Bimini Biological Field Station - shark research & marine biology internships

The Jupiter study has been an ongoing study for several years, with the first shark being transmittered in 2006, however the project did not get fully up and running untl 2008. The main focus is catching and implanting a transmitter in adult lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris), and to follow their migrations with the array of VR2 receivers up the Florida coast. Bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas), and great hammerheads (Sphyrna mokarran) are also transmittered when captured. To date, over 100 lemon sharks have been acoustically tagged under this project.

Results demonstrate the Jupiter aggregations are a regular, seasonal and annual occurrence. It coincides with the lowest annual water temperatures in the area. However, small scale southerly movements to the warmer waters during this aggregation period, coupled with the northward dispersal as latitudinal water temperatures increase, suggests that these water temperatures represent the lower favored tolerance for this species during the mature life stage.

Results collected from the Jupiter project formed the foundations for the successful 2009-2010 campaign to protect the lemon sharks in Florida state waters. However, new data collected from Jupiter suggests that further protection is necessary in order to secure the long term survival of this important population. With the federal prohibition of the harvesting of sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus), we believe this has caused a shift toward harvesting lemon sharks by commercial fishermen in federal waters. Movements/migrations identified under this study have shown the lemon sharks to cross three state boundaries and one international. This further highlights the great need for federal protection of this species.

Acoustic fishing- has been used in a limited capacity during the past seasons. While fishing for the lemon sharks, monitors were placed overboard to determine if any acoustically tagged lemons were in the vicinity of the fishing lines. Results suggested this technique could be used to identify other areas our tagged animals use by conducting drifts with several monitors attached to buoys that are equipped with GPS loggers arrayed along an east to west swath of ocean.