From the beginning of this class I was sure I was going to do a project on sharks. I wasn't sure what it would be t first but after awhile I realized that I really wanted to learn more about bacterial infections. So why not do it on bacterial infections in sharks mouths. Sharks harbor deadly bacteria that have been fund to be drug-resistant. I also wanted to look at all the different aspects on what can be causing the bacteria in the first place. I want to pick at least 3 kinds of sharks that live in human populated areas and compares those sharks bacteria swabs to the sharks that inhabit places that aren't in populated areas surrounded by people. My scientific question will be Is there more bacteria found in sharks mouths more serve coming from sharks that inhabit water that is closer to human population compared to sharks that live further away from human population?
I know I couldn't do all of the sharks that inhabit the waters in Volusia County so I am choosing to do 3 types of species and have an extra one just in case I cannot get the 3 that I want. The 3 sharks will be Blacktip Shark, Lemon Shark, and Nurse Shark.
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| Blacktip Shark Carcharhinus limbatus |
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| Lemon Shark Negaprion brevirostris |
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| Nurse Shark Ginglymostoma cirratum |
Since these are very common in the Daytona beach area I believe it will be easier to catch them. Everything will be a catch, swab and release process. I want to follow what Nathan Unger did with his Antibiotic Susceptibilities of Bacteria Isolated within the Blacktip Sharks.
Unger caught Blacktip sharks In February and April of 2013. Unger used a remote swabbing device that he places under the lower teeth and inside and outside of gums. He then placed the samples in a tube and put them on ice right away. I want to follow this procedure with the sharks I plan on swabbing.
I will be using a Big game pro extreme 10 foot rod, with a 25 pound grade line. I will be aiming for juvenile sharks of the 3 species I have chosen. Each shark will be brought out of the water and I will have help with putting water on the shark continuously while the swabbing of the mouth takes place. I will swab the inside and outside of the gums and roof of the mouths and pace the swab in a test tube and put it on ice to bring back to the labs to test for bacteria.
Its all an idea right now but once the procedure is more in place and is approved I will be starting on this project!
Katie--if you read the article associated with this post, you will see that the researcher had the proper SAL permits to do this. Have you applied for these permits?
ReplyDeleteI've applied for our permit! Not sure how long this will take.
ReplyDeleteKatie--I think you need to spend a bunch more time investigating these methods. I just watched the video for swabbing that you referenced in your methods section. It's quite extravagant and certainly an instrument we do not have access to. We might be able to create our own swabbing tool but we'd have to get to work on that. Here's is the link to the video... http://globepharma.com/remote-swabbing-and-microbiological-sampling-tool/
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