blacktip – Shark Research & Conservation Program (SRC)

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Breaking in the new boat!

February 7, 2012/0 Comments/in Shark Research /by aanstett

2/3/12

Last weekend, students from the Archimedean Academy joined the RJ Dunlap team for the first of many voyages on Captain Curt’s new boat! This new vessel, named after Captain Curt’s soon-to-be-born daughter, is a welcome addition to RJD. It’s size, range, and cabin space will allow our team to do even more research in the Bahamas and other far-away sites.

Students from the Archimedean Academy pose on Captain Curt’s new boat!

We went to Middle Grounds, a site in the Everglades National Park known for having lots of sharks. Nutrient-rich runoff from the Everglades creates a rich feeding ground for many species of sharks. Some of our highest catch-per-unit-effort (a measure of shark abundance) has been at this site. Our catch didn’t disappoint- in total, we caught, tagged, and released two blacktip sharks, an Atlantic Sharpnose shark, and a blacknose shark.

Starting the semester off strong

February 2, 2012/1 Comment/in Shark Research /by aanstett

1/29/12

Our first weekend of trips for the semester ended with a beautiful day off the coast of Key Largo with RSMAS PhD student Rachel Silverstein and her friends and family. The day started with overcast skies but that didn’t stop the group from showing their excitement for the day of shark tagging that lay ahead. After explaining some to the group why we study sharks and some of the different aspects of RJD research, we headed offshore to set our first ten drumlines. The first set turned up two very large and feisty nurse sharks! The team and visitors got to work taking a tissue sample from the fin, measuring the animal’s length, and fitting each animal with dart tags.