Sean Barker, a Macquarie University marine researcher, is aiming to compile a computerised photo album recording every grey nurse shark.
Once wrongly suspected of being man-eaters, grey nurse sharks were almost hunted to extinction. In 2000 a NSW Department of Fisheries survey estimated there could be as few as 292 left on Australia's east coast.
"I think that's pessimistic," Mr Barker said yesterday. However, "there are probably no more than 1000".
Project Spotashark, launched in collaboration with a friend and keen diver, Peter Simpson, "will hopefully iron out the real number".
They want divers who spot a grey nurse to photograph it and to download the pictures to Spotashark.com.
"We need to see the shark side on, from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail," Mr Barker said. While divers could photograph either profile "the left side is preferable".
Every grey nurse has a unique array of dots "just like freckles". The researcher intends to log the photographed dots to create a data base that can be used "like fingerprints" to identify every shark.
"The software was developed by the same people who developed the FBI's fingerprint computer system."
In just four months the project has collected almost 100 grey nurse photos. However, shooting them all could take years.
By sending in shark snaps divers will provide researchers with information needed to track individual animals...[SydneyMorningHerald]
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