Thirty-one Florida educators boarded R/V ANGARI to experience marine science fieldwork firsthand while working with scientists from Florida International University to study sharks in the Lake Worth Lagoon and offshore Palm Beach County.
EXPEDITION DETAILS
July 15 – 16, 2025
Palm Beach County, FL
Mia Gabb
Victoria Goldner
Sophia Hemsi
Rainer Moy-Huyler
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.
Educators from Palm Beach County and beyond joined Florida International University (FIU) College of Arts, Sciences and Education scientists onboard R/V ANGARI to experience our Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks program firsthand. The expedition was part of ANGARI Foundation’s four-day Summer 2025 Educator Workshop on marine science research and conservation around the Lake Worth Lagoon in partnership with Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park, Manatee Lagoon and Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management.
Over two days, the educators learned and employed two different methods for studying sharks. They participated in the assembly, deployment and recovery of baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) to non-invasively observe marine life in the Lake Worth Lagoon. This, along with curated footage from prior expeditions, provided educators the opportunity to develop their marine species identification and analysis skills. The BRUVS surveys were a resounding success, collecting footage of many fish species and their behaviors. Survey highlights included multiple nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and a critically endangered Atlantic goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara), as well as a blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) and spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) that were both firsts for BRUVS sightings under the program!
The educators also worked with the FIU scientists to apply a research-specific shark fishing method known as drumlines offshore and within the lagoon. Drumlines use circle hooks and allow sharks to continue to swim freely once hooked, minimizing stress on the animal. The participants eagerly baited, assembled, deployed and recovered drumlines, and their hard work was rewarded – they caught seven sharks, including five nurse (Ginglymostoma cirratum), one lemon (Negaprion brevirostris) and one critically endangered great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran)! Working together, educators and scientists performed brief scientific workups that consisted of gathering measurements, collecting a small dorsal fin tissue sample and identifying the sex of the sharks prior to their release. They also attached uniquely numbered National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (NOAA CSTP) identification tags that will provide valuable migration and morphological data if the sharks are recaptured. The expedition was a memorable one for all onboard, and we look forward to seeing how this cohort of educators incorporates their shark research experiences into future instruction!
The Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expeditions and programming within the Summer 2025 Educator Workshop was made possible with funding from the Palm Beach International Boat Show Gives Back grant program to ANGARI Foundation.
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.
