Enrico Gennari

Enrico Gennari
Born	(1977-01-26) January 26, 1977 Rome, I.T.
Occupation	Marine Biologist
Spouse	Unmarried
Website	Enrico Gennari

Biography

Enrico Gennari was born in Rome (Italy) the 21st January 1977. Since the early stages of his life, Enrico had an innate passion for sharks. As soon as he started to go to school he realised that sharks were more than a passion, they were a goal. Since 6 years old he said to everybody he was going to study the great white shark. Obviously everybody thought it was just an impossible dream (like I want to be astronaut) but Enrico made it his life-dream.

His university career in Rome culminated in a masters degree in Natural Science at the university of Rome “La Sapienza” in February 2004 (magna cum laude). His degree thesis was on a vertebral ageing study in Etmopterus spinax, a bottom-dwelling shark typical of the Mediterranean sea, creating a new technique to “read” for the first time ever very difficult vertebra.

Enrico decided to have a year brake in order to dedicate time to his other passion: scuba diving. So he spent a summer in the beautiful little island of Ustica, nearby Sicily (Italy), working as a dive master. The work was hard but rewarding, but nevertheless there was always something else to thing about: his dream, the great white shark.
Therefore he decided to send introduction emails to different shark researchers all around the world who were working on different projects. Among many replies Enrico was definitely captured by the one coming from Ryan Johnson, a PhD student who was planning the final year field work for his white shark project at Mossel Bay, South Africa.

He worked with Ryan for 9 months during 2005, when they got insights into many white shark characteristics, some of them unknown till then, like the night time predatory behaviour of the white shark, as can be watched on the National Geographic documentary “Sharkville”. In 2005 they conducted the longest ever manual track of a single white shark: 103 hours, almost 5 days.

Enrico realised that was the life he wanted to do and had worked hard to achieve. So, in 2006 he worked for another PhD student, Alison Kock who was working on a white shark project, this time in False Bay, close to Cape Town, South Africa. He gained experience in predator-prey interactions studying, more specifically in predation surveys.

Enrico knew that he was very close to accomplish his dream of having his own research project studying the great white shark.

He therefore was enrolled at Rhodes University for his PhD study on the thermo physio-ecology of the white shark under the supervision of Dr. Paul Cowley and Ryan Johnson. At the same time he and three other marine researchers (Ryan Johnson, Stephen Swanson and Toby Keswick) decided to create a private marine research institute focused on marine top predator called the South African Marine Predator Lab (SAMPLA). At present Enrico is conducting his PhD in Mossel Bay trying to disclose the secrets behind the ability of the white shark to elevate parts of its body warmer than the external water temperature.

Qualifications

International nautical licence for under 24 m vessels without any limit from the coast
PADI scuba diving instructor
Dry suit, Equipment specialist
Dive medic and CPR
DAN Oxygen and Advanced Oxygen First Aid
3rd level Apnea Academy free diver

Television Appearences

2006 by Discovery Channel: After the Attack

2007 by Discovery Channel: Shark Tribe, producer “Triosphere”, broadcaster “Discovery International”

2007 by National Geographic: Sharkville, producer “Obsessively Creative”, broadcaster “National Geographic”

External links

• South African Marine Predator Lab
• Carcharias

Scientific Articles

Kock A., Johnson R.L., Bester M.N., Compagno L., Cliff G., Dudley S., Gennari E., Griffiths C.L., Kotze D., Laroche K., Meyer M.A., Oosthuizen W.H. and Swanson S., 2006. White shark abundance: not a causative factor in numbers of shark bite incidents. In: Finding a balance: white shark conservation and recreational safety in the Inshore waters of Cape Town, South Africa. D.C. Nel and T.P. Peschak Eds. WWF South Africa Report Series - 2006/Marine/001.

• Article Online Version

Gennari E. and Scacco U., 2007. First age and growth estimates in the deep water shark, Etmopterus spinax (Linnaeus, 1758), by deep coned vertebral analysis. Marine Biology 152 (5): 1207-1214

• Article Online Version

References

• SAIAB Research institute - Scientists
• SHARK - The Great White