Dutch Shark Society

Yesterday, we officially introduced the Dutch Great Eggcase Hunt in the Netherlands: de Grote Eikapseljacht.

A school class of elementary school De Bogen in Harderwijk was educated on sharks and rays on April 1st, and on April 2nd all guys and gals headed the Ray Reef of Dolfinarium Harderwijk for field work: searching for eggcases on the beach!

Searching for eggcases on the beach!

The lucky winner got a special treat: feeding a real smooth-hound, that was rescued some years ago and since lives on the Ray Reef, by hand!

Our own North Sea is inhabited by at least seventeen species of sharks and rays. Most of these are listed as vulnerable, (near) threatened and endangered. A bad sign, and bad news for the ecobalance of our waters. 

The British Shark Trust first organised the Great Eggcase Hunt (www.eggcase.org), more than 10.000 British children go eggcase hunting each year. Found eggcases provide a lot of essential information: where are breeding grounds, are populations increasing or in decline? Registration is therefore very important!

Meeting a real thorny ray!

The Dutch “Grote Eikapseljacht” is an initiative of the  Dutch Shark Society, in collaboration with the British SharkTrust, Team Fishes of the Dolfinarium en Sportvisserij Nederland (see for their research on sharks and rays “Sharkatag” on www.haairog.nl).

Visit the dedicated Dutch site http://www.eikapsel.org for more info on sharks and rays and registration of eggcases in the European database!

Our sincere thanks go to Evert, Niels of Sportvisserij Nederland and  Lisette, Erjan and Manus of Dolfinarium Harderwijk for making this day possible!

Dorien Schröder, Georgina Wiersma, Peter Verhoog

See all the pictures of this day!