Eagles Landing Middle School students and teachers were welcomed aboard R/V ANGARI to work alongside scientists from Florida International University to conduct shark research.
EXPEDITION DETAILS
September 19, 2024
Palm Beach County, FL
Gina Badlowski
Mia Gabb
Sophia Hemsi
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.
Eagles Landing Middle School students and teachers joined scientists from Florida International University to conduct shark research onboard R/V ANGARI. The students were full of excitement as they boarded the vessel, and their excitement continued throughout the day as they learned about various shark research methods, including specialized fishing gear called drumlines and baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS), and all of the different roles they would fill during the expedition.
First, the participants learned about the noninvasive method of using BRUVS to study sharks and assisted in the assembly and deployment of the BRUVS in Lake Worth Lagoon. After the BRUVS was collected, R/V ANGARI headed offshore Palm Beach to deploy drumlines. Many of the students spotted a large loggerhead turtle as other students helped the scientists deploy the drumlines. With a total of 11 drumlines deployed, the group was ecstatic to catch two sharks back-to-back! The first shark of the day was a nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum), which a team of students helped workup, including measuring, attaching a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (NOAA CSTP) identification tag, sexing and taking a tissue sample from the shark. Every student and teacher also had the opportunity to feel the dermal denticles on the skin of the shark. The next student team caught a tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), which the students measured to be nearly 9 feet long. Students also tagged and collected a fin clip from the tiger shark.
To wrap up the expedition, everyone reviewed the BRUVS footage collected earlier that day. The students observed a clear visual of a great barracuda, along with schools of fish and species like mutton snapper and sailor’s choice. Everyone onboard was instrumental in helping the scientists conduct shark research and complete a successful day of fieldwork.
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.
