Once again thanks to all for taking the time to post on this thread, stoked to see some great Anglers sending on their regards.
The timing seems perfect to share the latest news regarding our tagging programme and conservation plans here in S.Oman thanks to the thread started yesterday about where these monsters come from. How incredible is it that we have no information on this species, how to identify Male/Female, age etc. It is exciting to see more anglers starting to take an interest in the subject.
We have now tagged over 500 GT in 2 years and only had 1 recapture from Luke Wrysta's group in March. This really adds mystery to the Omani Geets .. some suggest they are dying on release (I do not support this theory) and others suggest they have seen fish recaught a day or 2 later with clear hook marks but if this was the case then fishing the same islands/spots week in week out would surely produce recaptures of tagged fish?
In order to put everyones theories to the test i am pleased to share with you that next season we will be selecting a pristine GT or 2 to receive a Sat tag that will relay information to us on the fishes movements/depth etc
Now these tags are bloody expensive and although i have personally funded our tagging programme so far we will now be doing some fund raising over the next 4 months. The main fund raising event will involve me trekking 100km through Salalah over 4 days in a full GT costume at the end of July
My aspirations for conservation over here is not just limited to my love of GTs but the Ocean in general. I was given a wonderful childrens book for my little boy about this Turtle dude who heads onto the reef too see his buddies. While there he goes to eat a jelly fish which is actually a plastic bag and the story is of all the reef fish trying save him. I will be translating the book into Arabic (with alot of help!) and we will distribute 5,000 copies to the children in the small villages such as the one we lived in.
Seeing how much rubbish they throw in the sea is alarming but they simply do not know any better. It is too late to educate the adults on these subjects but by trying with the kids we may be able to make some progress. It is worth a try right!
I would be delighted if GT Popping readers would like to get involved in supporting this movement with a small donation. Plenty of time to have a think about that as i need to set up a new pay pal account after loosing my cred card
I will share more details soon.
Any thoughts please feel welcome to share ..
