Shark Tagging with ScienceOnline Oceans

October 21, 2013/0 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Daniela Escontrela, RJD Intern

Another exciting day of shark tagging lay ahead and I was really excited to get out on the water before the week that lay ahead for me. Today was going to be an unusual trip; and in other aspects a first for RJD.

For one thing our group was going to have two half day trips with different groups in the morning and afternoon. On the other hand, while our trip was going out, another RJD trip would simultaneously be running with a different group and crew. We were both going shark tagging off Key Biscayne and while we were on the Diver’s Paradise Boat with Eric (our captain), the other trip was on the R/V Ensley with Curt.

Shark Tagging with St. Thomas Aquinas High School

September 23, 2013/2 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Michelle Martinek, RJD Intern

This most recent trip on Captain Curt’s trusty vessel is likely one that the RJ Dunlap team and guests will not soon forget. What started as a bleary eyed, early morning trip to the keys turned into quite the adventure courtesy of our unpredictable friend Mother Nature. In the span of only an hour, we saw beautiful blue skies give way to a lightning storm that relentlessly pelted our faces with warm rain and rocked the boat with large waves. To a native Floridian, this changeability is no surprise. Our steadfast team and all the students from St. Thomas Aquinas braved the elements and had an extremely successful day, catching and collecting data on 6 sharks! Even wet and chilled, we returned a very happy crew.

The day began with a carpool of the RJD team with two new interns, myself included, setting off at 5am from RSMAS. After our trip leader David introduced us to the wonders of a deep fried breakfast burrito called the “tornado” and the following discussion of the recent “Sharknado” film, we arrived a little more alert to Captain Curt’s house at 7am. Our relief was great upon seeing that most of the supplies were still onboard from the previous expedition that weekend. Curt made sure we didn’t have it too easy however by informing us we would be going to the shallow waters of the everglades, meaning we had to completely re-rig all of the drumlines since they were set for far deeper water. After preparations were complete, we welcomed a wonderful group of students from St. Thomas Aquinas High School, most of whom are part of their school’s marine science club, and set off.

Shark Tagging with Island Christian School

September 17, 2013/0 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Jessica Wingar, RJD Intern

What an interesting day out on the water. When I woke up that morning, I could feel that it was going to be a great day. As I was walking to my car, I checked the weather forecast; it said that there was little wind. I became very excited because that meant that we could possibly go to the reef, a deeper site, because the water would not be too rough. I drove with Kyra to the Keys, and we couldn’t stop talking about all of the possibilities of this trip.

We arrived at Captain Curt’s house at 7:30am and began loading all of the equipment that we would need for the day onto the boat. We loaded yoyos, ten drumlines, a ventilation pump, and many other items. Once everything was loaded, we asked Curt where we were going today and found out that we were going to a new reef site called 62 Line. This switch to a deep site, meant that we had to undo the extension lines and roll them all up again; our lines were over 130ft long!

Shark tagging with Westminster Christian School

September 10, 2013/1 Comment/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Dani Escontrela, RJD Intern

It was another wonderful day of shark tagging. I was so excited to head out again I could hardly sleep and ended up waking up extra early. I rode down to the keys with Jake and soon enough we were at captain Curt’s house.

We loaded the boat with the drums, yo-yos, platform and the rest of the gear we would need for a day of shark tagging; we also added extension lines to our drumlines because we were planning on going to a deeper site.

Shark Tagging with Coral Shores high school: RJD staff reactions to seeing a great white shark

May 27, 2013/2 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Becca Shelton, RJD intern

If someone had told me that there was a chance I was going to see a great white on one of our trips, I honestly don’t think I would have believed them. White sharks happen to be my favorite shark and I honestly can’t explain how it felt seeing one in person. Most of you have probably already heard the news since it was a phenomenal occurrence but in case you haven’t, here’s a firsthand account of what happened.

Shark tagging with the Sarasota Military Academy

May 14, 2013/0 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Emily Rose Nelson, RJD Intern

5/3/13

In the midst of finals, the best study break you can ask for is a day sharktagging in Islamorada. I was eager to put down my books and get on the water. After it had been raining for a few days straight I was nervous the trip may be cancelled, but the weather looked like it was going to hold out and I would get my much needed study break. The RJD team prepared the boat, Sarasota Military Academy arrived, and we were off.

Upon arrival at the site drumlines were deployed with no problem at all. The sun began to beat down and we still had about an hour to wait, giving us the perfect opportunity to go swimming. After some fun splashing around we were off to pick up drumlines.

University of Miami scientists catch great white shark in Florida Keys

May 14, 2013/1 Comment/in Conservation, Ocean News, Shark Research /by aanstett

5/14/13
David Shiffman, Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy student

Yesterday, during the course of sampling for our ongoing shark population survey, the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program (RJD) team caught a great white shark estimated at 10-11 feet in length. The shark was caught east of Islamorada in the Florida Keys, in approximately 100 feet of water.

A great white shark caught in the Florida Keys on 5/13/13. Photo credit: Virginia Ansaldi, RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program intern

A great white shark caught in the Florida Keys on 5/13/13. Photo credit: Erik Mohker, a Coral Shores high school student

Shark Tagging with the University of Miami Citizens’ Board

May 1, 2013/1 Comment/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Becca Shelton, RJD Intern
4/27/2013

The excitement on board the R/V Endsley was pretty apparent before we pushed away from the dock. During the prior two days, RJD had successfully tagged and released 12 nurse sharks and 2 bull sharks around Key Biscayne! You never know what you’re going to catch from day to day, but since it was nurse shark mating season, we predicted that we would catch a decent amount of feisty nurses. With high hopes, we headed off to the channel at Bear Cut.

An hour after we deployed the first set of drumlines, it was time to pull them in and see if there were any sharks on the lines! We highly encourage all of our guests to be as involved as possible and help us with collecting samples from the sharks as well as help with reeling in and deploying lines.

Shark Tagging with St. Thomas Aquinas High School

April 24, 2013/0 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

By Brittany Bartlett, RJD Intern
4/21/2013

When I woke up at 4:45am and saw that it was still dark outside, I had every intention of rolling over, putting the pillow over my head, and going straight back to sleep. But, it then hit me that I was going shark tagging down in Islamorada! I quickly jumped up, got ready and was out the door by 5:15am to pick up our photographer, Amanda! It was going to be a great day!

Shark Tagging with Rho Rho Rho

April 23, 2013/0 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

by Nick Perni, RJD Intern
Saturday, April 20th, 2013

Saturday’s trip out of Islamorada was one to remember. Our guests were members of UM’s Marine science honor society Rho Rho Rho. Since their last trip yielded no sharks, the pressure was on to give our fellow classmates an up close encounter to the oceans top predator. On our way out to the reef Rho Rho Rho made sure to let us know just how disappointing it was to not catch a single shark on their previous trip.

When we arrived at the reef we set our drum lines and assured our guests that this would be a more successful trip than their last. After an hour of letting the drums soak we began to pick up our lines. In no time we were hauling up sharks. Our first was a scalloped hammerhead. The students clamored at the stern of the boat knowing too well that this could be their only chance of the day to see a shark. But the day was far from over.

Line after line came up with a shark and our guests were entirely engaged in the tagging and work-up process. By the end of the day we had caught eight sharks. Five were Hammerheads ranging from 9-13 ft (including 3 Scalloped and 2 Great Hammerheads), a new RJD record for Hammerheads caught on a single trip! The other three included two Sandbar sharks between 6 & 7 ft and one 7½ ft Bull shark. This was a spectacular trip for everyone aboard the

R/V Endsley, RJD was able to deploy two satellite tags and Rho Rho Rho finally got their lucky break. Upon our return to shore multiple interns agreed this was the best trip they had ever been on and I’m pretty sure our guests would agree.