Do sharks swim through kelp?
The White Shark Kinematics project has taught us a considerable amount about white shark behaviour. One thing of particular interest that has also been the subject of long term debate, is how they interact with Kelp forests.
Opinion has been split on this subject. in Gansbaai, South Africa at least.
No, of course they don’t.
One school of thought is that kelp is generally too dense for sharks to swim through. They therefore avoid these areas, making them a safe haven for seals wishing not to get chomped on.
Which makes sense, on the fact of it. The fact that groups have invested considerable time and money into the development of Shark Barriers which aim to mimic kelp as a means of making swimming zones safe, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they wish for this to be true.
Yes, of course they do.
The other school of thought, is that sharks don’t care. Sure, seals might swim into these areas because they provide more coverage than the open sea. But that doesn’t necessarily mean sharks won’t follow them in. These are streamlined, agile creatures with incredibly accurate, powerful senses. It’s going to take more than a bit of submerged shrubbery to dissuade their pursuit of a chubby meal.
Uncovering the truth
By deploying camera tags to free swimming sharks as part of the white shark kinematics project, we retrieved multiple hours worth of footage recording their behaviour.
Based on these recordings, in 2019 Oliver Jewell and co published Cryptic habitat use of white sharks in kelp forest revealed by animal-borne video. This study proves beyond any measurable doubt, that sharks will not only follow seals into kelp forests, but they’ll actively hunt there, too. His study contains numerous video snippets of sharks pushing through reasonably dense areas of kelp, to pursue seals both alone and in groups.
I’m not a co-author on this project, but I assisted the team during the camera deployments and have been analysing some of the data, for use in other studies.
A Steel Kelp Shark
In addition to assisting with data collection, I was called upon to contribution some promotional artwork for the study.
As it wasn’t required to communicate the data or findings in quite the same way and infographic would be. As this was purely promotional, I let myself get all abstract and conceptual about it by building a ‘steel kelp’ shark in Maya.
More work:
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Fear at the top Scientific publication
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Seven Thirty Unreal Engine Lighting Competition Submission
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The Marauder, Doom Eternal Game character, digital illustration
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Gauging the threat Great white shark research project
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CO-EXIST Marine Wildlife Illustrations
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Krupskaya Avant-garde, pulverising grindcore band
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Searching for Shakespeare Digital museum and artefacts
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Digitised Mortality Combining laser scans and photogrammetry
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Hell Baron Sketch Videogame monster portrait
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Shark Free Chips Conservation campaign website and branding
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Staffordshire University 3D Scanning labs Facility for education and research support
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Oliver Jewell Marine Scientist website
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A Siberian Summer Photographic journey
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Great white shark Digital Illustration
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Remnants of a species now forgotten Music and artwork
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Henry Cavill Digital illustration
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Dépayser Mixed media lighting
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Digitising Self Interest Masters module
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Joker Movie artwork
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Turtle vs Shark Scientific artwork
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Robyn Gallow Illustrator website
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A Day Like Winter Industrial band logo
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Aquatic Aztec Toy Box Woodwork (reclaimed wood)
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Melina Juergens Portrait Illustration
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Shawn Crahan Portrait Illustration
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Animal‐borne video from a sea turtle reveals novel anti‐predator behaviors Scientific research project
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Seal vs Shark Scientific paper and infographic
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Cryptic habitat use of white sharks in kelp forest revealed by animal-borne video Great white shark research project
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Recording Cultural Genocide Archaeological project website
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Cutie Sharks T-shirt designs
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Sea Search Conservation group branding
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To Die Unburied And Unborn CD Album Artwork
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VR Shark Research App Digital research tool
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Unreal Engine 4 Lighting Tests Real-time lighting experiments and educational sets
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Shark Diving Xperts Shark diving company
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Digitising wildlife MRes Mini Project
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African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary Conservation facility branding
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Eastern Europe 2018 Photographic journey
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White shark tracking Great white shark research project
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Externalising the Archive VR and web based site reconstructions
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Wojczech v Krupskaya 12" Record artwork and music
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Gilbert the shark Educational Character design
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Hardcore Unry Videogame cinematic
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Marine Dynamics Academy Research and training Academy website
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Mr Happy Character illustration
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Sandokhan v Krupskaya 12" Record Artwork and music
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White shark kinematics Great white shark research project
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Krupskaya Artworks 2006 to 2010 Art book
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The Royal Infirmary Laser scannned reconstructions
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Frankenpets art tests Animated shorts art concepts
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Caveman Events Sporting event logo design
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Grind over Europe Photographic journey