It’s not often you see a shark being “walked” into the ocean by adoring human beings, but that is precisely what happened recently when Dané, a female ragged-tooth shark, was set back into the ocean by the staff of the Two Oceans Aquarium.
She was released off Struisbaai with the whole community looking on and six aquarium staff members at her side for several minutes to ensure a calm and safe return to her wild home.
In 2017, Dané had been collected off Seavale near East London with the assistance of angler Mike Dedericks, a local angler.
Given the honour of naming her, a common practice for the anglers who assist in the collection of ragged-tooth sharks, Dedericks named her after his wife.
Dané has called the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Exhibit at the Two Oceans Aquarium her home since then.
Now that she has been released back into the ocean, she has been tagged so that her movements can be tracked as she moves along the coast.
“This helps us gain scientific information about the sharks and also helps raise awareness about their plight in an ocean under threat by human impact,” said Nathalie Viljoen, head of research.
Dané had weighed just 69kg and was 251cm when she first arrived at the aquarium.
When she was released, she had grown to 275cm and weighed just more than 200kg.
At the aquarium for her release, Dané was carefully placed in a secure tank on a large truck for transport by road to Struisbaai.
“All precautions were taken through careful medical monitoring along the way. On arrival, final bloods and vitals were taken, and then she was lifted from the holding tank and carried by the team down to the water’s edge,” said Ilse Jenkinson, the Two Oceans Aquarium vet.
“She is now sexually mature, so we would like her to have the opportunity to reproduce and contribute offspring to the wild population,” she added.
Viljoen said the aquarium “tends to release ragged-tooth sharks in this area as there is an existing population that migrates along the Agulhas ridge off the coast of Struisbaai towards the warmer waters of KwaZulu-Natal”.
The curatorial team “walked Dané into the ocean for at least 15 to 20 minutes and then stood with her for 10 minutes”.
“Taking their cue from Dané as she pushed against the constraints of the stretcher, the team released her, with two divers keeping a watchful eye to monitor her initial open ocean behaviour,” added Viljoen.
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