Shark mysteries of the deep oceans

Shark experts in California are teaming up with scientists from across
the world to find out more about sharks' behaviour.

Populations have been increasing around the world - but scientists say
there's still a lot they don't know about sharks - and that could be
why people still fear the animals.

Frances Read reports from Los Angeles:

IN: OUT ON THE OCEAN
DUR: 1,56"
OUT: LOS ANGELES

GENERIC: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0307Sharks-fr-gen.mp3

SCRIPT:

VO1: Out on the ocean is where scientists at Cal State university
spend a lot of their time. Trying to answer the unsolved mysteries of
the deep seas. Sarah Luongo is one of those helping to collect data in
Southern California.

"Driving the boat, trying to figure out where the shark is, trying to
slowly come up so we can tag it, getting the tags ready. If we have
bait lines, manning the bait lines - there's a lot that goes into it
but it's really fun."

VO2: The scientists here have found that shark populations are rising
steadily - but there's still a lot marine biologists don't know.
Professor Chris Lowe has dedicated his whole life to studying sharks.

"I have such a long list of unanswered questions, so one really cool
one is where do white sharks give birth? Where do they mate? Granted
these may be secretive things that they don't want people peeking at
while they're doing those things - but they're still a mystery. One of
the things that's always hampered our understanding of fish or shark
behavior has been our inability to study them in their natural
environment."

VO3: In places like South Africa there aren't as many baby sharks. And
so scientists from across the world are trying to find out why and
sharing information with each other. And they're taking a lot of their
information from waters near Japan and Taiwan.

"Asia is a really interesting region of world as they're so reliant on
the marine environment for food. It's embedded in their culture and
it's embedded in their economy. One of the things that's remarkable is
everything we know about reproduction actually comes from Asia because
few places where pregnant female white sharks been caught."

VO4: For many years shark populations dwindled because of hunting now
protected, scientists say people need to fear these creatures less by
understanding them more. Frances Read in Los Angeles.