Local fishermen team up with scientists to catch and tag bull sharks in the Brisbane River, contributing to research about the apex predators.
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00:00Torbjörn Hale and his brother head to the jetty at Bulimba most afternoons to cast a
00:06line.
00:07He's not chasing your everyday fish though, Torbjörn is one of many who catches sharks
00:13from the Brisbane River.
00:14I can almost predict it, like I'll be an hour before high tide, I'll be like, oh,
00:18roughly in an hour I'll hook something and as soon as that hour hits, the reel will start
00:23skimming off.
00:24The 17-year-old keen fisherman started tagging sharks for the New South Wales Department
00:28of Fisheries last year, helping track which fish migrate south, and says it gives him
00:34a purpose.
00:35I'll do it for fun, but also it kind of helps the sharks out as a species and it's kind
00:38of like, it's not, you just, you're not taking it, you're sort of giving back to the sharks
00:42at least.
00:43Dr Darrell Whitehead has studied bull sharks in 27 different countries.
00:48He doesn't hesitate to get into the water and has even trained them to swim between
00:52his legs.
00:53I like to tickle their reels.
00:55Most people don't understand that if you were to rub right below the actual pectoral
00:59fin, you'll see the tail start wagging back and forth just like your dog.
01:04Right now, it's breeding season, making it the perfect time to catch one.
01:07By signing up to tag sharks, fishers can help scientists learn more about the apex predators.
01:13We'd like to try to know where the sharks are going, where they've been, how long they're
01:17staying in the actual riverways, and yes, that's something that we get a lot of help
01:22from a lot of number of actual sports fishermen who are doing this.