The R/V ANGARI crew welcomed aboard students and teachers from The Conservatory School @ North Palm Beach to work alongside FIU scientists to conduct shark research offshore Palm Beach.
EXPEDITION DETAILS
October 3, 2024
Palm Beach County, FL
Mia Gabb
Sophia Hemsi
William Sample
Emily Spurgeon
Veronica Zuccolo
All sharks were fished for, caught, studied and released for research purposes under Florida permits held by Florida International University scientists.
The R/V ANGARI crew welcomed aboard students and teachers from The Conservatory School @ North Palm Beach’s Sustainability Club to work alongside scientists from Florida International University’s (FIU) College of Arts, Sciences and Education for a Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition offshore Palm Beach. Participants eagerly boarded the vessel, excited for a day out in the field to work alongside the scientists and learn more about sharks. Throughout the day, students and teachers helped with the deployment and recovery of drumlines, a unique fishing method used to catch sharks for research purposes, and baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS).
With a total of 15 drumlines deployed, scientists and students successfully caught two different shark species during the day! On the very first drumline of the day, a 7.25 ft. long lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) was brought in, and the students eagerly assisted the scientists with the workup. Students helped measure the shark, collect fin clip tissue samples, attach a unique National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (NOAA CSTP) identification tag and determine its sex and maturity. Everyone onboard also had the opportunity to examine the lemon shark’s dermal denticles and feel the sandpaper-like texture of the shark’s skin before its release. Soon after, a 6.69 ft. long immature female tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) was brought up to the stern of the vessel. Again, students helped FIU scientists collect and record data and complete a successful shark workup.
As the expedition was nearing its end, students watched the BRUVS footage that had been collected that morning in Lake Worth Lagoon. On the footage participants observed a male nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) that spent most of the video attempting to get to the bait in the bait cage. It was an amazing and educational experience for the participants to observe the shark’s behavior underwater, as well as identify other fish species in the lagoon, such as grunt, great barracuda and jack.
This expedition was made possible with funding from the Palm Beach International Boat Show Gives Back 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.
