In June 2024, CIESM carried out its first shark tagging campaign in the Gulf of Iskenderun, southeastern Türkiye. The mission was locally co-organized with Prof. Nuri Başusta (Firat University, Faculty of Fisheries) and brought together experts from Croatia, Italy, France, and Türkiye aboard a traditional fishing vessel.
The Gulf of Iskenderun, recently identified as a major breeding and nursery ground for sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus), was selected as a priority site for the deployment of the first CIESM satellite tags. The campaign aimed to capture and tag individual sharks to track their movements over several months, generating critical data for the scientific community in the urgent context of Mediterranean biodiversity conservation.
Over the course of the mission, six sandbar sharks and more than one hundred rays from four endangered species: the Lusitanian cownose ray (Rhinoptera marginata), the spiny butterfly ray (Gymnura altavela), the bull ray (Aetomylaeus bovinus) and the common guitarfish (Rhinobatos rhinobatos) were caught using longlines. Each individual was carefully measured, sexed, and examined for reproductive condition; tissue samples were collected for future genetic analyses before safe release.
On June 11, 2024, one male sandbar shark larger than 1 m was fitted with a MiniPAT archival satellite tag (Wildlife Computers, USA). The tag successfully recorded environmental and positional data for 51 days, detaching and surfacing on July 31, 2024. During this period, transmissions confirmed that the shark remained within the Gulf, revealing a localized movement pattern. This marks the first successful tracking of C. plumbeus in the Mediterranean, providing unprecedented insight into its habitat use.
In parallel, the mission yielded valuable opportunistic observations of rays, most of which were sexually mature, confirming the site’s role as a reproductive hotspot for these vulnerable species. All such findings will contribute to the upcoming update of the CIESM Guide of Skates and Rays of the Mediterranean.