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Friday, February 9, 2018

Niki UR Live every week like it's Shark Week

When I moved to South Carolina in 2013, I had no idea that I would be spending a lot of my free time fishing for sharks. I caught mainly black tip pups, but the entire experience has left me wanting so much more! My obsession has only grown in the last few years, and i've become a little disappointed in the amount of research done on sharks in general. There's so much we don't know!
For my IRP, I want to be able to discover more about the sharks that are living in my own backyard. I have done some research and found that apparently the Indian River Lagoon serves as a bull shark nursery!
newly tagged bull shark pup ready to be released

Female bull sharks usually give birth in the north of the lagoon every spring, leaving the pups on their own until they are ready to become offshore adults in October and November.
This seems like the perfect opportunity to gather as much data as I can about the bull shark pups that live in the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River. I would prefer to do a study of the growth of these pups over time, however I am concerned with the amount of data I will actually be able to collect out in the field.
Any suggestions are welcome, please! I do not currently have the equipment to be able to capture these sharks or accurately collect any data. (such as shark weight, water measurements, etc)



https://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/2014/07/18/the-indian-river-lagoonthe-most-significant-bull-shark-nursury-on-the-u-s-atlantic-coast/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233147673_Seasonal_Distribution_and_Habitat_Associations_of_Bull_Sharks_in_the_Indian_River_Lagoon_Florida_A_30-Year_Synthesis
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2 comments:

  1. Deb 'n PaulFebruary 9, 2018 at 8:27 PM

    Nikki--I'm not sure you will be able to explore the growth over time since we only have a couple of months to do this project. My first question would be--when, where, how do you plan on catching these sharks to gather your data? That would be a great start...

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  2. UnknownFebruary 10, 2018 at 12:12 PM

    Time restraint was another concern of mine. I really wanted to focus on the pups since it is such a great opportunity. I am looking into purchasing some salt water fishing equipment for shore/ bridge fishing. In one of the articles I read, it said that the frequency of finding these pups decreases with increasing latitude, so I may have to head to the banana river area if I don't have any luck in mosquito lagoon. I am hoping to be able to set aside a day a week to be able to go out and spend several hours in the field. I'm interested to see how the weather and times of day affect the population.

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