As the nations of the world prepare to vote on measures to restrict international trade in endangered sharks in early March, a team of researchers has found that one of these species – the oceanic whitetip shark – regularly crosses international boundaries. Efforts by individual nations to protect this declining apex predator within their own maritime borders may therefore need to be nested within broader international conservation measures.

The research team, which included researchers from Microwave Telemetry, Inc., the Cape Eleuthera Institute, and the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University, attached pop-up satellite archival tags to one male and 10 female mature oceanic whitetip sharks off Cat Island in The Bahamas in May 2011, and monitored the sharks for varying intervals up to 245 days. The tags recorded depth, temperature, and location for pre-programmed periods of time. At the end of the time period, the tags self-detached from the sharks, and reported the data to orbiting satellites. Their findings, published online today in the journal PLOS ONE, show that some of these sharks roamed nearly 2,000 kilometers from the spot where they were caught, but all individuals returned to The Bahamas within a few months.

“While the oceanic whitetip shark is one of the most severely overexploited shark species, it is also among the least studied because it lives much of its life far from land in the open ocean,” said Lucy Howey-Jordan, scientific liaison for Microwave Telemetry, Inc. and lead author. “Before this study and our ongoing research, very few of these sharks had been fitted with satellite tags, and the data we obtained will help establish new conservation measures.”

All the tags, except the one attached to the male shark, reported data. Of the eight tagged oceanic whitetip sharks tracked for more than 31 days, three stayed within or very near The Bahamas Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for their entire tracking period. The other five sharks, after an approximate 30-day period of residency within 500 kilometers of the tagging area, made long-distance movements outside of the EEZ, with one traveling as far as Bermuda. The fact that all these tagged mature female sharks returned to The Bahamas provides the first evidence of return-migration in this species. Additional findings that were surprising to the scientists included the sharks spending an average of 68 percent of the monitored time in Bahamian waters, and that these sharks, normally found near the ocean’s surface, made dives of approximately 1,000 meters, possibly related to feeding behavior.

“Although these sharks are relatively safe from fishing in Bahamian waters, our study shows their long-range roaming takes them across the boundaries of different countries and into the high seas where they still encounter fishing gear set for other species,” said Dr. Demian Chapman, a professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and assistant director of science at the Institute for Ocean Conservation at Stony Brook University. “If we want to continue to see these animals in our oceans, fishing nations will have to work together to protect this species, and monitoring of trade and enforcement measures will need to be coordinated on an international level.”

Once considered among the most abundant apex predators on Earth, overfishing has caused huge declines in oceanic whitetip sharks, and the species is listed as “Critically Endangered” in the Northwest Atlantic and Western Central Atlantic, and “Vulnerable” globally by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The fins of these sharks can be sold for $90 per kilogram because of the high demand for their use in shark fin soup, a delicacy in Chinese culture. There is growing international interest in improving the conservation of these sharks, including a proposal to list this species in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which will be considered at its upcoming Conference of Parties meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, March 3-14 of this year.

World renowned for its healthy shark populations and proactive conservation stance, The Bahamas is one of the few places left in the world where this open-ocean species can be found in relatively large numbers. In July 2011, during the timeframe of this study, The Bahamas banned all commercial fishing of sharks throughout the 630,000 square kilometers of surrounding ocean waters. The sharks now benefit from this protection, and the shark diving industry, a major contributor to the Bahamian economy, benefits from their presence in surrounding waters. Additionally, recent studies have shown ecosystem health is dependant, in part, on the presence of apex predators like sharks.

“The Bahamian government had the foresight to protect these and other species of sharks within their waters, starting with the longline fishing ban in early 90s, and culminating with the more recent shark sanctuary initiative,” said Edd Brooks, program manager of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the Cape Eleuthera Institute. “This level of protection is vital for the continued existence of these important apex predators, and I hope that the example set by The Bahamas will encourage other nations to follow suit.”

This research was funded by Microwave Telemetry, Inc., the Cape Eleuthera Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Roe Foundation.

For more information on “Complex movements, philopatry and expanded depth range of a severely threatened pelagic shark, the oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) in the western North Atlantic,” please visit http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056588 after 5 p.m. EST on Wed., February 20.

Cape Eleuthera Institute is a marine field station situated on Cape Eleuthera, Eleuthera, The Bahamas. It undertakes research on local environmental issues as well as acting as a host facility for marine and terrestrial scientists and visiting education groups of all ages. Cape Eleuthera Institute has especially focussed on developing new methods of resource use and management applicable to the Caribbean, such as effective use of solar energy and local recycling of waste organic and other materials. Its sister organisation, The Island School (www.islandschool.org), is a semester abroad program for high school students from the United States and The Bahamas, for whom the Cape Eleuthera Institute provides hands-on research experience through their in-house research programs. For more information, please visit www.ceibahamas.org.

The Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University is dedicated to advancing ocean conservation through science. The Institute transforms real-world policy while pursuing serious science, both of which are essential for ocean health. For more information, go to: www.oceanconservationscience.org.

Microwave Telemetry, Inc. manufactures reliable and accurate electronic devices for tracking avian and marine species using cutting-edge technologies developed at its facility in Columbia, Maryland, USA. The company’s continual effort to develop smaller and smarter devices is driven by the needs of researchers worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.microwavetelemetry.com.

After morning exercise, attendees had the opportunity to catch up with familiar faces and meet new friends before settling down with lunch to hear from our guest speakers. Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Edd Brooks spoke about his PhD shark research and his partnership with the New England Aquarium’s John Mandelman, PhD.

John focuses on the conservation physiology of marine fishes, predominantly elasmobranchs (the sharks, rays and skates) and their lethal and sublethal blood chemical responses to anthropogenic stressors – such as fishing capture and handling, and acoustic stress – in marine fishes. He is currently partnering up with Edd Brooks and CEI’s Shark Research & Conservation Program. Together they delivered a very interesting presentation that gave alumni an update on the type of research going on at CEI, and also how CEI is moving forward and partnering up with other successful organizations with the New England Aquarium. After Edd and John’s presentation, everyone had a chance to catch up some more, visit the Aquarium, and visit some of the aquarium’s scientists’ wet labs. At the end of the day, alumni left the Marriott and split into their respective semesters for dinner and other evening plans.

Thank you all who came to the reunion and made it such a success! We can’t wait to get everyone back together again! To see more photos from Saturday, see our Flickr album here.

Miss out on this reunion? Make sure you update us with your contact information so that you don’t miss out again! Email alumni@islandschool.org.

The flats week students not only worked alongside our Flats researchers all through the week, but also had the opportunity to go bonefishing with some of the local fishermen of Rock Sound and Savannah Sound. In doing this, they got a taste of some of the local ideas in conservation of the mangrove flats ecosystem and protection of bonefish as well as other species that spend all or just part of their life there.

The Shark week students spent a good amount of time in the field setting longlines and drum lines for juvenile lemon sharks and their predators. They were very successful in tagging and recapture of juvenile lemons, having caught 7 in one day at a nearby creek. They were also able to use their findings to relate to other juvenile lemon shark studies from the Bimini Biological Field Station.

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On the last day, both shark and flats presented to their fellow campers and researchers on some of the information they had learned and collected through the week. The day concluded with a trip down island to check out the Rock Sound caverns, Ocean Hole Park, the giant banyan trees, ending at a Bahamian style dinner at Sharil’s in Deep Creek. The week was a busy one full of fun, friendships, and most importantly learning about the mangrove flats ecosystem!

Currently shark team is very excited about retrieving a satellite tag, which just spent 8 months on a reef shark. We spent 5 days on Lighthouse Beach looking for the tag, which had washed up on shore. The search was very time consuming and at times a bit stressful but we finally found the tag under a huge rock. This tag is extremely important because it shows us the movement of the reef shark over the last 8 months. Most satellite tags barely last a couple weeks on these sharks.

I’m so excited to be spending my third summer in a row on Eleuthera and I can’t wait to see what other exciting shark adventures are in store for the rest of my time here!

Of course being in deep water sharks is super cool. We get to study different shark species using The Medusa – a high-tech video camera designed to dive up to 2000 feet underwater, lent to us by Edith Widder at National Geographic. But what’s even cooler about my research project is how little humans know about what I’m studying!

At home, whenever I was given a research paper or project to do in science class, there was a definite ending point and answer to the project. A hypothesis was set up for us, and in order to get an A on the project, we needed to correctly prove the hypothesis. In deep water sharks, we don’t even have a hypothesis. The project is purely based on exploration of deep water – a place rarely experienced by humans.

As I was recording data from a video I was watching on Tuesday and identifying as many species as I could, I realized that my project actually meant something in the world of science. The data sheets I was so meticulously filling out were going to be kept in records, not graded and thrown out when I cleaned out my binder. It’s so amazing to know that I’m sixteen years old and already have the opportunity to take part in a real research project. The Island School has made me so empowered to make a difference on Eleuthera, in science, and at home.

The joint CEI and University of Illinois shark research team just returned from the second of four, 2 week field expeditions to a shallow bank known as “the bridge” that connects the southern tip of Eleuthera to the northern tip of Cat Island. The first expedition went out in November 2011. The historical project is re-creating a study from a dataset detailing the diversity and abundance of shark populations in The Bahamas that took place over 30 years ago. Back then it was conducted by Captain Steve Connett and the crew of the R/V Geronimo from St Georges, Rhode Island. The current study is conducting surveys identical to those performed by Captain Connett and his crew 33 years ago, and has already discovered some very interesting results. In the original dataset, 96 sharks from six species were captured during 25 scientific longline sets. In just 12 sets, we have already caught 84 sharks from three species! While the recent study has encountered a lower diversity of species, the species dominating the catch remains the same. In the original dataset, tiger sharks represented 54% of the catch, and Caribbean reef sharks represented 33%, however, in the modern surveys Caribbean reef sharks and tiger sharks appear to have switched places, representing 67% and 31% of the catch, respectively. This is especially interesting in relation to the Bahamian ban on longline fishing instated in the 1990s, as Caribbean reef sharks, which are thought to be less migratory in nature than tiger sharks, might be benefitting from the indirect protection. Conversely, tiger sharks are more migratory in nature, and the benefits of the ban may be more limited.  These results are still preliminary but with two more expeditions planned for 2012 and 2013 a much clearer picture should evolve in by the end of the project.

After my internship I decided to take the opportunity to come back to CEI as a research assistant. I still do some of the same things (data collection in the field), but I also gained many new responsibilities. I moved from a teaching assistant to a full-blown co-teacher for the lionfish research class. I am also conducting an independent project on the topic of my choosing to investigate something about the marine world that surrounds us here at CEI.

My name is Mike Piersiak and I came to CEI last semester as an intern with the Shark Research and Conservation Program. My main focus was to gain as much knowledge as I could regarding not only my specific area of interest (sharks), but also knowledge about the other research projects taking place here. Perhaps the biggest benefit of being an intern was learning about life as a field biologist outside the confines of a classroom and benefiting from the experienced staff members.

After my internship expired, I chose to stay on as a research assistant and assume more responsibilities than the more transient, short term ones I had as an intern. As I am hoping to perform a master’s thesis in the next year or so, I found that the role of a research assistant here is much more similar to that of a masters student in the responsibilities as well as the experience gained. I am no longer associated only with the shark program, but rather, I will be performing my own project as well as mentoring interns through their time here. Assuming more long-term responsibility as well as managing my own personal project are things that I know will benefit me when I begin applying to a masters program and writing my research proposal.

Aside from the academic benefits of my role as a research assistant, I also teach at The Island School as well as mentor interns throughout their time here. I am the co-advisor of the lemon shark research project and I teach a research class twice a week that includes field sampling, data analysis, and presentation of findings at the end of the semester. Mentoring interns involves helping develop a group project (which will be undertaken over the course of their time here), running weekly intern meetings, helping to acclimate them to the institute upon arrival, and overall well-being over the course of their stay here.

CEI’s aquaculture manager, Marie Tarnowski, presented on the development of the Sustainable Aquaculture Program at CEI and Annabelle Brooks, Research Manager at CEI, presented findings on lemon shark abundances in mangrove creeks around South Eleuthera. CEI’s Flats manager, Liane Nowell, presented a poster that focused on bonefish handling practices and the bonefish tagging program while Josh Shultz, Aquaponics manager at CEI, presented a poster that focused on developing aquaponics in The Bahamas. This was the first time anyone from the Cape Eleuthera Institute had presented at the Abaco Science Alliance. All attendees from CEI had a great time not only learning about other facets of research in The Bahamas, but also sharing our own novel research and making great connections. Representatives from CEI look forward to attending future Abaco Science Alliance Conferences.

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The Geronimo, an experiential education vessel operated by St. George’s School from Newport, Rhode Island, under the direction of Captain Stephen Connett, conducted shark research cruises from the early 1970′s through to the mid 1990′s throughout the western Atlantic. From autumn 1979 through to spring 1981, regular seasonal surveys were conducted in Bahamian waters focusing on a shallow bank known as “the bridge” that connects the southern tip of Eleuthera to the northern tip of Cat Island. The data resulting from these surveys, representing a snapshot of Bahamian shark abundance from over 30 years ago, have never been rigorously analyzed or published. Edd Brooks, manager of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at CEI, is collaborating with Stephen Connett and Jeff Stein (University of Illinois) to recreate these surveys over the next two years, with the goal of identifying potential shifts in the diversity, abundance and demographic population structure of sharks in the North East Exuma Sound over the last 30 years. The first field season took place earlier this month and Edd, Jeff, and Stephen successfully completed surveys of the bridge with the assistance of two Bahamas Environmental Stewards Scholars, Ann Marie Carroll and Brandon Jennings, Stephanie Liss (former CEI shark program intern and graduate student at University of Illinois) and Christopher Koch. Christopher, an experienced captain and diver, has supported the Shark Research and Conservation Program since his daughters, Hanna and Melanie, studied at The Island School in Fall 2006 and Fall 2008, and offered to return to Eleuthera once again to help on this exciting expedition. Just goes to show that IS alumni aren’t the only ones that can come back to The Island School and CEI–parents can, too!