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September 20, 2010

Monday, September 20, 2010

BY: Elizabeth Wilson

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© OCEANA / Carlos Suárez

 

The Oceana Latitude is now docked in St. Petersburg for the next few days.  I’ve reboarded the Oceana Latitude with 2 scientists from the National Aquarium, Andy Dehart and Andrew Pulver. We’ll be using 2 of the Latitude’s tenders, the longitude and the Lat-long, to do shark research day trips.

The research will include collecting data on the size, species, and sex of sharks caught, as well as attaching tags to the sharks that help identify them in the future.  If these sharks are caught again, the tag can provide important information for shark biology and conservation including migration, abundance, age and growth.  The main goal of today was to test our gear and research plan by catching a few small sharks.  The practice round was a success and we were able to catch a few small bonnethead sharks. 

I think we’re ready for the big boys tomorrow.