Shark migrations and much more!

Since our last lab note, there have been many exciting developments for this project. Firstly, we have received more data from the migrations of our 16 tagged-sharks and there appears to be interseasonal differences between the timing of migratory events. In 2015-16, the tagged-sharks traveled from the Edisto River, SC to Cape Canaveral, FL by January. However, as shown below, these same sharks did not reach Cape Canaveral by January in 2017. These interseasonal differences are not believed to be uncommon, but we are excited to have this data. We will also be increasing the number of tagged-sharks this year, as we secured the $2,500 Gumbo Limbo 2017 Gordon Gilbert Grant. This will allow us to tag 8 additional sharks!!

 

Time and location of migratory events during 2015-16 and 2016-17.

We have also deployed 21-acoustic receivers in the North Edisto River, as shown below. These receivers will detect any of our tagged-sharks when they swim within ~250 meters.

 

Our array of acoustic receivers (yellow tacks) and water quality meters (purple tacks) in the North Edisto River

By coupling the movement data between receivers with environmental data (tides, temperature, salinity, etc), we will be able to quantify the environmental preferences of our animals. We will begin this analysis in a couple of months once the sharks have migrated from SC. I look forward to sharing the results with you all!

Until next time,

Bryan