We had to find a better research location with seals, sharks and a more protected area where we could set up the system. The buoy shown here is deployed off Ano Nuevo in unusually calm seas. Setting out the RAP buoys and changing their batteries in a rough sea or hauling up their heavy anchors was exciting and dangerous work, but the system had another component, the transmitters. These had to be attached to fourteen to twenty-foot long Great White Sharks from a small boat. The first step in the process is to get sharks to come close to the boat.
Most adventurers attract sharks by what is called chumming.
Buckets of blood and gore with pieces of meat are tossed overboard as the boat cruises along. Sharks are attracted to the scent trail and approach the boat. Because chumming may have an influence on a shark's behavior, something we are trying to measure, it could influence our observations. This, along with the fact that Ano Nuevo is a favorite surfing spot and surfers have made it perfectly clear that they do not appreciate anyone attracting sharks to the vicinity, convinced us that chumming was out. To attract sharks we used a cut out of a seal as a lure.