Palm Beach Day Academy students and teachers joined Florida International University scientists for a Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition onboard R/V ANGARI.
EXPEDITION DETAILS
March 4, 2025
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.
A group of energetic Palm Beach Day Academy students and teachers came aboard R/V ANGARI for a Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition alongside scientists from Florida International University’s College of Arts, Sciences and Education. Participants deployed two kinds of specialized research gear: drumlines, which are used to fish for sharks for research purposes, and a baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS), which is used to capture underwater footage of marine life.
Participants spent the bulk of the day assembling, deploying, and checking drumlines in the Lake Worth Lagoon. Drumlines consist of a baited circle hook attached to a monofilament line, which is connected to a weighted drum on a swivel, so that a hooked shark can continue to swim freely in circles around the weight. A float line connects the drum to a floating buoy on the surface of the water, which marks its position to allow for recovery. Over the course of the expedition, the hardworking participants deployed and checked 17 drumlines!
Participants also deployed a BRUVS in the Lake Worth Lagoon and were able to review the footage they collected towards the end of the expedition. Participants noted several crabs moving along the bottom, as well as multiple nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) swimming in and out of frame. After thoroughly reviewing the footage, students determined that the MaxN, or maximum number of individuals of a single species seen within the same frame, was three. This was the first time that three nurse sharks were observed within the same frame (MaxN=3) of BRUVS footage captured during a Coastal Ocean Explorers: Sharks expedition! Although no sharks were caught on drumlines during the expedition, participants were grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and practice shark research methods and collect valuable data on sharks in the Lake Worth Lagoon through their BRUVS survey. It was a lively and instructive day of research for Palm Beach Day Academy.
This expedition was supported by Palm Beach Day Academy.
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.
