At an estimated fifteen years of age and identifiable by a 'beauty spot' on her right side just in front of her pelvic fin, Dee is the grand 'old' lady of the I&J Predator Exhibit. Originally from Port Elizabeth, she was transported by Stuttafords to the Two Oceans Aquarium and released into the Predator Exhibit in the middle of the night. "We were very relieved to get her into the water after the long journey from PE," said Dr Patrick Garratt, Managing Director of the Aquarium. "It was an emotional moment for all of us - seeing her swim off into the darkness of the exhibit," he continued. "Like Maxine and Val, Dee has been a wonderful ambassador for sharks over the past ten years and I'm really pleased that it is her turn to go back to the ocean, especially as she is now in the prime of her life."Named after one of the staff members who accompanied her from PE to Cape Town, Dee was caught at Dynamite jetty, a reef between the Port Elizabeth harbour and Swartkops River mouth in Algoa Bay, on 4 March 1992. She weighed only 6.4kg and measured just over a metre. By October 1995 she had grown to 73kg and measured over 2m. Once again, before her release back into the ocean, she will be weighed and measured. According to Michael Farquhar, Curator of the Two Oceans Aquarium, "I have no doubt that we will be in for a surprise when we take her out of the Predator Exhibit - Dee is a big shark and it wouldn't surprise me if she weighs more than Maxine and Val at the time of their releases. Maxine was a hefty 197kg whilst Val topped the scale at 215kg!"Like Maxine and Val, Dee will also be tagged by scientists with a pop-up archival transmission tag, a spaghetti tag and an ultrasonic tag. The pop-up archival tag, programmed to surface 4 months after Dee’s release, will hopefully gather information on her location; the depth to which she swims; water temperature and daylight patterns.Satellite tracking of the ragged-tooth sharks has already provided scientists with some valuable insights into the lifestyles of these ecologically important coastal predators. "Data received from the satellite tags on Maxine and a wild ragged-tooth shark, Sam, (tagged at the same time as Val's release in 2005) has supplied real and accurate information about the movements of these animals along our coast, particularly along the south coast," said Lesley Rochat, Director of AfriOceans Conservation Alliance. "Although ragged-tooth sharks are generally considered to be an inshore species and whilst there are records of these sharks being caught in deep waters, satellite information has provided us with real data showing us that these animals do in fact venture into deeper waters. Satellite technology allows us to gain greater knowledge and deeper understanding about the biology and behaviour of animals and as a result, we will hopefully be in a far better position to protect and conserve them in the future," said Rochat.At the time of Dee's release, the Aquarium aims to tag another wild ragged-tooth shark of a similar size so that the behaviour of released captive animals can be compared to that of wild ragged-tooth sharks. In this way it is hoped that new insights will be gained into the behaviour of animals about which very little is known.Once again the public is encouraged to follow Dee's journey and enter the Tag Competition in which they have the opportunity to guess where Dee's tag will surface and win fantastic prizes. Entries to the competition will open on 15 March 2006 and can be made either by logging onto www.aoca.org.za or by visiting the Two Oceans Aquarium.Members of the public who are interested in learning more about the Save our Seas Foundation M-Sea Programme and the satellite tagging studies should log on to the AfriOceans Conservation Alliance website www.aoca.org.za