You can also track other sharks on this site - try Phillip or Judy - download the App from ITunes and have fun seeing what different shark species get up to.

This is just great science and fun too. You can only applaud the Ocearch.org team for this kind of research; you can buy some cool T-Shirts to help support their work. I wonder if the same is or could be done here in Oz with our sharks or other species. It would be fantastic if we could follow a python, Wedge Tailed Eagle or Kangaroo?

I think shark research is vital. We need to understand them more; we need to protect them whilst being protected ourselves when in the ocean. There is a lot to learn and we all would benefit. Love them or hate them sharks are big news here at the moment. I just hope Lydia doesn't decide to visit Perth, where the politicians' 72 baited drum lines are lying in wait!

So parents, teachers, you, me, anyone can now collect bugs in the garden or visit their local pet shops and come home with something unusual like a preying mantis or stick insect. As pets and/or educational specimens many species are remarkably easy to keep and have relatively short lifespans. So parents and teachers don't have any long term care issues. A praying mantis lives around 10 months and stick insects not that much longer.

I caught up with Alex after the talk and she so liked a couple of the weird creatures I brought along to the meeting that a shoot was soon arranged at her North Perth studio.

We had some fun – a short but productive shoot concentrating on 8 different insects and arachnids (stick insects, katydids, grasshoppers, praying mantis and a scorpion).

Here are a few of the images.

Manta rays are vulnerable partly because of their low reproductive cycle. Females need to reach around 5m to become mature; they then give birth to a single live pup once every 2 or 3 years. I just love a good positive conservation news item.

For more information visit http://www.riverguardians.com/projects/dolphin-watch/

Growing to 10cm in length these frogs can survive around 15 years or more in captivity. This particular species is a common and popular pet frog all over the world. Attractive, docile, easy to keep and breed helps make them a popular more unusual pet. Their conservation status in Australia is as a least vulnerable species. Populations are good and possibly expanding around human development sites.

Breeding occurs from November to February - clumps of 800-2,000 eggs are deposited on the surface in still fresh water. Spawn then sinks and tadpoles emerge soon after and developed froglets can leave the water after only a few weeks, before the typically temporary spawning grounds dried up. With moist skins susceptible to infections many amphibians excrete peptides to keep bacteria and other pathogens under control. These particular frogs release a peptide known to kill the HIV virus on contact. They are therefore a much-studied species by drug and medical research companies.