A group of students and educators from The Benjamin School spent a day onboard R/V ANGARI learning about shark research during a Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition with scientists from Florida International University.
EXPEDITION DETAILS
October 3, 2025
Palm Beach County, FL
Michelle Debbaudt
Sophia Hemsi
Sue-Lin Lam
William Sample
Davon Strickland
All sharks were fished for, caught, studied and released for research purposes under Florida permits held by Florida International University scientists.
As a part of ANGARI’s Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks program, students and educators from The Benjamin School and scientists from Florida International University’s College of Arts, Sciences and Education (FIU) joined the R/V ANGARI crew for a day of shark research in the Lake Worth Lagoon. Students were introduced to the two shark research methods used onboard R/V ANGARI: baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) and specialized fishing gear called drumlines.
The morning began with teams of students assembling and deploying the BRUVS alongside the science team in the lagoon. The BRUVS consists of a metal frame, a long metal bait arm, a bait cage, underwater camera and a line with buoys attached for recovering the equipment. While the BRUVS sat underwater recording anything that might swim into frame, students practiced their marine species identification skills with the FIU science team. Through reviewing BRUVS footage captured on previous R/V ANGARI expeditions and other footage from the Global FinPrint project, students learned how to identify different fish species and how to properly collect population data using this research method.
Once the BRUVS was disassembled and brought back onboard, the team headed north of Blue Heron Bridge to begin assembling and deploying drumlines. Every team of students brought positive energy and teamwork to the deployment of each drumline, with an impressive total of 24 drumlines deployed throughout the day! Due to changing tides and weather throughout the expedition, the team decided to deploy two more BRUVS in the afternoon. Although no sharks were caught on drumlines or on camera, the students and educators gained significant hands-on experience in the different research methods used by FIU scientists to study sharks in Palm Beach County.
As R/V ANGARI headed back to the dock, the team reviewed the BRUVS footage collected throughout the day. From one of the BRUVS deployments, students and scientists noted several Gafttopsail catfish (Bagre marinus) investigating the bait cage! During the debrief at the dock, students and educators learned about the impacts that different weather conditions, such as tropical storms and hurricanes, have on shark movement and behavior. It was another great Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition with The Benjamin School and FIU scientists!
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.
