Fine scale movements and activity areas of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in Mossel Bay, South Africa

Previous work on white sharks indicate the species show seasonally limited movement patters, at certain aggregation sites small areas may play vital roles in the life history of a large amount of the population. Acoustic telemetry was used to estimate habitat use of white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, while aggregating at Mossel Bay, South Africa. Total range of all shark tracks combined accumulated 782 hrs and covered an area of 93.5 km2 however, within this range, sharks were found to highly utilise a core habitat (50% Kernel, K50) of just 1.05 km2 over a reef system adjacent to a river mouth. Individual tracks revealed additional core habitats, some of which were previously undocumented and one adjacent to a commercial harbor. Much was found to be dependent on the size of the shark, with larger sharks (>400cm) occupying smaller activity areas than sub-adult (300-399 cm) and juvenile (<300 cm) conspecifics, while Index of Reuse (IOR) and Index of Shared Space (IOSS) were both found to increase with shark size. Such results provide evidence that larger white sharks are more selective in habitat use, which indicates they have greater experience within aggregation sites. Furthermore, the focused nature of foraging means spatially restricted management strategies would offer a powerful tool to aid enforcement of current protective legislation for the white shark in similar environments of limited resources and capacity.Tracking equipment was supplied by World Wildlife Fund - South Africa (WWF-SA) and National Geographic Channel, Talking Pictures and Off the Fence productions. Transmitters were supplied by Marine and Coastal Management and PADI Aware. Fuel was provided, in part, by Marine and Coastal Management (now Oceans and Coasts).http://www.springerlink.com/content/102877/hb201

The Anthropo-scene: A guide for the perplexed

The scientific proposal that the Earth has entered a new epoch as a result of human activities – the Anthropocene – has catalysed a flurry of intellectual activity. This paper introduces and reviews the rich, inchoate and multi-disciplinary diversity of this Anthropo-scene. It identifies five ways in which the concept of the Anthropocene has been mobilised, as: scientific question, intellectual zeitgeist, ideological provocation, new ontologies and science fiction. This typology offers an analytical framework for parsing this diversity, for understanding the interactions between different ways of thinking in the Anthropo-scene, and thus for comprehending elements of its particular and peculiar sociabilities. The paper deploys this framework to situate Earth Systems Science within the Anthropo-scene, exploring both the status afforded Science in discussions of this new epoch, and the various ways in which the other means of engaging with the concept come to shape the conduct, content and politics of this scientific enquiry. In conclusion the paper reflects on the potential of the Anthropocene for new modes of academic praxis