at the forefront of the research.
Tope sharks filmed by the remote camera
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