As crowds gather later this month for the Isle of Wight Festival, University of Exeter scientists will begin a groundbreaking study of thresher sharks in the waters off the island.
Threshers are huge and mysterious sharks, and sightings off the Isle of Wight suggest they are seasonal visitors to the area.
The new study is funded by Solo Music Agency - founded by Isle of Wight Festival organiser and Exeter alumnus John Giddings.
The philanthropic donation will allow scientists to carry out the first ever study of thresher sharks in UK waters.
"Hopefully my donation will help the scientists find out more about their habitat, and how to protect them and the oceans for the future," John said.
"Being in a position to help my old university is a privilege. The university started my career, and to give something back is a great opportunity."
Commenting on his fascination with sharks, he added: "I work in the music business - I see the real ones! But seriously, there is something magical and beautiful about them, their shape, the way they move. I could watch them all day long."
'Special place'
The common thresher shark - which can grow to six metres in length - stuns schools of fish by swiping a highly adapted tail that can be as tall as the shark is long.
The sharks appear around the Isle of Wight each summer, with sightings increasing in recent years.
Meanwhile, intensive fishing has caused the population of thresher sharks in the Atlantic to decline rapidly, and they are now in danger of extinction.
If numbers around the UK are increasing, the waters off the isle of Wight may represent a key conservation hotspot.
"We think these waters could be a special place for thresher sharks," said Dr Lucy Hawkes, from the University of Exeter.
"It's thought that thresher sharks migrate seasonally into shallow coastal waters, possibly to mate, suggesting that the Isle of Wight could be a pupping ground.
"Little is known about thresher sharks globally, and we don't have evidence on why they come to the northern English Channel.
"Learning about their movements, feeding behaviour and mating areas could help us protect this amazing species."
Francesco Garzon, also from the University of Exeter, added: "The generous donation will fund an important pilot tagging study, hopefully laying the foundation for a larger-scale project investigating these sharks in UK waters. We are incredibly grateful to John for believing in the project and this team.
"In partnership with expert recreational anglers on the Isle of Wight, we will deploy two high-tech electronic tags on thresher sharks.
"Anglers are the absolute experts on this rare species, and have been keeping records of their appearances for years - it is thanks to them and their dedication to threshers that we can make this project happen.
"These tags will track the animals for a year, before detaching and transmitting data back to us - at which point we will find out what the sharks have been up to since we tagged them."
University days
John Giddings studied Philosophy and Sociology at Exeter, graduating in 1975.
He had always wanted to be in the music industry, and saw a route into that by becoming secretary of the Exeter Students' Guild
In that role, he booked a series of famous acts to play in Exeter, including Bob Marley (who cancelled), Procol Harum, The Kinks and Genesis.
The Solo Music Agency now represents a wide range of acts, including Little Mix, Sex Pistols, James, Phil Collins and Genesis, Iggy Pop, The Kooks, Blondie, Ronan Keating and Boyzone, amongst others.
