Data collected from shark-tagging efforts helped expand the borders of the Revillagigedo National Park in Mexico, according to University of California-Davis.
The UNESCO World Heritage site surrounding the Revillagigedo Archipelago, a string of four volcanic islands about 300 miles southwest of the Baja Peninsula, now protects over 57,000 square miles. If not for the work of researchers and alumni from UC Davis, the protection for a key habitat for a variety of sharks, giant manta rays, humpback whales, dolphins, fish and migrating birds, could have been much smaller.
“It used to be protected 6 miles around every island,” said Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla, who took part in shark-tagging research as a Ph.D. student with Mexico’s Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas. “But thanks to all the information we gathered about the connectivity between all these islands, we were able to protect 40 square miles around the islands.”
During a two-year study, which was documented on NatGeo’s Shark Men, UC Davis adjunct professor Peter Klimley, postdoctoral scholar Alex Hearn and Hoyos-Padilla placed acoustic tagging devices on scalloped hammerheads and other species found in the area. James Ketchum, who would base his doctoral dissertation on the satellite telemetry data, joined Hoyos-Padilla shortly after.
Using scalloped hammerhead movements as an example, the study showed their use expands to 40 nautical miles around each island — much further than the six mile protection zone that was being proposed. After presenting the data to the Mexican government, the proposed protection area, which prohibited mining, fishing and tourism development on or near the islands, was extended.
The first design was proposed to the Mexican Commission of Natural Protected Areas in 2014 and was included in the UNESCO Heritage site documentation. Another, more expanded design was used by a group of lawyers in Mexico City and Pew Charitable Trusts to push for the creation of the Revillagigedo National Park. The researchers were invited to the signing decree of the new national park in Mexico on Nov. 24, 2017.
The park’s designation, which is being enforced by the Mexican Navy, helps protect the pristine habitat for all marine life, not just sharks.
“When we were doing Shark Men, we were at this rock that’s like the Empire State Building in the middle of the ocean, with the nearest island 60 miles away,” Klimley said. “We’d get in the water and see five species of sharks. The sun was setting while a full moon was rising, and you could see the light reflecting off the yellowfin tuna as they dashed after prey while whitetip sharks gathered to feed. That’s what these places are like. They are our jewels, and we need to protect them.”