Tagging of the first chimaeras, or ghost sharks, in the PUFFINS and GhostTrack projects

In fall 2024 we received the news that the application for the PUFFINS project was accepted and will receive funding by the Norwegian Research Council where we will tag Chimaera monstrosa, ghost shark, and Anguilla anguilla, European eel, in combination with the restoration of the city fjord bottom. We then received additional great news in December 2024 that our GhostTrack project will receive funding from the Save Our Seas Foundation, a project that solely focuses on tracking of the chimaera.

Bergen City fjord

Chimaeras have big pectoral fins and a long, elongated body

As mentioned in a previous update, the chimaera is a highly understudied species, and is often 'forgotten' among many of the other fish, sharks and rays that inhabit the marine environment. This chimaera species is typically found in deep waters, but they are for some reason caught by fishers and observed by scuba divers at around 20-30 meters depth around Bergen City.

Tagging of a chimaera monstrosa (the gills and most of the fish are submerged in water)

We have so far been able to capture five individuals, three females and two males, and internally tagged them with acoustic transmitters that are instrumented with depth sensors reaching 290 meters. Given that this is one of the first attempts at conducting a tracking study on this species, and we per today know very little about their behaviour and movement, we are very curious to study their behaviour right outside of the BTN home city. We will continue trying to capture and tag more chimaeras as the year progress and more updates will come.