On a warm sunny Bahamian afternoon Bryan Franks and Joy Young were married on the beach of South Bimini. The newly wed couple first met at the Sharklab. Bryan was a Principal Investigator and Joy was a Volunteer and Assistant Lab Manager.
It was a special time for everyone at the Sharklab. While it wasn't the first marriage between two former "Sharklabers" it does mark the first Sharklab marriage held in Bimini.
It was a remarkable gathering of past and present Sharklab staff. Besides Bryan and Joy, the wedding was attended by ten of the current staff, namely: Doc, Marie, Steve (Best man), Tristan, Joey, Sean, Kat, Emily, Jim, and Duncan. Also in attendance were former staff Grant, Katie, Jackie, Kiwi, Matthias as well as current project student Mark and former project student Jo.
The Bride
The weather, which had been dreadful prior to the wedding, could not have been better. A clear blue sky and flat calm water.
Fifty friends and family were in attendance for the ceremony, many experiencing Bimini for the first time. We wish Bryan and Joy all the best in their future together and are excited to have Bryan back working with the Sharklab again.
Congratulations!
March 19, 08 — Fabian Cousteau's video about Bimini hits YouTube
Fabian Cousteau, grandson to Jacques Cousteau, releases his short film on the environmental problems that face Bimini. Watch this compelling video on YouTube
Also take a moment to visit Ocean Futures Society or Save Bimini.org to learn more about the situation on Bimini and how you can help ensure a sustainable future for this amazing island and the people that live here.
March 19, 08 — Sharklab cleans Shell beach
Staff and volunteers spent a bad weather afternoon doing a beach cleanup in South Bimini. The group removed over 700 pounds of garbage from one of the nicest beaches in Bimini. The target area was Shell beach, near the Bimini Sands Resort & Marina, an area prone to garbage washing ashore.
March 16, 08 — The Sharklab undergoes some renovations
Newly constructed dock
Home improvements have been taking place at the Sharklab. A new dock was built in December, and renovations to Bathroom #1, #2 and the kitchen are almost completed.
The Sharklab staff have been busily working away to make these much needed improvements. Those that have been here in the past will be amazed with these changes.
March 13, 08 — Jupiter work comes to a successful finish
Another season of work with adult Lemon shark aggregations in Jupiter Florida has come and gone. The last of the Sharklab staff has returned to Bimini after a very successful season in Jupiter. 20 Lemon sharks were transmittered and 4 satellite tags deployed. The project wrapped up with a celebration on March 13th. Dr. Samuel Gruber, Dr. Bryan Franks and project leader Steve Kessel would like to thank those that have given their time and resources to this continuing project, namely Walt Sterns, Bill Parks, Cheryl Carroll, Mike Newman, Joanne & John Fraser, Phil Besler, Tony Grogan, Demian Chapman, Todd Gedamke, Dave Kerstetter, Joe Deppen, Chris Berry, Joy Young, Kristene Parsons, Kat Gledhill, Mark Bond, Duncan Brake, and Tristan Guttridge.
March 4-5, 08 — Myth Busters films at the Sharklab
Myth Busters and Shark Defense returned to the Sharklab on March 4th and 5th. Their show will be part of Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
Myth Buster visits the Sharklab
Jamie and Adam were working with Eric, Pat and Craig from Shark Defense. They are demonstrating the effects of magnets as effective shark repellents. Jamie sets out to make a remote control Tiger Shark, using magnets.
Tune in to Shark Week this July to see the results.
February 29, 08 — Sharkwater filmmaker, Rob Stewart visits the Sharklab
Rob Stewart, producer and filmmaker of the award winning documentary SHARKWATER visited the Sharklab along with Tyler MacLeod of Sharkwater Productions Inc. and French TV TF1. Rob and crew were only with us for a single day to shoot some promotional footage for the French release of Sharkwater.
Sharkwater's Rob Stewart
While it was a short visit, it was also action packed. Sharklab and Sharkwater teamed up for a shark dive with Caribbean Reef sharks, some hands on work with our juvenile Lemon sharks and wrapped it all up early the next day by tagging one of five Tiger sharks that were caught on our long lines.
The Sharklab wishes Rob continued success with his film. Look for the North American DVD release in April, 2008. For more information on Sharkwater, Click Here.
January 24, 08 — The Ocean Futures Society speaks out to save Bimini
The Ocean Futures Society, headed by the world famous Cousteau family, has joined hundreds of other voices in the effort to save Bimini's valuable ecology. Fabien Cousteau, grandson of famed explorer Jacques Cousteau, has visited Bimini twice in the last 2 months and has posted his thoughts on Bimini's plight. The issue of unsustainable development on Bimini has reached a massive international audience and with the Cousteau's now joining the effort hopefully the government of the Bahamas, as well as those involved with the contentious developments here on Bimini, will listen and act to protect what is left of this unique island chain.
Please take a moment to visit Ocean Futures Society Click Here to learn more about the situation on Bimini and how you can help ensure a sustainable future for the this amazing island, and the people that live here.
January 24, 08 — New volunteers arrive at the Sharklab. Staff leave for Jupiter, FL
The Sharklab welcomes some new members to their research team. Eight new volunteers will be lending a hand over the next month or more. A few members of our staff members are off to Florida for work with the adults lemon shark aggregations that appear this time of year.
For more information on our new volunteers Eva, Christine, Lindsay, Hayley, Jennifer, Michael, Dan, and William see our volunteer section of the website Click Here.
January 16-19, 08 — BBC and History Channel at the Sharklab
BBFS was host to the BBC and History Channel for a few days of filming. The BBC was carrying out a recce of the Sharklab and sharks of Bimini in order to plan additional filming for an upcoming program on sharks. The History Channel was filming a program on the Evolution of Sex and was looking at male and female sharks around Bimini.
January 15-24, 08 — Eckerd College class at the Sharklab for the first time
BBFS welcomed Eckerd College from St. Petersburg, FL for their first visit to the Sharklab to partake in a 7 day Shark Biology course. The students went in the field for shark dives with Caribbean Reef Sharks, feed Southern Stingrays, went shark fishing with the staff, gillnetting for sharks and shark workups as well as lectures in the classroom.
The staff of the Sharklab would like to thank professor Bill Szelistowski (aka Ski), his son and students Carly Cappelluzzo, Carrie Minnick, Alicia Roberts, Michelle Von Sternberg, Lauren Vonnahme, Mike Felder, Dylan Atchley, Kiki Vinita, Caitlin Aguero, Ryan Appold, Pat Gardner, Chris Lynch, Jasmine Steele, Rachel Wencek, and Kerrie Collins.
January 4-13, 08 — University of Miami MBF-514 class returns to the Sharklab
The Sharklab welcomed the University of Miami to their lab for a 9 day tropical marine biology course. This year marked the 10th consecutive year that Professor Dan DiResta returned to Bimini to help teach the students about the marine life found in Bimini's water. The course enjoyed some great weather while snorkeling at Bone Fish Hole, Shell Beach, Turtle Rocks, the Sapona, Triangle Rocks with the Caribbean Reef Sharks and around the sea grass beds and mangroves of Bimini.
December 17, 07 — Closed for the Holiday Season
The Sharklab would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Most of the crew has return home to visit family and friends during the Christmas Holiday, with a couple of volunteers staying behind to look after the lab. The lab officially closed shop on Dec 15th but will reopen again on Jan 2nd when the staff returns to Bimini to prepare for the upcoming university courses. The entire staff will be returning in 2008 along with Mark Bond, our project student. In addition we will be getting some experienced help for the university course from past volunteers.
The Sharklab wishes Sander Dijk all the best on the completion of his Masters project. Sander finished the field work portion of his project and has return to the Netherlands. We wish all the best to our volunteers from 2007, with special thanks going to Ellen Waldrop who was with us for the past 6 months.
BBFS looks forward to some old friends and new faces in 2008. Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas everyone. From the staff and management of the Bimini Biological Field Station - Sharklab.
December 3, 07 — Cousteau visits Bimini
Fabian Cousteau, grandson of famed underwater naturalist Jacques Cousteau, was recently in Bimini to get a first hand view the Bimini Bay site.
Cousteau visits Bimini
Mr. Cousteau took a close look at the impacts the development has had on the mangroves of the North Sound. He also spent some time at East Wells, nearby reefs of Bimini, and took in a shark dive with Caribbean Reef sharks.
He viewed the development by land, by boat and by helicopter. He also interviewed local Bahamians over the controversy of this project, and talked directly to the general manager of Bimini Bay. Mr. Cousteau was accompanied by some old friends of the Sharklab. We were more than happy to lend a helping hand where possible, and look forward to having him keep a close eye on Bimini Bay as it progresses through its various stages of development.
For more information on the Bimini Bay project, Click Here.
November 30, 07 — Bull and Hammerhead sightings in Alice Town
The Sharklab is getting excited with the recent shark sightings in Alice Town. On several occasions 5 large Bull sharks were observed off the marina at the Bimini Big Game Club. The sharks were attracted in by carcasses left out from visiting sport fishing vessels. There have also been three recent Great Hammerhead sightings. One 10 footer observed by Dolphin Expeditions near Turtle Rocks. Another sighted by the Sharklab crew while aboard the Twin Vee Catamaran near Hawksbill Reef at night. The third, an impressive 13' shark, was observed near the South Bimini ferry dock mid afternoon.
November 16-20, 07 — Sharklab and Twin Vee Catamarans
The Sharklab is pleased to announce that Twin Vee Catamarans of Ft. Pierce, Florida has generously agreed to supply the Sharklab with a 22' vessel for use in our shark research projects.
Twin Vee docked at the Beach Club
Tim De Vries and Dan McCarthy of Twin Vee visited the Sharklab during a few days in November. They brought along their impressive 29' catamaran to assist in a shark dive with a group from France. Stay tuned for updates when our new vessel is set to arrive in Bimini.
For more information on Twin Vee Catamarans, Click Here.
November 12, 07 — Fire on East Bimini
Wildfire in East Bimni
The Bimini Biological Field Station teamed with staff from Bimini Sands Resort & Marina to battle a wildfire that had been burning for several days on the island of East Bimini. The fire was located near the scenic area of East Wells Channel.
After being reported to local authorities with little action, a team was assembled and outfitted with buckets, shovels, rakes and garden hoes. By the end of the afternoon the fire had been put out. A follow up check by Bimini Sands staff was done the next afternoon to confirm the fire had indeed been put out. Special thanks to Bimini Sands for organizing the activity and providing their Twin Vee for transportation of our team.
November 3-5, 07 — Visit by Alberto Grosso, GM of Opla World
Alberto Grosso, of Opla World visited the Sharklab as part of a promotional campaign back in his home country of Italy.
Every one in Opla Sharklab T-Shirts
The idea is to relate the seriousness of car accidents to young people by showing the damage done to a person's shirt after experiencing a car accident. The car accident shirts are then compared to a variety of other shirts that experienced different forces, both natural and man made. This showing the severity of the car accidents. Enter the Sharklab. We experimented with methods to have Caribbean Reef sharks bite Alberto's supply of Polo Shirts. We wrapped our shirts on PVC pipes and covered them in bait and let the reef sharks to the rest. It was certainly a different idea but one we were happy to help out with.
November 1, 07 — Tropical Storm Noel hits the Bahamas
The staff and volunteers of the Sharklab spent a couple of days battening down the hatches of the Sharklab in preparation of Tropical Storm Noel. Despite it's devastation in other parts of the Caribbean and at least 1 known death in the Bahamas, Noel had very little impact on Bimini. After a day spent reassembling the Sharklab it was back to work as normal.
The Sharklab becomes home to a familiar face and welcomes a new visitor. For those of you that know Shadow, we are please to say he is now a member of the Sharklab family. For those of you that don't know Shadow, he was our neighbor's Pit Bull, and one of the nicest dogs around. The Sharklab also welcomes a temporary visitor name Chili. Chili is a juvenile Racoon that was found locked in a port-a-potty on the island. Since he was brought to us he has made his home in our large snake tank. Don't worry, the snakes have been relocated during his stay. Chili enjoys chilling out in his log and we like to watch him ever so gently take food from our hands when it is feeding time. He is a great addition for visiting tours.
For more information on our Sharklab pets, Click Here.
September 22, 07 — Shark Naturalist Course for 2008
Dr. Samuel Gruber, Bimini Biological Field Station and Dr. Dean Grubbs, University of Florida will be offering a non-technical course in the general conservation and biology of sharks around mid March 2008. The course features illustrated lectures, frequent field trips, video presentations and personal encounters with several species of actively feeding, free-swimming sharks.
For more information about this exciting course, Click Here.
September 18, 07 — Repellent Trial Video Clip
In August BBFS was host to Dr. John Williams returning for the first time since 2001. Dr. Williams is conducting chemical repellent trials. In the short video clip you will observe a Caribbean Reef shark take the bait and attached balloon filled with a test agent. The green color is a "marker" which acts as a positive indicator that the balloon has burst releasing the agent. No reaction is observed in this trial.
August 22, 07 — Sharklab updating website
Bimini Biological Field Station will be adding to the website in the days to come. The crew carried out a "Mini-PIT" in the South Bimini nursery area in August. A total of 43 lemons were sampled along with a number of nurse sharks. Some of these sharks had already been caught and held in our behaviour trial pens. A number were new sharks not previously recorded by the Sharklab.
Stay tuned for more updates and videos
July 31, 07 — Sharklab Featured on Shark Week
Bimini Biological Field Station will once again be featured on Discovery Channel's Shark Week. Tune into watch 'Perfect Predators'. The show will feature some of the work conducted at BBFS including the social behavior research on the lemon sharks in Bimini. Additionally, the show will highlight the research conducted on the large adult lemon shark aggregations around Jupiter Inlet, Florida. 'Perfect Predators' will be aired on August 1st at 9pm EST in USA. Check your local guide for times and date in your local area. Stay tuned for more Sharklab updates.
June 21, 07 — BBFS Tracks Smalltooth Sawfish
On June 6, the BBFS SharkLab captured, and for the first time ever in the Bahamas, safely attached a transmitter to a Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata). Amazingly, three weeks later, the sawfish was spotted by a tour boat off of South Bimini. The tour boat called in to the SharkLab, and three crews raced out to pick up the signal.
Smalltooth Sawfish along skiff
For the first time ever in the Bahamas, the SharkLab was able to initiate a track on this critically endangered animal. For the next 12 hours, BBFS crews followed the sawfish around the islands.
Starting off the south coast of South Bimini, the Sawfish lead the BBFS crew through the main lagoon, along the east side of Bonefish Hole, and finally 7 nautical miles east of East Bimini. The crew finally had to call off the track when the Sawfish was taking them far out of radio contact.
This unique opportunity provided the first steps to learning more about the habitat of this remarkable animal. By learning what areas are utilized by the Sawfish around Bimini, the BBFS will be able to hopefully aide in the conservation efforts towards this extraordinary animal. Along with many other valuable species, habitat destruction is one of the leading threats to Sawfish, and the BBFS now has the first scientific documentation of their movements through Bimini's marine habitats.
May 15, 07 — PIT 2007 - Web Journal is now Online
The annual census of juvenile lemon sharks in Bimini Lagoon, known as the PIT Project, is once again upon us. The lab has assembled a team to set nets, catch, tag, and sample DNA from our little elasmobranch friends. Follow along as our research progresses. PIT 2007 Introduction Page
Check Back Soon for More Updates...
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