Ms Alison Towner

Phone: 076-030-1538
Email: biologist [at] sharkwatchsa [dot] com
MSc (by dissertation only) Thesis: The influence of environmental parameters on the fine scale movements of great white sharks Carcharodon carcharias in Gansbaai

Project outline:

The aim of the Alison’s project is to use acoustic telemetry and Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) measurements primarily to investigate why great white sharks transit inshore in the summer months (September – February), and whether their movements are affected significantly by specific water conditions.

Alison’s research is based at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, which is the main funding organisation.

Background:

Alison graduated from the University of North Wales with an honours degree in Marine Biology in 2006. After following a career as a scuba diving instructor in the Red Sea and Mediterranean, she pursued her passion for sharks and came to work as a marine guide/researcher on board an ecotourism vessel in Gansbaai, South Africa. Since then Alison has been working to collate a dorsal fin and underwater body patterning identification database, to help assess the population dynamics of white sharks moving through Gansbaai. During February 2010, Alison attended the International White Shark Symposium held in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she had a chance to network with other white shark researchers from all corners of the globe. She presented a poster on the wound healing ability of the great white shark, based on a documented encounter from an ecotourism boat. Alison also gained shark-tracking experience with the South African Shark Conservancy, where she assisted with acoustically tagging and manually tracking the world’s largest Zambezi shark, in the Breede River in 2009.

 

Publications