9/7/2012 9:01:00 AM
Sun Exclusive
Simon Jones

Cannibal: This shark eating one of its kind
is believed to be the one named Harry Lindo
who was tagged in 2009 and has turned up
in our waters three years later.
*Photo supplied
 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 7: A tiger shark that was tagged in Bermuda in 2009 has turned up near the island again three years later.

Harry Lindo’s signal was picked up last weekend as the male tiger shark swam passed our coast.

The tagging project to monitor the migratory habits of these creatures began in 2009 and has seen dozens of sharks fitted with satellite tags by Neil Burnie and Choy Aming of the Bermuda Shark Project.

The groundbreaking information is providing US-based scientists with a slew of new data about tiger sharks.

Dr Burnie told the Bermuda Sun: “This is a phenomenal success for the tracking programme and we believe it is the longest GPS track recorded for a tiger shark.

“It is enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck go up.

“In late August of this year Ian Card recorded a tiger sharktrying to eat a 150 pound juvenile tiger shark just off our coast.

“And we believe there is every chance the bigger shark in the footage could be Harry Lindo.

“We are still looking at the data and the footage at the moment but it is an extremely exciting possibility.”

Harry Lindo, named after his sponsor, was first tagged on September 20, 2009 just off Bermuda before he headed down to the Caribbean.

Over the last three years he has been tracked completing a clear migratory circuit around the Atlantic.

This anti-clockwise cycle sees him spend the winter in the Caribbean close to Barbuda and Antigua before heading north-east for more than 1,000 miles in April.

He normally spends the summer months around 800 miles due east of Bermuda before tracking west across the Atlantic in late summer and passing the island.

In 2010 and 2011 he bypassed Bermuda altogether before heading back down to the Caribbean.

But this year he came within a few miles of the island, which is when his tracking signal was picked up.

In June 2011 the Bermuda Sun reported that Harry Lindo had arrived at the same point in the Bahamas on the same day for the past two years.

Dr Burnie added: “This shark is a poster child for the migration habits of tiger sharks.

“To me this is an incredible story and to be able to track an adult tiger like this for three years is amazing.

“The tag is still running on just an AA battery which is unheard of.

“We will continue to monitor Harry Lindo for as long as possible.”