Shark Base Citizen Science

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Conduct a SharkBase Project

Are you interested in doing a project on sharks for school or university?  You can now use SharkBase to collect data for your project, or analysis data submitted by others. Below we have listed some project ideas to get you started. No matter how big or small your project may be, all contributions to SharkBase will help to improve our knowledge of the distribution and abundance of sharks globally.

(NB: When logging online sightings, be sure that you submit a date and location for the sighting, along with the URL of the original article/photo or video so that our scientists can verify the sighting)

Example Project 1: Map the global distribution of a species over time.

Choose a shark species (e.g. tiger shark), and then search the internet for any known sighting records for that species. Log these records with SharkBase and use the maps to display their global distribution. Assess whether their distribution changes over time and discuss what the causes of such change may be.

Example Project 2: Assess the abundance of sharks in a specific location.

Choose a location (e.g. Perth, Australia), and then search the internet for any known sighting records for that area. Log these records with SharkBase and use your personal shark log to assess the range of species present in the area and display changes in their abundance over time.

Example Project 3: Assess the abundance of a specific species for a specified location.

Chose a location (e.g. Perth, Australia) and a species (e.g. tiger shark), and then search the internet for any known sighting records that match those criteria. Log these records with SharkBase and use the maps to display the change in their abundance over time.