Raisa, our tagged shark, has been killed.

I write this from the heart, not just as the founder of Project Hiu, but also as the human that once swam with Raisa to allow her safe recovery from a shark tag placement…

A fishing boat from a community outside of the one we work with caught 'Raisa' our 3 meter tiger shark, about a week ago. By complete accident I was there the day they brought her back. Ironically, I was there because the boat that caught her wants to work with me, so they asked me to meet them.

The area where she was caught, a significant hotspot for tiger sharks if our data is to be believed, which stresses the relevance of protecting it. Sharks are going back to this area & before they can get to their next destination, they are being killed.

I don't think I'll soon forget the moment I realised this was one of our sharks, knowing that I once swam with this shark and she lived almost a year with a tag we placed in her, giving us invaluable data. I had to sit down the with the crew to negotiate getting my tag back and face the reality of the risks of tagging sharks in the worlds leading shark fishing nation.

Although we have many contingencies in place to avoid this exact situation, we cannot ensure that all of our sharks survive the fishing pressure of Indonesia. The crazy thing was, the youngest of all the crew on the boat wouldn't stop apologising to me. He could see I was upset and they insisted they didn't know about the tags and kept saying sorry.

We have a lot to learn from the sharks here and then doing so we are finding the biggest and baddest players in the shark trade that we can repurpose in tourism. Raisa hasn't died in vein. She was the first shark to prove to us that we're on the right path and we've discovered an area that needs more attention. She will lead change & she was my beacon of hope for many months and at the same time, a sign that we must do better.

releasing Raise after tag placement

Raise when brought back to shore