This morning Sydney surfer, Paul Welsh, was bitten by a shark while surfing at Mona Vale on the northern beaches. He believed that the shark that bit him was a two-metre white shark. The timing is uncanny because tonight on ABC1, Catalyst will feature a story about the tagging of white sharks off the east coast of Australia. The story focuses on the collaborative efforts by the CSIRO and private company, Whitetag Research, to tag juvenile white sharks in order to study their movement patterns and behaviour. Whitetag Research is an organisation recently established by Victorian surfer Kent Stannard to communicate scientific data to the ocean-using public, including surfers. Their goal is to better understand the behaviour of white sharks and then educate ocean users about this often-maligned creature. Kent also provides Swellnet with ongoing reports about his research and findings. Click here for past reports. Catalyst appears at 8:00PM tonight on ABC 1. //STUART NETTLE