Salmon Shark (Lamna ditropis) scratching behaviour using floating anthropogenic debris

Auteurs-es

  • Cherisse Du Preez Fisheries and Oceans Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6239-2191
  • Heidi Gartner Fisheries and Oceans Canada
  • Joshua Watts Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
  • Lindsay Clark University of Victoria
  • Shelton Du Preez Sea Legacy
  • Tammy Norgard Fisheries and Oceans Canada

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v136i3.2949

Mots-clés :

scratching, salmon shark, animal behaviour, changing ocean, parasites, traditional ecological knowledge, drone, shark, Lamna ditropis, marine pollution

Résumé

Observations of animal behaviour in the open ocean are relatively rare. However, while conducting surveys in the Northeast Pacific in the summers of 2019 and 2021, we encountered two Salmon Shark (Lamna ditropis) using floating anthropogenic debris to scratch their bodies. We captured the activity with aerial (drone) and underwater cameras. We document and describe this novel behaviour as high energy, high impact, repetitive, fast, and long lasting (e.g., every ~15 s for >20 minutes). We explore these observations in light of traditional ecological knowledge and scientific literature.

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Publié-e

2023-02-20

Numéro

Vol. 136 No. 3 (2022)

Rubrique

Notes

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