There was a slight set back in Ft. Lauderdale, so two of us ended up staying there for a night while the rest of the REU crew made it over to the island as planned. After the final two arrived, the full group was gathered at the Sands Resort and we began our day of exploration. We spent time scouting locations for field work as we worked our way over to the Shark Lab where we got a tour of the lab and learned about the various research projects that are going on. The Shark Lab has an incredibly long data set of lemon shark tagging results and genetic information on the shark populations, which we'll tell you more about as the week goes on.
After the lab tour, the lab manager Sean and our very own Demian Chapman led us out to the shark pen to swim with baby lemon sharks.
Not only were we able to hang around in the pen, but Sean and Demian each both caught a shark so that we could touch them and learn more about their physiology.
They are holding the sharks upside down to induce a state of tonic immobility, which means they are temporarily paralyzed and can be handled without struggle. But once you turn them back over, they quickly regain their senses, and, as Demian found out, they will bite to get away. Even little sharks still have teeth that can do damage, but don't worry, Demian's arm is doing just fine!
At the end of the day, we even got some snorkeling in. We had reports of a small lion fish and a sting ray, as well as a whole host of other fish.
We'll be posting regularly over the next two weeks to let you know all of the exciting science we're doing and to keep you posted on our Bahamian Adventure. So stay tuned for more fun filled posts!
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