Students and teachers from Forest Hill Community High School spent an exciting day onboard R/V ANGARI conducting hands-on marine science research with Florida International University scientists.
EXPEDITION DETAILS
March 10, 2025
Palm Beach County, FL
Mia Gabb
Victoria Goldner
Sophia Hemsi
William Sample
Syra Tanchin
All sharks were fished for, caught, studied and released for research purposes under Florida permits held by Florida International University scientists.
A group of enthusiastic students and teachers from Forest Hill Community High School stepped aboard R/V ANGARI for a thrilling Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition with researchers from Florida International University’s (FIU) College of Arts, Sciences and Education. From offshore of Palm Beach to within the Lake Worth Lagoon, participants engaged in hands-on science research, assembling, deploying and recovering drumlines, specialized fishing gear for studying sharks. They also prepared and deployed a baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS) to gain additional insights into local marine life.
The day began with students building and deploying drumlines offshore Palm Beach County to fish for sharks. The catch of the day was a 7.6 ft bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas). Students eagerly assisted the scientists with a workup of the bull shark, including measuring, taking a fin clip tissue sample, tagging the shark with a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (NOAA CSTP) identification tag and determining the sex of the shark. The students then observed as scientists collected additional tissue samples from the bull shark and implanted an acoustic tag that will allow the scientists to track its movements. This was the first time that an acoustic tag had been implanted in a bull shark during a Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition!
After the bull shark was safely released, participants continued to check lines and were excited to see they caught a 9.6 ft great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran). This critically endangered species was was swiftly worked up and released by the scientists. Over the course of the day, participants also caught two nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum), bringing the total catch to 4 sharks! The students deployed a total of 11 drumlines offshore before R/V ANGARI headed inshore to the Lake Worth Lagoon to continue the day’s research activities. Inshore, students deployed three additional drumlines and a BRUVS, which captured footage of multiple fish species, including an abundance of catfish. It was a great end to an unforgettable day of learning about diverse species that play a vital role in the local ecosystem and careers in marine sciences and industries.
This expedition was made possible with funding from the Society for Science’s STEM Action Grant program.
CHIEF SCIENTIST
Will Sample is a Ph.D. candidate in the Marine Community and Behavioral Ecology Lab at Florida International University. His current research uses both long-term historical datasets and newer methods, such as high-resolution accelerometry, to study the movement and behavioral ecology of juvenile bull sharks. He specifically focuses on the way these sharks may be transporting nutrients across habitat boundaries, how they may be optimizing their movements to save energy and what the long-term implications of different behaviors they specialize in may be. Will’s research in the Florida Everglades studying the ways sharks move through this crucial ecosystem is important for conservation and informing habitat restoration and management efforts. Will earned a B.S. in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Florida Atlantic University in 2018 and has lived all throughout Florida for most of his life, from Jacksonville to Jupiter to the Keys. He is passionate about community outreach and education, particularly regarding Florida’s natural habitats, and currently serves as lead scientist for ANGARI’s Palm Beach County based Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks program aboard R/V ANGARI.
