Riley Elliott Instagram – All 20 Great White satellite tags have been sponsored!!!!! Once I have deployed this round of 20 tags, I will endeavour to apply to DOC to tag more than 20 Great Whites. This may provide future opportunity to sponsor a tag, however that may be years away pending their processes and the time it takes to tag these 20 sharks at present. This project is not only satellite tagging, but also acoustic tagging the GWs, which uses smaller ‘sound emitting’ tags, enabling me to actively track the sharks in real time, using an underwater hydrophone and drone flying above. This gives us real time insight as to what the sharks are doing in certain areas. I will also be deploying acoustic receiver stations around areas of interest, like swimming beaches, ski lanes, fishing spots and surf zones. These receivers detect acoustically tagged sharks for periods up to 10 years, and thus map the habitat use of the GWs over the long term, and do not require the sharks to break the waters surface, like satellite tags do. These long term acoustic tags cost $700 NZD each, and while they will not come with naming rights, as per the satellite tags, the sponsor of any acoustic tag will be named in the profile part of satellite tagged Great Whites. So if you still want to support this project, I apologise that its success means all satellite slots are taken for now, but there is more research planned, so if you want to sponsor an acoustic tag, please email me at [email protected] or if you want to contribute a donation through SOS to help support the running costs of fuel, DNA sampling, and general logistics, this is just as helpful. Thank you to all of the NZ public who sponsored tags. Thank you to @extremeboats.nz @mazda_nz @yamahamarinenz @gfabtrailers @raymarine_nz @seadek for the boat and vehicle support used for this project.