If they’re travelling intercontinentally anyway, why can’t we use them for sea mail? And don’t say because it would take months– it already does! :-)

From South Africa to Australia and Back Again

The story of Nicole began in November 2003, when Dr Bonfil and his colleagues from the Marine and Coastal Management Department of South Africa and the White Shark Trust attached a satellite tag to her dorsal fin. The tags record data on time, temperature, water depth and light levels. On a pre-recorded date, the tag detaches from the shark and floats to the surface, where it transmits its data to a researcher’s computer via satellite.

A little over three months later, Nicole was swimming about a mile from shore just south of the Exmouth Gulf in western Australia, where her tag detached and floated to the surface with all of her secrets.

This leg of the journey alone was one for the record books.

However, Nicole later resurfaced back in Gansbaai, South Africa, where she had been tagged.

Her distinctively notched dorsal fin was photographed by Michael Scholl, one of Dr Bonfil’s team of researchers. After a detailed comparison of images of dorsal fin markings, there was no longer any doubt: Nicole had returned home.