Reunited

Our most recent research trip took the shark team to Bonita Springs, FL, a new field location for us that is showing major promise for its abundance of large predators. This was the second time the RJ Dunlap Shark team traveled to the gulf for shark research, a partnership that involves researchers from Florida Gulf Coast University and the Vester Marine Station. Our previous trip to this site yielded some very exciting catches, including several tiger sharks. As we passed through the Everglades on our drive across south Florida, we hoped to get similar results as our previous trip. Little did we know that what would transpire two days later would shock us and really impact us as shark researchers.

The trip started with the usual pre-departure inventory. Enough bait? Check. Fishing gear intact and accounted for? Satellite tags ready to be attached to big sharks? Double check. We were off, ready to go sharking. As I sat on the bow of the boat enjoying the windy-salvation from the blistering sun, I couldn’t help but think of the oil catastrophe lurking just to the west. You can watch all the news specials and read as many articles about the spill as you want, but you don’t truly feel the implications of it all until you see firsthand what is at stake. As we navigated our way through the mangrove canals of Bonita Springs, we were constantly reminded of how impressive healthy marine biodiversity really is. Making our way out to sea, we were greeted by manatees, ospreys, cranes, and dolphins, all of which painted a perfect picture of a properly functioning marine ecosystem and its many connecting food webs.  The target of our research—the shark– sits precariously on top of all of those food webs.

On day one we were accompanied by some local press and photographers interested in covering our satellite tagging project.  As usual, 10 drumlines went in the water and were picked up an hour and a half later. No sharks. Could the slack tide and/or high barometric pressure contributed to the lack of sharks on our first set? Staying positive, we re-baited and deployed another set of drumlines. While hauling up one of our first drumlines, a white body slowly appeared from the murky depths. The round and broad head quickly gave it away-it was a tiger shark. We brought the 9.5 foot female (given the name Virginia) into our sling and worked her up quickly, fitting her with her own SPOT tag and releasing her back to the productive waters of Florida’s gulf coast.

There is something truly mystifying about looking into the eyes of a tiger shark. It is almost unexplainable, but they seem to have their own personality and demeanor about them. Their seemingly calm “attitude” is quite the paradox to the aggressive, license-plate devouring reputation that tiger sharks have. That afternoon also yielded a blacktip, a blacknose and several nurse sharks—all of which were tagged, measured and released in healthy condition.  This is an exciting time for the RJ Dunlap program, as we are gathering data for multiple projects on each trip—including ongoing studies on tagging, predator abundances and ecotoxicology, as well as some new studies on behavior and physiology of sharks.

The second day was also quite productive—filed with successful sampling on blacktips and nurse sharks. The second day’s highlights were also tiger-related.  We satellite tagged another tiger shark, an 8 foot female (named Domski). The sling on the research boat is a very helpful research tool, as it securely and safely holds large sharks such as tigers, bulls, and hammerheads. This practice maximizes efficiency and promotes safety for us and the sharks. As always, a water pump was used to keep water flowing over each of our shark gills while we took our measurements.

The biggest surprise that day came when we recaptured one of our previously tagged tiger sharks!  Recapturing ANY tagged shark is rare, but recapturing one of the tiger sharks we actually satellite tagged ourselves was such an amazing sight. The shark, which was later identified to be Kelli, actually swam right up to the boat by herself and investigated us. She also had a large cobia trailing her every move—an observation that suggests that she had been foraging and capturing prey naturally (most fish like remoras, pilot fish, etc that trail or hitch rides with sharks are there to pick up scraps). We brought her up to the side of the boat and got some excellent photos of her while inspecting the tag and then re-releasing her. This moment was really important for our tagging program, since it showed that our sharks are released in healthy condition—it was a perfect reunion.

Our final day of sharking produced several nurse sharks, a species that always provides what seems like a wrestling match in order to get measurements. Lastly, we caught a 12 foot great hammerhead. We placed a satellite tag on the female leviathan and gave her the name “Jacques Cousteau,” in honor of the 100^th birthday of the famous ocean explorer.  After releasing her, we watched in awe and appreciation as her large sickle-shaped dorsal fin and new satellite tag disappeared together beneath the waves, unaware that she may give way to new discoveries of shark behavior and conservation.

Will we return to Bonita springs to continue our research on sharks? You bet.  Will she sharks be back or will they move off into other areas? Only time will tell, and we can’t wait to find out. Stay tuned and track our sharks as the data comes in!

Austin Gallagher (Research Assistant)

Check out several write ups on our recent shark collaboration with FGCU in the Island Press News Paper:

• News-Press.com.com, June 12, 2010 (Click to View)
  
• News-Press.com.com, June 12, 2010 (Click to View)
  
• News-Press.com.com, June 12, 2010 (Click to View)
  
• News-Press.com.com, June 12, 2010 (Click to View)
  

Another great day out with the R.J. Dunlap Marine
Conservation Program!

June 5th, 2010

Tired and sore after the previous day’s 10 sharks worth of excitement, we awoke anticipating another amazing day, and of course we were right. The day began with a nice big breakfast sandwich order and it only got better from there. We pulled out of the dock already hot and sweaty, but eager and excited nonetheless, and headed out to the edge of a reef, about 8 or 9 miles offshore. It was an especially hot, but a gorgeous day, and so any downtime we had while waiting for our drumlines to soak, we spent swimming in the perfect deep blue ocean surrounding our boat.

Looking down, all you could see was a deep sapphire blue, and we all agreed that the only thing that would make the swim better would be to see a Great Hammerhead swimming gracefully up towards us. While, not surprisingly, this did not happen, we did catch a bull shark, two sandbar sharks, and a nurse shark that managed to pull itself free before we were able to secure it. Out of a total of 20 drumlines, we pulled up our second one to find a beautiful female 7 ft 4 inch bull shark on the end of the line. We quickly fitted her with a satellite tag and named her Rose, the second bull shark in the Atlantic to be spot tagged. She is named after our assistant dean of advancement at RSMAS, a woman who helps raise funds for the program and helps with program development. Welcome to the family Rose!

On our ninth and second to last drumlines, we pulled up a pair of 6 ft 7 inch male and female sandbar sharks, a stunning golden colored shark that seems to be quite popular to the area.

After another exciting day out with the R.J. Dunlap Conservation program and one more shark swimming around with a satellite tag, we all agreed it was a very successful day!

Stay tuned for more sharky adventures and don’t forget to follow the movements of our sharks at
http://www.sharkresearch.rsmas.miami.edu/learning-tools/

Yours,

Fiona Graham (Shark Program Intern)

May 26^th, 2010

We normally do our shark research in the Florida Keys, however, as Dominique mentioned, we got the opportunity to start doing research in the Gulf of Mexico in collaboration with Florida Gulf Coast University and the West Coast Inland Navigational District.  On our way over to the Vester Field Station we all took guesses on what we would catch.  Most of us said Bull Sharks, some Lemon Sharks and a few Nurse Shark, since we know these species are quite prevalent over there.   Well, we were in for quite a surprise.  As you may have read on Tuesday we caught 2 Tiger Sharks and a Great Hammerhead shark.  We put satellite tags on all these animals.  Catching a Hammerhead is quite a treat because they are very rare and elusive animals, but catching a tiger shark?  This was to good to be true, wow!  Everyone involved couldn’t believe it could get any better!  The film crew Mark Rackley and Christian Gatti had captured everything with their ingenious techniques and our satellite tags were deployed in record time.

After coming back to the dock on Tuesday we had all planned to take a shower and then actually head back out to do research at night, however, the storms were coming and we had to stay in.  As a group we decided to make the best of our bait and our time and catch as many sharks as possible the next day, so we got up at 5:00 am on Wednesday to head out for what turned out to be a 7.5 hour long shark fishing day!  We were sun burnt and dehydrated and it was really hot, but we didn’t care.  Why?  We caught 3 more Tiger Sharks and another massive Great Hammerhead!  It was the most amazing experience of my life.  I have a big tiger shark tattoo on my back and can you believe I had never really gotten an up close and personal view of this beautiful animal?  Well I did, we all did and it was all caught on film.  We also caught some of the largest Blacktip sharks I have ever seen and they were super frisky, as Dom will admit too.  She was almost flung over board.

In just two days we tagged and sampled 14 sharks (5 x tigers, 1 x blacknose, 3 x blacktips, 3 x nurse sharks, and 2 x great hammerhead sharks)!

Being apart of this tagging program is an amazing experience.  As an avid shark conservationist I have done a lot of shark awareness presentations to dive clubs, colleges, children etc.  For a while, you feel as though you only talk about saving these sharks, how endangered they are, and how vital they are to the ecosystem, but rarely do you get to combine educational awareness with research.  Not only can I educate the public on the plight of sharks, but I can also see first hand the beauty of these animals and help do research that may save their life.

I would like to take the opportunity to tell you about our tags: Our tags are custom made with the best safety of the shark in mind.

1) Although we mount the tag on the fin, we use special neoprene protectors between the tag and fin so that NO metal or plastic touches the shark fin (this prevents vibrations on the fin and prevents fouling and metal corrosion on the fin).

2) Instead of using plastic rods to secure the tag on the fin (which fouls and also does not disintegrate and never comes off)…we use special very expensive medical grade titanium bolts. This prevents any fin damage, corrosion or fowling. These are the bolts surgeons use in human surgery.

3) The bolts are attached by metal nuts (which do not touch the shark skin) but only the titanium bolts. In the seawater this causes a galvonic charge, causing the nuts to slowly corrode. Thus, the tag will eventually fall off!!

In the meantime, these tags provide real-time GPS info on shark movements. We can attach the tag in less than 4 minutes, with a water pump in shark’s mouth. The sharks can then swim away in great condition.  We have taken ever step to minimize harm and promote animal safety. This information is crucial to getting these animals on the protected species list.

Needless to say, it was the most amazing trip and I will never forget it.  Thanks to Dr. Neil Hammerschlag for allowing this program to exist, thank you to Captain Curt for so many things, especially your patience, and thank you to Dominquie Lazarre for running this program with lighting speed.

Thank you to all involved and our collaborative project partners. We look forward to future trips and we would like to thank our project collaborators and partners:

Ray Judah, Lee County Comissioner; Bob Wasno, Vester Field Station Education and Resource Coordinator,Florida Gulf Coast University; Darren Rumbold, Associate Professor, Florida Gulf Coast University; Charles W. Listowski, Executive Director, West Coast Inland Navigational District; and Aswani Volety, Chair of Marine & Ecological Sciences and Professor of Marine Science, Florida Gulf Coast University.

Stay tuned for more amazing adventures with the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program!

Cheers,

Brendal Davis (Shark Intern)

P.S. Don’t forget you can track our sharks live!  Please go to http://www.sharkresearch.rsmas.miami.edu/learning-tools/ and follow their adventure.

May 17th, 2010

As usual, I was excited to venture out into the blue ocean and go shark fishing.  I always think to myself on the way out that the ocean is so full of surprises, you really never know what you may find.  Sometimes producing the most amazing creatures, other times, she seems quite empty.  This was one of those weekends where the sharks were just not around.  We did catch quite a few nurse sharks, which I fully understand are sharks, however, in terms of looking at the variety of apex predators, there were few to be found.  It could be anything really, maybe the oil spill slowly making its way to the keys, I feel the sharks can sense this kind of thing.  Or maybe it’s the fact that sharks are in decline worldwide and even if the keys are not heavily fished, other areas where sharks pup and then usually venture up north to our research area, we can see the decline.  But, this is why we do what we do.  We need to find out how many sharks are in the area versus what types of commercially important species are left, hopefully determining that our oceans in fact need sharks in so many ways, regulating the oceans, keeping them healthy, and providing a stable ecosystem for other predators. Research is the key to understanding just a small corner of our large oceans.

That morning we had the privilege of having South Broward High School come out with us. The school has been coming out with the program for awhile now and their passion for sharks is only getting stronger.  It’s so cool to see these kids go from weary to wonder.  We know most of the kids by name since it’s usually the same group.  They already know what to do, so we just talk to them about their school year and worldly issues.

As we continued out to the site we were escorted by a pod of dolphins.  These graceful animals are frequent visitors to the area and you know when we see dolphins abound, there are sharks around!  I of course got super excited, grabbed the camera and started clicking away.  YES, I admit, I love dolphins too!  I am a trader.

Of course, in between setting the lines and picking them up, we like to have fun.  We also like to put out the good shark vibes, which means getting everyone together, doing a little group hug and sticking our hands to our heads to mimic a hammerhead, lemon, or a bull shark.

Through out the day we caught a variety of sharks, better than the previous two days.  Our total:

-Nurse – Male, TL – est 195
-Lemon – Female, PCL-165, FL-180, TL-220
-Blacktip – Female, PCL-123, FL-137, TL-166
-Blacktip – Female, PCL-107, FL-120, TL-145
-Blacknose – Female, PCL-81, FL-91, TL-110

Thank you again to all involved for a wonderful weekend of sharking. Thanks to Dr. Neil Hammerschalg for this program, allowing students to be directly involved with shark research and giving interns the opportunity to grow in the field.

Cheers,

Brendal Davis (Shark Program Intern)

May 15th, 2010

The joys of spring- the end of school is near and summer is right around the corner. Unfortunately, it also is the end of the always exciting shark trips with the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program for the participating students and many interns (including myself).  Fortunately for us, the students from MAST Academy were able to join and help in all the observing and data collecting.  The weather was cooperative, with the sun shining, temperatures just right, but the wind howling. Over the course of the day, the wind was able to calm down to give us a more enjoyable ride out to the Gulf side. Being able to absorb instructions quickly, the MAST students were able to get the drumlines out in their designated sites in record time.

During lunch/soaking time, the topic of everybody’s favorite shark came up in the conversation. Standard species were named- Hammerhead, Bull, Tiger, Lemon, Mako, Great White-however, there was one stand out that made many of the interns shiver in horror—the Nurse shark.  Thanks to their tough skin and endless ability to roll and not stay still for measuring, these sharks are not a favorite among us researchers. Pondering the decision on what her favorite shark was, one student replied-“They remind me of my cat because those little whiskers by their snout. I hope we catch a lot of nurse sharks”! Little did we know that this students hopeful wish for a nurse shark would haunt us for the rest of the day…..

Ready to see what the day brought us, we rounded up the first round of drumlines. The first drumline brought a shark, but the excitement was soon turned to groans. It was a female nurse shark, and thanks to its liveliness, we were only able to get a total length- approximately 180 cm. The next few drumlines in the round produced nothing until the final one which had a female Blacknose on it. The students were quick to get all the data collected and the total length registered about 115 cm, the smallest shark of the day.  The students were getting excited due to the success we had thus far and decided to make up a new dance to celebrate their “new” favorite shark. This of course was related to the Nurse shark, so the dance included shuffling around with fingers being brought up to one’s mouth to look like barbels. This did not sit well with a lot of the interns so it was banned as quickly as it was started!

The next round of the drumlines brought two more nurse sharks. The first one was a female that was around 220 cm and a bit calmer than the first one. The second one however, was one that caused some problems. Brendal was nominated to bring the specific drumline in and right away we knew something was on the line. What we did not know however, was the massive size of the shark we had. There was hardly any tension until one of the last reeling in. With this one, the shark sensed it was caught and suddenly veered off in the opposite direction, snapping the yo-yo into pieces. This threw off Brendal’s balance and she almost ended up in the water. But thanks to a quick thinking group of MAST students taking pictures, they were able to save her but not the yo-yo, as it fell into the water and floated away. Due to the struggle, we believed that it was possible to have been a huge bull or hammerhead on the line, however it was just a very mature male nurse shark that came in over 245 cm, the largest shark of the day!

The third round did not hold on to much of the excitement of the second round but we were able to bring in another nurse shark who’s struggle did not permit us to even check the gender of it! The estimated total length of the shark came in around 235 cm. The fourth round of drumlines proved just as successful as far as shark monotony, bringing in a male and female Nurse shark whose total lengths were approximately 235 cm and 205 cm, respectively.

So for the day, we ended up being 7 for 20 as far as sharks caught. Out of those seven, six of them were Nurse sharks with most of them totaling over 200 cm! Even though the majority of the sharks were of the same species, we were still successful to get as many as we did! Thanks to everybody that went on this trip, especially MAST Academy and the interns. Hopefully the trip tomorrow will be even better!! See you all next season!

Elasmobranch Love,

Julia Lampe (Shark Intern)