Enrico Gennari is a marine biologist who specialises in the study of the great white shark.
Early life and education
Gennari was born in Rome21 January 1977. At 6 years of age he had proclaimed he was going to study the great white shark. His university career in Rome culminated in a master's degree in Natural Science at the university of Rome "La Sapienza" in February 2004. 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. Gennari decided to have a year break in order to dedicate time to his other passion: scuba diving. So he spent a summer in Ustica, near Sicily, working as a dive master. He then worked with Ryan Johnson 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. He then enrolled at Rhodes University for his PhD study on the thermo physio-ecology of the white shark under the supervision of Dr. Paul Cowley from SAIAB and Ryan Johnson. At the same time he and three other marine researchers decided to create a private marine research institute focused on marine top predator called the Oceans Research. At present Gennari is researching for his PhD in Mossel Bay trying to disclose the secrets behind the endothermic ability of the great white shark to elevate parts of its body warmer than the external water temperature. In 2008 Gennari, as a member of Oceans Research, initiated a great white shark research internship program that allows students from around the world to gain practical research skills.
Television appearances
2006 Discovery Channel: After the Attack
2007 Discovery Channel: Shark Tribe
2007 National Geographic Channel: Sharkville
2010 Channel Four: Inside Nature's Giants
Scientific articles
Johnson, R., Bester, M.N., Dudley, S.F.J., Oosthuizen, W.H., Meÿer, M.A., Hancke, S. & Gennari, E. Coastal swimming patterns of white sharks at Mossel Bay, South Africa. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 85:189-200
Gubili, C., Johnson, R., Gennari, E., Oosthuizen, w.H., Kotze, P.G.H., Meÿer, M.A., Sims, D.W., Jones, C.S. & Noble, L.R. Concordance of genetic and fin photo identification in the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, of Mossel Bay, South Africa. Marine Biology Published on-line first.
Gennari E. and Scacco U., 2007. First age and growth estimates in the deep water shark, Etmopterus spinax, by deep coned vertebral analysis. Marine Biology 152 : 1207-1214
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.
