Jewell, Oliver Joseph DavidWcisel, Michelle A.Gennari, EnricoTowner, Alison V.Bester, Marthan NieuwoudtJohnson, Ryan LloydSingh, Sarika2012-01-122012-01-122011-11Jewell OJD, Wcisel MA, Gennari E, Towner AV, Bester MN, et al. (2011) Effects of Smart Position Only (SPOT) Tag Deployment on White Sharks Carcharodon carcharias in South Africa. PLoS ONE 6(11): e27242. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.00272421932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0027242http://hdl.handle.net/2263/17765We present 15 individual cases of sub-adult white sharks that were SPOT tagged in South Africa from 2003–2004 and have been re-sighted as recently as 2011. Our observations suggest SPOT tags can cause permanent cosmetic and structural damage to white shark dorsal fins depending on the duration of tag attachment. SPOT tags that detached within 12–24 months did not cause long term damage to the dorsal fin other than pigmentation scarring. Within 12 months of deployment, tag fouling can occur. After 24 months of deployment permanent damage to the dorsal fin occurred. A shark survived this prolonged attachment and there seems little compromise on the animal’s long term survival and resultant body growth. This is the first investigation detailing the long term effects of SPOT deployment on the dorsal fin of white sharks.en© 2011 Jewell et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Carcharodon carchariasSmart position only (SPOT) tagSPOT tagsSPOT deploymentDorsal fins damageWhite shark -- South AfricaFish tagging -- South AfricaArticle