tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/tagging-13584/articlesTagging – The Conversation2024-02-21T19:01:08Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2239192024-02-21T19:01:08Z2024-02-21T19:01:08ZTracking tropical turtles deep down to the seabed reveals their feeding habits<p>Hawksbill turtles are <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T8005A12881238.en">critically endangered</a>, they are found in every ocean and are the most tropical of sea turtles. Adult hawksbills have long been considered to have a close association with shallow (less than 15 metres depth) seas where coral reefs thrive.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl2838">new research</a> my colleagues and I conducted reveals for the first time that hawksbill turtles feed at reef sites much deeper than previously thought. </p>
<p>Young hawksbills drift in currents during their pelagic (open water) phase of their development before they move to benthic (sea bed) habitats. Hawksbills are usually seen foraging in coral reefs where their diet is predominantly <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/meps245249">sponges</a>. They also feed on a variety of algae, corallimorphs (coral-like anemones), tunicates and <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/wiojms/article/view/66534">more</a>. </p>
<p>To study their feeding habits in more detail, my team at Swansea University used high-accuracy global positioning system (GPS) satellite tags to track 22 adult female hawksbills from their nesting site on Diego Garcia in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean to their foraging grounds. </p>
<p>Three of the tags included a pressure transducer that was programmed to record depth every five minutes and relay the measurement to the satellite system every time the turtle surfaced. This gave us information about the whereabouts of the turtles and how deep they were diving to feed as they swam.</p>
<p>We predicted that hawksbills tracked in our study would probably migrate to shallow coral reefs around the seven atolls of the Chagos archipelago. Many studies have shown the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep18289">pristine nature of these reefs</a> and we have previously observed hawksbills frequently foraging in reef habitats there. </p>
<p>But, surprisingly, all turtles migrated to deep, remote banks and submerged reefs in the archipelago, remaining at these deep sites for more than 6,000 combined days of tracking. By looking at nautical charts for the turtle locations, we could see that the foraging habitat was located at more than 30 metres depth. </p>
<p>More than 183,000 depth measurements relayed from the tags on three turtles showed that average depths were between 35 metres and 40 metres. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl2838">Most dives reached depths between 30 metres and 60 metres</a>. That’s much deeper than we expected.</p>
<h2>Crucial for conservation</h2>
<p>The coral reefs located at depths of between 30 metres and 150 metres below the waves are known as mesophotic (or low light) ecosystems. Now, knowing that these habitats are so crucial for critically endangered sea turtles suggests that the marine life deep down on the seabed is much richer – with more nutritious food for turtles to eat – than previously thought. </p>
<p>We’d expect to find an abundance of colourful sponges and other invertebrate prey items such as soft corals that make up a big portion of the hawksbills’ diet. Our finding adds to the growing evidence that submerged banks at these mesophotic depths might be home to a diverse community of life, including <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/wiojms/article/view/209266">sponges</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.03.018">seagrass</a> that are key foods for green turtles that also breed and forage in the western Indian Ocean. </p>
<p>Mesophotic ecosystems cover a vast area so they should be a significant part of conservation considerations. We estimated that submerged banks (at depths of 30 to 60 metres) in the western Indian Ocean extend across over 55,000 km² - around three times the size of a small country such as Wales.</p>
<p>Scientific understanding of mesophotic ecosystems is very poor, partly because they are difficult to explore. They are usually remote and far from land, plus the depths are often beyond the limit of routine scientific scuba diving. </p>
<p>There’s huge scope for more fascinating research to investigate the ecology of these misunderstood marine habitats. Recent studies have suggested <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177374">rich biodiversity</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-03568-1">abundant fish</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-010-0593-6">corals and sponges</a> live at depths over 30 metres. </p>
<h2>Reef refuges</h2>
<p>With the pressures of climate change and warming seas, mesophotic reefs could be a refuge for corals and sponges that normally live in shallow coral reefs. For example, coral cover in Caribbean mesophotic reefs (30 to 40 metres depth) remained constant during hurricanes, bleaching and disease events in 2017 to 2019 when coral cover declined in shallow- and mid-water depths. That demonstrates the importance of these mesophotic reefs as a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-021-02087-w">reproductive refuge for corals</a>.</p>
<p>Our study findings highlight that submerged banks and mesophotic depths are important foraging grounds for critically endangered marine animals such as turtles and may support a rich array of marine life. While the mesophotic reefs used by foraging hawksbills in our study lie within one of the world’s largest marine protected areas, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03776-w">protection from industrial fishing</a>, there are ongoing negotiations for future conservation management of this region. </p>
<p>These submerged banks in the Chagos archipelago, and probably others around the world, should be key areas for conservation focus. The resilience of marine ecosystems, and all that lives within them, may rely on the health of these deeper, uncharted habitats, especially in the face of climate change.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Esteban receives funding from the Bertarelli Foundation as part of the Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science (grant numbers BPMS-2017-4 and 820633).</span></em></p>Deeper ocean habitats (30-150 metres) are a key feeding ground for critically endangered hawksbill turtles.Nicole Esteban, Associate Professor of Marine Biology, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232652024-02-15T13:33:22Z2024-02-15T13:33:22ZFor graffiti artists, abandoned skyscrapers in Miami and Los Angeles become a canvas for regular people to be seen and heard<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575115/original/file-20240212-16-xnfgow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C6000%2C4068&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Construction of Oceanwide Plaza in downtown Los Angeles stalled in 2019 after the China-based developer ran out of funding.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-aerial-view-of-graffiti-spray-painted-by-taggers-on-at-news-photo/1981900572?adppopup=true">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The three qualities that matter most in real estate also matter the most to graffiti artists: location, location, location. </p>
<p>In Miami and Los Angeles, cities that contain <a href="https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/most-expensive-places-to-live">some of the most expensive real estate in the U.S.</a>, graffiti artists have recently made sure their voices can be heard and seen, even from the sky. </p>
<p>In what’s known as “graffiti bombing,” artists in both cities swiftly and extensively tagged downtown skyscrapers that had been abandoned. The efforts took place over the course of a few nights in December 2023 and late January 2024, with the results generating a mix of <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/870121/artists-make-los-angeles-graffiti-history-by-painting-on-abandoned-high-rises/">admiration</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vLnXWZqv2I">condemnation</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">KTLA 5 news highlights public outrage over a graffitied skyscraper in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2024.</span></figcaption>
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<p>As someone who has <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gu-Z75sAAAAJ&hl=en">researched the intersection of graffiti and activism</a>, I see these works as major milestones – and not just because the artists’ tags are perhaps more prominent than they’ve ever been, high above street level and visible from blocks away. </p>
<p>They also get to the heart of how money and politics can make individuals feel powerless – and how art can reclaim some of that power.</p>
<h2>Two cities, two graffiti bombings</h2>
<p>Since late 2019, Los Angeles’ billion-dollar Oceanwide Plaza – a mixed-use residential and retail complex consisting of three towers – has stood unfinished. The Beijing-based developer <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oceanwide-project-stalled-20190223-story.html">was unable to pay contractors</a>, and ongoing financing challenges forced the company to put the project on pause. It’s located in one of the priciest parts of the city, right across the street from Crypto.com Arena, where the 2024 Grammy Awards were held. </p>
<p>Hundreds of taggers were involved in the Los Angeles graffiti bombing. It may never be publicly known how the idea was formed and by whom. But it seemed to have been inspired by a similar project that took place in Miami during <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach?lang=en">Art Basel</a>, the city’s annual international art fair.</p>
<p>In November 2023, the city of Miami announced that a permit to demolish <a href="https://floridayimby.com/2023/11/florida-east-coast-realty-seeks-demolition-permit-for-19-story-building-paving-path-for-one-bayfront-plaza-supertall.html">One Bayfront Plaza site</a>, an abandoned former VITAS Healthcare building, had been filed.</p>
<p>Miami is known for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/arts/design/miami-murals-wynwood.html">its elaborate spray-painted murals</a>. There’s also <a href="https://shop.bombingscience.com/miami-graffiti-art.html">a rich tradition of graffiti in the city</a>. So Miami was a natural gathering place for graffiti artists during Art Basel in December 2023, and One Bayfront Plaza became the canvas for taggers from around the world.</p>
<p>Over the course of a few days, graffiti artists – some of whom rappelled down the side of the building – <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/brutalist-architecture-101">tagged the brutalist</a>, concrete structure with colorful bubble letters spelling their graffiti names: “EDBOX,” “SAUTE” and “1UP,” and hundreds more. </p>
<p>The response to the Miami bombing was more <a href="https://www.complex.com/style/a/lei-takanashi/best-of-art-basel-miami-2023">awe than outrage</a>, perhaps because the building will soon be torn down. It elicited comparisons <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-5pointz-ruling-means-for-street-artists-91799">to 5Pointz</a>, a collection of former factory buildings in the Queens borough of New York City that was covered with graffiti and became a landmark before being demolished in 2014.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="TiktokEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@vandalnine/video/7320253132431297825"}"></div></p>
<h2>Meaning and motivation</h2>
<p>In the early 2000s, when I started researching street graffiti, I learned that there are different names for different graffiti types.</p>
<p>“Tags” are pseudonyms written in marker, sometimes with flourishes. “<a href="https://upmag.com/graffiti-terminology/">Fill-ins</a>” or “throw-ups” are quickly painted fat letters or bubble letters, usually outlined. “<a href="https://museumofgraffiti.com/products/subway-art">Pieces</a>” involve more colorful, complicated and stylized spray-painted letters. </p>
<p>The tradition of painting ornate graffiti names made me think of <a href="https://www.nga.gov/learn/teachers/lessons-activities/sense-of-place-france/cezanne.html">Paul Cézanne</a>, who painted the same bowl of fruit over and over. The carefully chosen names and their letters become the subject that writers use to practice their craft. </p>
<p>But I also wanted to know why people graffitied.</p>
<p>Many graffiti writers tagged spaces to declare their existence, especially in a place like New York City, where it is easy to feel invisible. Some writers who became well known in the early 1970s, like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/arts/design/early-graffiti-artist-taki-183-still-lives.html">Taki 183</a>, scrawled <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/07/21/79680118.html?pageNumber=37">their names and street numbers all over the city</a>.</p>
<p>During my research, I spoke with one New York graffiti artist whose work had garnered a lot of attention in the 1980s. He explained that his writing had no concrete political messages. </p>
<p>“But,” he added, “the act of writing graffiti is always political.” </p>
<p>Another graffiti artist I interviewed, “PEN1,” stood with me on a street in lower Manhattan, pointing out one of his many works. It was a fill-in – huge letters near the top of a three- or four-story building, very visible from the street.</p>
<p>“Those people have paid so much money to put their message up there,” he said, pointing to nearby billboards, “and I get to put my name up there for free.” </p>
<p>Through my project, which I ended up titling “Unofficial Communication,” I came to understand that writing graffiti on walls, billboards and subway cars was a way of disrupting ideas of private ownership in public, outdoor spaces. </p>
<p>It involved three different sets of players. There were the taggers, who represented people defying the status quo. There were the public and private owners of the spaces. And there was the municipal government, which regularly cleaned graffiti from outdoor surfaces and tried to arrest taggers. </p>
<p>In cities across the U.S., then and now, it’s easy to see whose interests are the priority, whose mistakes governments are willing to overlook, and which people they aggressively police and penalize.</p>
<h2>Loud and clear</h2>
<p>The names painted on the Los Angeles skyscrapers are the faster and easier-to-complete <a href="https://www.theartblog.org/2023/01/tags-fill-ins-and-kobe-a-short-appreciation-of-graffiti-in-baltimore-and-everywhere/">fill-ins</a>, since time is at a premium and the artists risk arrest.</p>
<p>These vertical graffiti bombing projects on failed skyscrapers, deliberately or not, call attention to the millions of dollars that are absorbed by taxpayers when private developers make bad investments. </p>
<p>Because the names painted on the buildings are fill-ins, they’re not especially artistic. But they did, in fact, make a political statement. </p>
<p>A former graffiti artist who goes by “ACTUAL” told The Washington Post that he’d come out of retirement to contribute to the Los Angeles project. </p>
<p>“The money invested in [the buildings] could have done so much for this city,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2024/02/08/los-angeles-graffiti-building/">he added</a>. </p>
<p>Some of the graffiti artists in Los Angeles were arrested, and the Los Angeles City Council <a href="https://www.costar.com/article/896685651/los-angeles-officials-start-process-that-may-lead-to-takeover-of-graffitied-skyscraper">is demanding that the owners of Oceanwide Plaza</a> remove the graffiti, described as the work of “criminals” acting “recklessly.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the developers of buildings that have sat, unfinished, for years, in the middle of a housing crisis, have broken no laws.</p>
<p>Some reckless acts, apparently, are more criminal than others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223265/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colette Gaiter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The colorful bubble letters have attracted praise and condemnation, with taggers seeing their work as a gift to the city, while others decry it as rampant vandalism.Colette Gaiter, Professor of Art and Design, University of DelawareLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1969952023-06-20T12:28:30Z2023-06-20T12:28:30ZGraffiti has undergone a massive shift in a few quick decades as street art gains social acceptance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519120/original/file-20230403-166-1bmapg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C22%2C3058%2C2014&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tagging, once considered vandalism, has gained cachet and economic value in the art world. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/E0r_BGagxRg">Ashim D’Silva for Unsplash.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Graffiti has become so mainstream in recent years that <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/press/sothebys-presents-first-of-its-kind-online-auction-celebrating-first-generation-of-new-york-graffiti-and-street-artists">auction houses</a>, <a href="https://museumofgraffiti.com">museums</a> and entire <a href="https://www.moca.org/exhibition/art-in-the-streets">art shows</a> cater to street art connoisseurs and collectors around the world. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJIYfAMgHw">Images in the news</a> of young vandals responsible for marking walls have been replaced by sleek websites belonging to <a href="https://www.banksy.co.uk">global phenoms such as Banksy</a> and <a href="https://obeygiant.com">Shepard Fairey</a>. </p>
<p>In cities around the world, graffiti is now associated with “street artists” rather than violent street gangs. Today, many cities, from Pittsburgh to Pretoria, invite street artists to help brand neighborhoods that are being revitalized and gentrified as legitimately hip destinations for business owners, home buyers and influencers. Some up-and-coming neighborhoods in cities like <a href="https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/dakar-graffiti-festival-connects-artists-cultures-and-ideas/243591/">Dakar, Senegal</a>; <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/a-street-art-tour-of-mexico-city/">Mexico City</a>; <a href="https://bsafest.com.au">Brisbane, Australia</a>; and <a href="https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220929000685">Seoul, South Korea</a> offer <a href="https://www.barcelonastreetstyletour.com">street art tours</a> and host <a href="https://streetartgoods.com/blogs/news/2022-travel-guide">graffiti festivals</a>. </p>
<p>The vibrantly colored walls in such places attract travelers to parts of town once deemed “sketchy.” These same neighborhoods are home to bookstores that carry graffiti coffee table books and universities that offer courses on graffiti art. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=o1BDAykAAAAJ">I have taught</a> such courses myself. But it hasn’t always been this way. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An oversized mural painted on the side of a building and on the ground of a person at a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519123/original/file-20230403-1324-zqz518.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">5Pointz was a curated mural space for graffiti artists in Queens, New York. When the walls were unexpectedly painted over, the artists sued, resulting in a $6.7M judgment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Urt2tOrxSV8">Julie Ricard for Unsplash.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>The history of tagging</h2>
<p>Before becoming an academic who teaches and <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo26835013.html">writes about graffiti</a>, I was a graffiti writer. I started tagging, or illegally writing my name — Cisco CBS — on surfaces across Los Angeles in the early 1990s. </p>
<p>At the time, local governments were cracking down on wall writers with anti-gang legislation, such as California’s 1988 <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2007/pen/186.20-186.33.html">Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention</a> Act, and a variety of “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/304465/">broken windows theory</a>” policing initiatives. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-019-09444-w">Law enforcement</a> didn’t seem to understand what the writing on walls meant or who was behind those cryptic images and personal monikers. Many residents couldn’t read or understand it either. Graffiti was interpreted as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-019-09444-w">gang-related</a> and, therefore, territorial and violent. Vandals were targeted with well-funded <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-019-09444-w">anti-graffiti task forces</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/vi_00011_1">police crackdowns</a> on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/opinion/los-angeles-gang-database.html">taggers like me</a>.</p>
<p>It was not enough, it seemed, to rightfully charge graffiti writers with vandalism. Rather, police and district attorneys, backed by a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/vi_00011_1">morally panicked</a> public, were making an example of graffiti writers, charging them with felonies, giving them <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-15-me-48864-story.html">six-figure fines</a> and sending them to prison for illicitly marking walls.</p>
<p>By the end of the 1990s, as the violent crime rate in cities across the U.S. <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/crime-trends-1990-2016">declined</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775819832315">gentrification</a> increased, new residents felt they could safely move into lower cost, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.13.080187.001021">“up-and-coming”</a> neighborhoods.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A mosaic of Our Lady of Guadelupe, a virgin saint. She wears a long coral robe and blue starry hooded cape, hands clasped in prayer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1210&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1210&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519124/original/file-20230403-22-okgs5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1210&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our Lady of Guadalupe symbolizes protection for those who lack power in society.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/9CiOeQQ7m9Y">Grant Whitty for Unsplash.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Local governments turned to <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/police-power-and-the-production-of-racial-boundaries/9780813569758">gang injunctions</a>, a restraining order targeting alleged gang members, to help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775819832315">rid neighborhoods</a> of the remaining taggers and wall writers who were labeled <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/opinion/los-angeles-gang-database.html">gang members</a> and were painting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-1504930">political wall murals</a>. </p>
<p>The Guadalupe, or La Virgen, was used to signal the Chicano community’s <a href="https://www.interfaithamerica.org/los-angeles-virgin-guadalupe-street-art/">faith in God’s protection</a>, delivering them from the violence of the streets at the hands of gangs and police alike. But such murals, often done by local graffiti artists who were themselves deeply rooted in the Chicano community, were forced to make room for “street art” in the context of neighborhood change and urban redevelopment. </p>
<p>As real estate prices went up, <a href="https://boyleheightsbeat.com/la-virgen-de-guadalupe-powerful-throughout-generations/">the Guadalupe murals came down</a>, symbolizing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2021.1985952">local displacement</a> by gentrification. While physical displacement was being experienced firsthand by long-standing residents, the transformation of the walls in these communities symbolized a broader cultural change. By the early 2000s, politically neutral <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/arts/design/02fair.html">street art images</a> replaced depictions of <a href="https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/inclusive-public-art-and-racial-justice">social struggle</a>, <a href="https://www.themcla.org/murals/read-between-lines">Chicano/a history</a>, and <a href="https://boyleheightsbeat.com/disappearing-murals-erase-boyle-heights-history/">community life</a>.</p>
<h2>Graffiti made legit</h2>
<p>By 2011, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles hosted the first-ever museum survey of street art and graffiti. At this time, I was finishing my dissertation on the “<a href="https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/179789">Changing Face of Wall Space</a>,” which explored graffiti in the nearby neighborhoods of Echo Park and Silver Lake. In it, I analyzed how graffiti writers such as <a href="https://eyelost.com">Eyeone</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/mearonehd">Mear</a> and <a href="http://www.cachickenart.com/about-cache">Cache</a> were navigating the legal, social, economic and cultural shift taking place in Los Angeles. In the midst of this struggle over wall space and aesthetics, many of my friends were invited inside to tag the walls of the <a href="https://artinthestreets.org/about">Art in the Streets</a> exhibition. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young people talk together next to giant black and white drawings pinned on the walls behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519130/original/file-20230403-1249-b0f4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As graffiti goes mainstream, it appears to legitimize spaces where it is found – museums, galleries and up-and-coming neighborhoods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/niIDjV2uSuk">Casio 1179 for Unsplash.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Just outside the museum gallery, the newly branded Arts District soon welcomed muralists and graffiti writers from around the world. These were the same streets where many of us had been chased, beaten and arrested by police for doing what was now fashionable and profitable. Los Angeles, like many cities in the U.S., had the <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/Uneasy-Peace/">lowest homicide rate</a> in more than a generation. In this new context, it became more difficult to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480606065908">connect graffiti to the gangs</a>: Gang violence just wasn’t there. Graffiti had made a <a href="https://lataco.com/whitewashing-murals-graffiti">comeback</a>, arriving inside the Trojan Horse of legitimate street art.</p>
<h2>Urban blight or community history</h2>
<p>Self-described <a href="https://www.latimes.com/projects/chicano-moratorium/chicano-moratorium-catalytic-moment-la-art/">critical Chicana muralists</a>, such as <a href="http://www.judybaca.com/artist/">Judith Baca,</a> and <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/pachucos">pachuco</a> graffiti writers such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_%22Chaz%22_Boj%C3%B3rquez">Chaz Bojórquez</a>, had been painting on walls around Los Angeles as early as the 1970s. These wall artists’ styles were often maligned by city leaders, business owners and wealthy Anglos. But something changed when these inner city aesthetics became the mainstream backdrop for arts communities. </p>
<p>No longer does the writing on the walls signal blight and disorder. Rather, graffiti increasingly tells the story of urban change. It took seeing it as “safe” in the form of “street art” for people to start paying attention to its visual power.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefano Bloch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the last decade, some graffiti writers have moved from outlaw taggers to sought-after artists.Stefano Bloch, Associate Professor of Geography, Development & Environment, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054922023-06-11T20:53:14Z2023-06-11T20:53:14ZTransgress to impress: why do people tag buildings – and are there any solutions?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530802/original/file-20230608-21-f6c90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C17%2C3847%2C2566&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1985 photographer Rennie Ellis <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8707788">defined graffiti</a> as “the result of someone’s urge to say something – to comment, inform, entertain, persuade, offend or simply to confirm his or her own existence here on earth”. Since the mid-1980s, graffiti has crossed from vandalism to an accepted form of art practice through large murals or “pieces” and stencil art aimed at informing, entertaining and persuading us. </p>
<p>But these are outnumbered by the tags you see everywhere. These stylised icon-type signatures define a hand style and confirm their author’s existence on Earth. These, for many of us, remain an eyesore. If you walk through an urban environment filled with tags, you may feel less safe. Heavily tagged areas can suggest the area is not cared for or surveilled. </p>
<p>So why are Australian cities so full of tags? The problem is, the main solution proven to work is expensive. When tags go up, paint over them – and keep doing it. While anti-graffiti paint exists, it’s not widely used at present. </p>
<h2>Why do people tag?</h2>
<p>Graffiti in urban centres is often tied to the world-wide proliferation of hip-hop culture. Along with DJing, rapping and breakdancing, “Graf” or “writing” is considered one of its <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/hip-hop">four pillars</a>. </p>
<p>Posturing (or showing off) is a big part of tagging. When you see a tag on a freeway overpass or seemingly inaccessible building parapet, it’s not only confirming the tagger’s existence, it’s bragging. See how high I climbed! See what crazy risks I took! </p>
<p>As one tagger in Sydney’s outer south-western suburb of Campbelltown <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/vandalism-graffiti-state-rail-authority-nsw.pdf">told researchers</a> in the 1980s: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you get on a train and see your name and know you’ve been here before that’s real good. Like, I was here. Or you see your mate’s name and you can say, hey, I know him […] It’s really good if you can get your name up in a difficult place where nobody else has. Other kids look at that and think, great!</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="tagging melbourne" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530780/original/file-20230608-29-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tagging is often a way to demonstrate bravado, as in this 2005 photo of taggers covering every window of an empty office building in Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ssandars/with/3932839/">Scott Sandars/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So why do people tag? </p>
<ul>
<li><p>it boosts self-esteem and a sense of belonging to a social network, particularly for teens experiencing alienation at school</p></li>
<li><p>it demonstrates bravado. Risky places have the added advantages of being both highly visible and harder to remove</p></li>
<li><p>it gives graf artists practice for bigger pieces. You have to work quickly and accurately, especially in precarious positions where you could get caught at any moment. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>While cities like Melbourne <a href="https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/art/where-to-find-the-best-street-art-in-melbourne">have embraced</a> larger murals and pieces as street art – even making them a tourist attraction – tagging isn’t regarded the same way. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="hosier lane street art melbourne" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530784/original/file-20230608-25-7jgap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Street art has been embraced in inner-city Melbourne, with places like Hosier Lane becoming well known. But tagging doesn’t get the same acclaim.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So why do non-taggers hate it? On a broader level, tagging can signify a sense of social degradation which makes people feel less safe. </p>
<p>There’s no clear link between <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rip/rip6">more graffiti and more crime</a>. Even so, the public perception is that tagging is a sign warning of the presence of <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/vandalism-graffiti-state-rail-authority-nsw.pdf">disaffected and potentially violent</a> people in gangs. </p>
<p>Asked to picture a tagger and you will most likely come up with a stock photo stereotype: a male teenager in a hoodie from a seedy area. But you would not be completely right. It is true just under half (46%) of graffiti damage and related offences are committed by 14 to 16 year old males, but the largest percentage of offenders actually come from <a href="https://www.goodbyegraffiti.wa.gov.au/Schools/Facts-for-Students/Who-are-the-most-likely-offenders-of-graffiti">middle- to high-income families</a>.</p>
<p>So what tools do we have to manage it?</p>
<h2>Punishment</h2>
<p>It’s perfectly legal to commission a graf artist to paint a wall of a building you own. Many people do this to avoid a street-facing wall being tagged. For it to be illegal, tagging or graffiti has to be done without the owner’s permission.</p>
<p>Since the majority of taggers are under 18, if they’re caught, punishment will usually include a caution, fines (presumably paid by bemused but cashed up parents) and cleaning off tags. </p>
<p>But punitive measures only go so far because the appeal of graffiti is the transgression. Other measures include keeping spray paint locked away or not for sale to under 18s as well as zero-tolerance rapid removal. This can work for a while, but taggers know their tags are temporary. It’s a constant game of cat and mouse a committed tagger will eventually win.</p>
<h2>Technical solutions</h2>
<p>If you’ve walked past workers scrubbing or pressure washing tags off walls, you may have wondered why there are no coatings which don’t let paint stick. </p>
<p>These actually <a href="https://www.ipcm.it/en/article/anti-graffiti-paints-what-are-they-and-how-they-work.aspx">do exist</a>, and can work well. When in place, you can remove graffiti with a solvent rather than having to repaint. But they’re not widely used. </p>
<p>Unless paints such as <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/7-inventions-from-mexico-that-would-go-on-to-change-the-world">Deletum 3000</a> are used everywhere this approach is unlikely to be effective. </p>
<h2>Prevention</h2>
<p>The problem with punitive and technical measures is the limited reach. The vast majority of unwanted graffiti <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rip/rip6">goes unreported</a>. That’s why prevention is becoming more popular. </p>
<p>How do you prevent tagging? By making it easier to report. By setting aside areas for taggers and graf artists. By commissioning pieces to deter graffers from illegal modes. And by talking directly to taggers about strategies. But these behaviour change efforts take time. </p>
<p>People who hate tagging often believe taggers are motivated by negative emotions such as <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rip/rip6">boredom and rebelliousness</a>. For them it’s vandalism, a criminal act associated with gangs, petty crime, broken windows and a less attractive environment to live in. </p>
<p>But the truth is, taggers are often motivated by positive emotions. Tagging, for them, brings pride, pleasure, enjoyment and community. That’s why behaviour change approaches can be hard. </p>
<h2>So what’s the best way forward?</h2>
<p>In the 1990s, many cities declared war on skateboarders, using punishment and installing metal stoppers on well-skated urban areas. But the real solution was simpler: create skate parks. </p>
<p>For taggers, the answer may be similar. Give them spaces such as little-used alleyways to practise their art. And for the rest of us, the solution may be to look at tags with different eyes. Not as a sign of crime and the collapse of civilisation, but as a need for validation, for transgression, for community and all the other things you probably wanted when you were a teenager.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205492/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Flavia Marcello does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Living in cities filled with tags may make us feel less safe. But tags don’t mean crime and gangs. The real reasons people tag buildings and bridges are to show off and create community.Flavia Marcello, Professor of Design History, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1366732020-04-28T12:10:37Z2020-04-28T12:10:37ZScientists at work: Uncovering the mystery of when and where sharks give birth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330807/original/file-20200427-145566-12cpxhm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Using new technology to answer questions about shark reproduction.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.blueelementsimaging.com">Tanya Houppermans</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have a toddler, or if you encountered one in the last year, you’ve almost certainly experienced the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqZsoesa55w">“Baby Shark” song</a>. Somehow, every kid seems to know this song, but scientists actually know very little about <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/07/great-white-shark-research-population-behavior/">where and when sharks give birth</a>. The origins of these famous baby sharks are still largely a mystery.</p>
<p>Many of the large iconic shark species – like great whites, hammerheads, blue sharks and tiger sharks – cross hundreds or thousands of miles of ocean every year. Because they’re so wide-ranging, much of sharks’ lives, including their reproductive habits, remains a secret. Scientists have struggled to figure out precisely where and how often sharks mate, the length of their gestation, and many aspects of the birthing process. </p>
<p><a href="https://hannahverkamp.wixsite.com/profile">I am a Ph.D. student</a> studying shark ecology and reproduction and am on a team of researchers hoping to answer two important questions: Where and when do sharks give birth?</p>
<h2>In need of innovation</h2>
<p>Until very recently, the technology to answer these questions did not exist. But marine biologist James Sulikowski, a professor at Arizona State University and my research mentor, changed that. He developed a new satellite tag called the Birth-Tag with the help of the technology company <a href="https://www.lotek.com">Lotek Wireless</a>. He has no stake in the company. Using this new satellite tag, our team is working to uncover where and when tiger sharks give birth and is demonstrating a proof of concept for how scientists can do the same for other large shark species. </p>
<p>The Birth-Tag is a small, egg-shaped device that we insert into the uterus of a pregnant shark where it will remain dormant and hidden among the fetal sharks throughout pregnancy. This kind of tag has never before been used on sharks, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-019-0184-4">similar implanted tags</a> have been used to figure out the birthing locations of terrestrial mammals, such as deer, for decades with great success. When a tagged mother shark gives birth, the tag will be expelled alongside the babies and float to the sea surface. Once it senses dry air, the tag transmits its location to a passing satellite, which then sends that location and time of transmission back to our lab. As soon as we download this information, we know where and when that shark gave birth.</p>
<p>After years of fine-tuning this new technology, we launched the first phase of the study in December of 2019 and began deploying the tags. Once the study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees at both Arizona State University and the University of Miami, as well as the Bahamian government, we set out to find some tiger sharks. To do this, our team of researchers from the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/sulikowskilab/home">Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab</a> and the <a href="https://sharkresearch.rsmas.miami.edu">Shark Research and Conservation Program</a> at the University of Miami led by marine biologist Neil Hammerschlag, traveled to the crystal-clear waters of Tiger Beach off Grand Bahama Island to tag tiger sharks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330802/original/file-20200427-145525-180kd6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tiger sharks are large and powerful predators. Getting close enough for a check-up is not easy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.blueelementsimaging.com/">Tanya Houppermans</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Up close with an apex predator</h2>
<p>Tiger Beach is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00648">hot spot for female tiger sharks</a> of many different life stages, including large pregnant individuals. These pregnant females may be aggregating in the warm, calm waters of Tiger Beach to take refuge and speed up their gestation.</p>
<p>The high number of pregnant sharks in this small area makes finding one much easier, but actually catching and bringing a 10-foot-plus shark to the boat is no easy task. We fish for the sharks <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Integrating-Physiological-and-Reflex-Biomarkers-of-Jerome/01db87057ab3142d134095d3340345d971277a1c/figure/1">using drumlines</a>, and it can take several hours to safely catch, pull in by hand, and secure one of these powerful creatures next to the boat.</p>
<p>Once we catch a female tiger shark, we first take several length and girth measurements to get an idea of her general health and to see if she is sexually mature. Then we check for bite marks, which are evidence of a recent mating event.</p>
<p>After we collect this baseline information, we rotate her upside down to coax her into a trance-like state called <a href="https://www.sharktrust.org/tonic-immobility">tonic immobility</a>. Tonic immobility is a natural reflex in many sharks that induces a state of physical inactivity. This keeps the powerful shark calm and still for the most exciting part of the workup, the part where my experience comes into play: the pregnancy check.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330800/original/file-20200427-145513-1m8s6jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A not-so-routine ultrasound.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.blueelementsimaging.com/">Tanya Houppermans</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Expecting</h2>
<p>Just like the ultrasounds used on humans, we use a mobile ultrasound machine to figure out if a shark is expecting. I put on a pair of goggles that allow me to see everything the ultrasound sees, lean over the side of the boat, and place the probe onto the upside down shark’s abdomen. The image is usually fuzzy at first as water splashes over the shark and up onto the boat. The team holds the shark still as I slowly maneuver the probe along her belly. Then, if she’s pregnant, something magical happens.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330801/original/file-20200427-145513-nuf0v8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A happy healthy baby is a welcome sight for any mother.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newcollege.asu.edu/james-sulikowski">James Sulikowski</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Wriggling baby tiger sharks, up to 40 of them packed tightly together inside their mother’s womb, appear in front of my eyes. The image also appears on a screen held by another team member on the boat, and everyone cheers as they gather around to take a peek into the secret world of unborn sharks. We spy on them as they pump fluid through their still-developing gills, and we watch in awe as they wiggle around, blissfully unaware that anything extraordinary is happening outside in the world. Once we have enough data on the approximate size of the offspring – which gives us an idea of how far along the pregnancy is – it’s time to tag the mama shark.</p>
<p>As I hold the probe as still as possible to keep a visual of the shark’s internal anatomy, Dr. Sulikowski takes the Birth-Tag and uses a custom-designed applicator to carefully insert it into the uterus through the urogenital opening. No surgery required, the tagging procedure is complete in a matter of minutes. Once the tag is inside the uterus, we rotate the shark upright to wake her and release her back to the open ocean. I am filled with hope as I watch her swim gracefully away to continue her pregnancy, with a stow-away Birth-Tag hidden among her unborn offspring.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330813/original/file-20200427-145530-1paqeo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These apex predatory sharks are important to ecosystems around the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.blueelementsimaging.com/">Tanya Houppermans</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Solving the mystery</h2>
<p>Last December, we deployed the first Birth-Tags on three pregnant tiger sharks. For tiger sharks, pregnancy is thought to last <a href="http://sedarweb.org/docs/wsupp/S21_RD07_AQUA15(4)_Cycles2.pdf">12-16 months</a>, but researchers have little in the way of hard data. Since these tagged sharks ranged from recently mated to mid-gestation, an added bonus of this study is that it might help refine estimates of the length of pregnancy for this species.</p>
<p>Although we work in The Bahamas, a <a href="https://www.epicdiving.com/bahamas-shark-sanctuary-conservation/">shark sanctuary</a> where it is illegal to kill sharks, tiger sharks <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fsrep11202">migrate extensively</a>. As such, each tagged shark will likely spend time outside of The Bahamas in unprotected waters where she will have to navigate carefully to avoid interaction with fishing gear. Tiger sharks are considered <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39378/2913541">near threatened</a> by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and their populations are currently in decline. The data we gain from this first round of tags will give us and policymakers information that could inform future protections for this species.</p>
<p>We are currently waiting to receive a notification from our online <a href="https://www.argos-system.org/argos/who-we-are/international-cooperation/">ARGOS satellite system</a> that will alert us that one of our sharks has given birth. When that happens, we will be the first in the world to know, in close to real time, where and when tiger sharks give birth.</p>
<p>Many species of shark are <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/00590">threatened with extinction</a>, and understanding their reproductive cycles is key to the effective conservation of these ecologically important and beautiful creatures. Using the Birth-Tag, we are at the cusp of unlocking this information about tiger sharks and will hopefully show that this can be done for many more species. </p>
<p>We are planning future expeditions to deploy many more Birth-Tags, but for now, we’ll just have to keep singing the “Baby Shark” song as we patiently wait for our first glimpse into the private lives of these incredible creatures.</p>
<p><em>This story has been updated to remove a photo of the Birth-Tag.</em></p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136673/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Verkamp works for Arizona State University as a Research Associate in the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab.
The research is funded by the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation. </span></em></p>Researchers are using a newly developed satellite tag to study previously unknown aspects of tiger shark reproduction. This approach could be used on other difficult-to-study shark species.Hannah Verkamp, PhD Student in Marine Biology, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1331212020-03-24T12:15:15Z2020-03-24T12:15:15ZTagging data show that blue sharks are true globalists<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322015/original/file-20200320-22610-1butyn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1488%2C926&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A blue shark in the Channel Islands off California.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/cNchYY">NOAA SWFSC/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322014/original/file-20200320-22618-19xzk8h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322014/original/file-20200320-22618-19xzk8h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322014/original/file-20200320-22618-19xzk8h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322014/original/file-20200320-22618-19xzk8h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322014/original/file-20200320-22618-19xzk8h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322014/original/file-20200320-22618-19xzk8h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322014/original/file-20200320-22618-19xzk8h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Blue sharks are among the widest-ranging shark species in the oceans. We know this partly because from 1962 to 2013, 117,962 blue sharks were tagged as part of the ongoing <a href="https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/Narragansett/sharks/tagging.html">Cooperative Shark Tagging Program</a>. </p>
<p>This partnership between the commercial fishing industry, the U.S. government, recreational fishermen and academic research scientists is the longest-running tagging program in the world. Since its launch in 1962, participants have tagged hundreds of thousands of sharks representing 35 different species. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322018/original/file-20200320-22636-1dph7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dart tag, one type used in the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/Narragansett/sharks/tagging.html">NOAA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More than half (51%) of the animals tagged were <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/prionace-glauca/">blue sharks</a> (<em>Prionace glauca</em>) – a total of 117,962 individual sharks. This is probably because blues are abundant: They are found in all of the world’s oceans, as far north as Alaska and as far south as Chile, but rarely venture near shore.</p>
<p>Unlike some other sharks, blues are not a prized commercial species, likely because most people think they <a href="https://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=258823">taste disgusting</a>. That makes fishermen willing to tag and release them instead of harvesting them. </p>
<p>But blue sharks are often caught unintentionally as <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/node/251">bycatch</a> along with targeted fish. They are classified as <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39381/2915850">near threatened</a>, and there is evidence that their <a href="https://www.mcsuk.org/30species/blue-shark">population is decreasing</a>. </p>
<p>Each tag attached to a shark carries an identification number and contact information, so that recaptures can be reported and matched to data collected during the initial tagging. The data show that these sharks really move. One traveled a record-breaking 3,997 nautical miles from waters off Long Island, New York, where it was first tagged, to the south Atlantic where it was recaptured – a distance longer than the Great Wall of China. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319717/original/file-20200310-61127-15jtekc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blue sharks range throughout the world’s tropical and temperate oceans (blue zones).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cypron-Range_Prionace_glauca.svg">IUCN Redlist/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sharks were caught in all seasons throughout their range, in tropical waters warmer than 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) and temperate waters, which range from 50°-68°F (10°-20°C). In more tropical climates, blue sharks occupy waters as deep as 1,150 feet (350 meters), which are cooler than water near the surface. Their ability to inhabit a wide range of depths enables them to move around as seasons and water temperatures change. </p>
<p>Tagging data confirm that blue sharks migrate incredibly long distances, with some even crossing the equator from the North Atlantic to the South Atlantic. All of this movement allows them to mix and mingle with individuals throughout their range. This tells scientists that all blue sharks in the Atlantic Ocean are part of one mating pool, and can be considered one big population, rather than smaller separate groups. </p>
<p>The fact that blue sharks range so widely suggests that an event in one part of the Atlantic, such as an oil spill, could potentially affect the number of mating pairs across the population. This could reduce the number of blue sharks in the next generation and lead to a decline in their population throughout the Atlantic. It could also reduce their genetic diversity and make the survivors more prone to mortality from disease. </p>
<p>About 7% of the tagged blue sharks (8,213) were recaptured later, sometimes after more than a decade. One shark was recaptured nearly 16 years after it was first tagged. Scientists estimated that this shark was between 8 and 11 years old at the time it was tagged, based on its size. That original age estimate would have made the shark 24 to 27 years old when it was recaptured, which falls within the current estimated range of maximum age for the species. </p>
<p>Thanks to tagging data, scientists have learned a lot about the ecology of several species, including <a href="http://sedarweb.org/docs/wpapers/S39_DW_20_NEFSCmarkrecap.pdf">smooth dogfish</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1011017109776">sandbar sharks</a>. As a scientist pursuing a career in <a href="https://mote.org/staff/member/jasmin-graham">marine conservation</a>, I look forward to more wondrous discoveries about these marvelous animals. </p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133121/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jasmin Graham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>You won’t see a blue shark near the beach, but thanks to 50 years of tagging data, scientists are learning about their wide-ranging lives at sea.Jasmin Graham, Ph.D. Candidate in Marine Science, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/781772017-06-07T20:11:42Z2017-06-07T20:11:42ZMelbourne’s love-hate relationship with being Australia’s ‘street art capital’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172189/original/file-20170605-20582-2kyody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Melbourne's Hosier Lane: some see it as art, others think it's vandalism. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/volvob12b/25242293926/">Bernard Spragg/Flickr </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tourists are drawn to cities by a myriad of attractions and activities. Some cities are blessed with iconic attractions that are on every visitor’s “must see” list – the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in Sydney, for example. </p>
<p>Other cities rely on a more eclectic mix of “sights and sounds” to lure increasingly well-informed and diverse visitors. For instance, Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, has at various times promoted itself as the nation’s “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430430903053109?scroll=top&needAccess=true">sports</a> and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13683500.2011.634894">events</a> capital”, the “<a href="http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/300706%2Cmelbourne-vs-sydney-which-is-australia-s-arts-capital.aspx">arts</a> and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17438730802138881">culture</a> capital” and, more recently, as the “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/paste-modernism-20120120-1q9p5.html">street art capital</a>”. </p>
<p>Street art, also known as graffiti, has not always had strong community support. The proliferation of the “art form” has many strident critics. For example, Graffiti Hurts spokesman Scott Hilditch <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13604810903525215?scroll=top&needAccess=true">complained that funding</a> a mobile phone app to guide users around Melbourne street art sites would glorify graffiti vandalism. </p>
<p>Yet there is no denying the growth of street art and the popularity of sites around inner-city Melbourne. On a sunny afternoon in the city’s laneways, you are likely to see a range of local and international visitors, some posing for photos in front of freshly painted walls, others passing by on their way to a nearby cafe <a href="https://theconversation.com/flat-white-urbanism-there-must-be-better-ways-to-foster-a-vibrant-street-life-78338">for a flat white</a>. </p>
<p>You may see see <a href="https://www.artthyneighbour.com/">local “artists”</a> guiding groups on street art tours. You may even see newlyweds looking for that quintessentially Melbourne photo for their wedding album. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171992/original/file-20170602-22794-1pobw0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171992/original/file-20170602-22794-1pobw0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171992/original/file-20170602-22794-1pobw0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171992/original/file-20170602-22794-1pobw0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171992/original/file-20170602-22794-1pobw0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171992/original/file-20170602-22794-1pobw0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171992/original/file-20170602-22794-1pobw0r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A wedding photo shoot in Melbourne’s Hosier Lane.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pics-or-it-didnt-happen/4748540997/in/photolist-y5wvH3-8eBvNv-8HXgX9-8HUe8n-8HXfxG/">vincentq/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite questions <a href="http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2009/07/05/street-art-melbournes-unwanted-attraction/">about the legality</a>, and perhaps morality, of street art, its popularity is undeniable. Melbourne’s laneways and their street art have become a major drawcard. In a 2008 Lonely Planet poll, Melbourne’s laneway street art was voted <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/antigraffiti-lobby-sees-red-at-heritagelisting-proposal-20080622-2uzy.html">Australia’s top “cultural attraction”</a>. </p>
<p>If social media counts (which it most certainly does), Hosier Lane, the epicentre of Melbourne street art, has arguably become the city’s premier tourist destination. It attracts <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-rough-sleepers-are-attracting-tourists-with-their-street-art-71983">significantly more Instagram hashtags</a> than traditional destinations like Melbourne Zoo or Federation Square. </p>
<p>Regardless of social and <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/10/01/1222651140951.html">political</a> <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2382965/Negotiated_Consent_or_Zero_Tolerance">disapproval</a>, the proliferation of Melbourne’s street art does provide a point of distinction in an era of growing competition between cities.</p>
<p>City destinations are having to find new and creative <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13683500.2013.783794">ways to distinguish themselves</a> from the rest. Numerous <a href="http://deansunshine.com/">local</a> and <a href="http://www.stencilgraffiticapital.com/">international</a> websites, blogs and books have recognised Melbourne as Australia’s “street art capital” over the past decade. </p>
<p>In turn, <a href="https://www.artthyneighbour.com/artists/solarquins-and-salvaging-skulls-hayden-dewars-surreal-murals-have-an-important-message">street art</a> images have been <a href="http://search.informit.org/documentSummary;dn=224833673406451;res=IELBUS">selectively packaged and promoted</a> to boost the city’s “creative” and “vibrant” image. The Melbourne City Council website <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/arts-and-culture/art-outdoors/pages/street-art.aspx">recognises</a> “the importance of street art in contributing to a vibrant urban culture”, and acknowledges:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Melbourne’s street art has become internationally renowned and has become an attraction for local and overseas visitors experiencing Melbourne’s creative ambience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite this, the council seems at pains to differentiate between “graffiti” and “street art”. Melbourne City has a <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/residents/home-neighbourhood/graffiti/Pages/graffiti.aspx">web page</a> explaining to both artists and property owners the legalities of street art. </p>
<p>The council refers to research and community consultations as the basis for its <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/residents/home-neighbourhood/graffiti/pages/graffiti-management-plan.aspx">Graffiti Management Plan</a>. According to its <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/arts-and-culture/art-outdoors/Pages/street-art.aspx">“Street Art” webpage</a>, these revealed that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… most people do not like graffiti ‘tagging’ … However, many people appreciate ‘street art’ such as larger, more artistic pieces, or murals placed in appropriate locations with the required permission.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, trying to separate the two <a href="https://www.fastcodesign.com/3022524/can-graffiti-be-good-for-cities">is problematic</a>. Many street artists engage in both forms of “<a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/PubSpace/2009/3.html">writing</a>” – the term street artists use to describe their production of graffiti or street art. </p>
<p>Although it’s broadly recognised by the City of Melbourne as adding to the city’s cultural aesthetic, relatively little is understood about the economic value of street art. Measuring its economic value to the city is challenging. But creative tourism forms such as this clearly have their merits as tourists increasingly seek out “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1206331202005001006">alternative public spaces</a>” in search of creative landscapes and authentic experiences. </p>
<p>Thus, it’s possible that creative tourism is <a href="https://www.academia.edu/3070326/Creativity_and_tourism_in_the_city">more valuable than conventional tourism</a>. </p>
<p>Certainly, Melbourne is increasingly well known for its “laneway galleries”, however challenging the management of this ephemeral attraction might be for governments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78177/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Jopp does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Melbourne’s street art has an international reputation and may be a very valuable tourist attraction. But the city remains ambivalent about the activities that have created its ‘laneway galleries’.Ryan Jopp, Lecturer in Tourism and Management, Academic Director (Education Quality and Assurance), Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/341062014-11-24T09:56:43Z2014-11-24T09:56:43ZAutopsies from space: who killed the sea lions?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64681/original/pbyqyrkd-1416194057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young Steller sea lions in Prince William Sound, Alaska. NMFS Permit 14336</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Horning</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A decade ago, we set out to unravel deep ocean crime scenes we weren’t even sure existed. The crime? Endangered Steller sea lions were rapidly disappearing in parts of Alaska. Their numbers <a href="http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10576/the-decline-of-the-steller-sea-lion-in-alaskan-waters">dropped</a> by 80% in three decades, yet only rarely did anyone see or sample dead sea lions. Live sea lions studied in the summer when they haul out to breed seemed healthy and had healthy pups.</p>
<p>We wanted to know when, where, and why sea lions die. To unravel the mystery, we needed information from those animals that we don’t see, those that might not breed, those that might never come back ashore. So we <a href="http://wildlifecomputers.com">developed</a> a special monitoring tag that could <a href="http://www.sealtag.org">send us data </a>about the sea lions we can’t directly observe.</p>
<p>This so-called Life History Transmitter or LHX tag is a small electronic monitor surgically implanted into the gut cavity of young sea lions under anesthesia. Don’t worry, we checked that this <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2007.07.015">does not alter</a> the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr00062">behavior</a> or survival of the animals. After all, we don’t want to influence the data we need!</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65217/original/image-20141121-1034-166wz4m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An LHX tag before being implanted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Horning</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A tag monitors the host animal throughout its life. After the host dies, tags are freed from the decomposing, dismembered or digested carcass. They float quickly up to the ocean surface and begin to transmit previously stored data to orbiting satellites. No matter where these sea lions go, we eventually get a sad email that confirms one of our study animals has died. Since tag data is relayed by satellites, we call these “autopsies from space.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65250/original/image-20141123-1034-107wfia.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Locations of three live, young Steller sea lion females with LHX implants currently being tracked in Prince William Sound, Alaska. External transmitters are used to track the animals for up to 6 months following their release after implant surgery. After this time the external tags typically fall off.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Horning</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since 2005, <a href="http://www.alaskasealife.org">we’ve placed tags</a> in 45 young sea lions in the Prince William Sound area of the Gulf of Alaska. So far, 17 of these sea lions have died. That’s actually about how many deaths we expected. Young sea lions <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030173">have a tough life</a> and most don’t even reach the age of reproduction. </p>
<p>In two cases, we did not receive enough data to conclude how these sea lions died. Tags from the other 15 sea lions did give us complete data sets. As it turns out, these 15 animals died at sea. Much to our surprise, all 15 apparently died from an attack by a predator. How can we tell?</p>
<p>LHX tags record temperature and light levels. They can also distinguish between being surrounded by tissue, saltwater or air. The data we received via satellite from the first few “crime scenes” all followed the same pattern: the tags very quickly cooled from 98F (37C), the normal body core temperature for a healthy warmblooded animal like a sea lion, to the temperature of the ocean surface at time and place of the attack. At the same time, the tags sensed light and air, and began to transmit. Pretty much the only way this could happen is if the sea lion was dismembered by a predator and the tag came flying out. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64903/original/q2b78s6p-1416341857.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64903/original/q2b78s6p-1416341857.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64903/original/q2b78s6p-1416341857.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64903/original/q2b78s6p-1416341857.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64903/original/q2b78s6p-1416341857.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64903/original/q2b78s6p-1416341857.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64903/original/q2b78s6p-1416341857.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Steller sea lions at a haul out on Glacier Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Horning</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We could only guess who might have done this: killer whales, white sharks, salmon sharks and maybe sleeper sharks have all been reported as predators of sea lions. Killer whales are considered the most common predator, but that could simply be because killer whale attacks – which happen near the ocean surface – are more likely to be observed than other attacks that may occur at depths as deep as 500m, the deepest known dive for Steller sea lions.</p>
<p>More recently however, three of our “autopsies from space” <a href="http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1124/horning.pdf">revealed some puzzling patterns</a>: tags still recorded rapid temperature drops, but they remained in the dark and didn’t sense any air. Even more baffling, the temperatures they recorded after the attack did not match ocean surface temperatures. Instead, the temperatures corresponded to deep water values. These tags only sensed light and air, and surface temperatures, anywhere from five to 11 days later. That’s when they began to transmit. What was going on?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65234/original/image-20141122-1031-nlscjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crime scene data from three of the tagged sea lions. Notice that the tags stayed in the cold and dark for days before transmitting 5 to 11 days later, as indicated by the horizontal arrows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fish. Bull. 112:297–310 (2014)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We think these tags were swallowed by a cold-bodied predator and passed or regurgitated a few days later. This eliminates killer whales from the suspect list for these three attacks, since they are also warmblooded. Even white and salmon sharks have the ability to raise their body temperature well above ambient. This leaves the sluggish, slow-moving, poorly understood and truly cold-blooded Pacific sleeper shark as our prime suspect.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64904/original/3qfk54s4-1416341983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An adult male Steller sea lion. Steller sea lions are the largest of all sea lions, and males may reach a body mass of over 2,400 lb (1,100 kg), and females up to 770 lb (350 kg).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Horning</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Why is this important? To promote the recovery of Steller sea lion populations, fishing has been restricted in some regions of Alaska. These regulations are based on the assumption – not backed by hard evidence – that sea lions are suffering from lack of food. When people take less fish, there’s more left for the sea lions. However, sleeper sharks are killed as bycatch in many fisheries. So one unintended consequence of fishing restrictions may be more sleeper sharks in the sea. Counterintuitively, these measures meant to help sea lions by preserving more of their food might be hurting them by leaving more predators to eat them. </p>
<p>Piecing together all the clues from our sea lion crime scenes, we’re confident we’ve narrowed in on one of the suspects. This investigation is not about bringing a killer to justice, but our new understanding of the crime might affect future fisheries management decisions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Markus Horning receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the North Pacific Research Board, the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center, the North Pacific Fisheries Foundation. This research was authorized under all required institutional and federal permits under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act, including NMFS #1034-1685, 1034-1887, 881-1890, 881-1668, 14335, and 14336.</span></em></p>A decade ago, we set out to unravel deep ocean crime scenes we weren’t even sure existed. The crime? Endangered Steller sea lions were rapidly disappearing in parts of Alaska. Their numbers dropped by…Markus Horning, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Oregon State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.