NESP MBH A3: White Shark DNA Sequencing for Population Assessment

Over 500 individual white sharks were DNA sequenced for capture-mark-recapture analyses. This data supports a national assessment of the southern-western adult white shark population and an update for the eastern Australasian population. The work was conducted under the NESP Project A3 to inform recovery actions and policies balancing conservation and public safety.

Use Cases

• Estimate white shark population size based on DNA sequencing data for capture-mark-recapture analysis.
• Monitor population trends for the southern-western and eastern Australasian white shark populations.
• Assess the efficacy of national recovery actions for a vulnerable species.
• Inform local policies governing human-shark interactions using genetic population data.

Strengths

• DNA sequencing data for over 500 individual animals.
• Supports a national population assessment for a species of significant public concern.
• Project is aligned with a national recovery plan under the EPBC Act 1999.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the sampled SA/WA and eastern Australasian regions.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Individual DNA sequencing of tissue samples for CK-MR (capture-mark-recapture) analyses.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 15:52:04.162983; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern-western and eastern Australasian white shark populations, with tissue samples from SA/WA.