I’m back….

[Molotov]

I’ve been offshore for two weeks tagging sharks for research. It was really interesting and quite the learning experience but I’m glad to be home. My boyfriend was taking care of our buns in my absence and hopped on here for advice and bunny talk. thanks for helping out w/ the great insights and knowledge… anyways i have some pictures from the trip if anyone cares to see   

 

 

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v93/molotovcocktail/?action=view¤t=7ca9f07a.pbw][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/molotovcocktail/th_IMGP0494.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[Molotov]

grrr… the slide show link isnt working….

oh, and if non-rabbit pictures arent allowed let me know and i’ll delete this thread… just wanted to share

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Posting non-related material in the Lounge is perfectly fine… that’s what it’s here for!

That looks like it was a neat experience! I’m a little jealous! How did you calm the sharks down to tag them?

[Molotov]

If it was a little guy it was best to grab them behind the head and at the tail base and they would settle down. Sometimes the black nose sharks would get really fiesty and wriggle free and flop around trying to hit you with their tail. The bigger ones it was better to tag team and put more people’s weight on because when they were pierced with the tag they would struggle to get free. The ones weighing more than a hundred pounds were left in the sling and four or more people would help to get the tag and measurments. Their activeness once out of the water depended upon how big, which species and how long they had been hooked for.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Wow, I am absolutely speechless.  That is some amazing work you are doing, such beautiful and dangerous animals. Are you tracking breeding habits, migration, feeding habits or…? Can I ask? I am an animal lover and acutally my major was environmental analyses and policy so all of that stuff really interests me. You are more than welcome to share non-bunny related material, it’s exactly what the lounge is for.  Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us!

[Gravehearted]

wow that’s amazing! It sounds very exhilarating. Are you a marine biologist?

My ex was a marine biologist, they were out tagging elephant seals and he narrowly escaped being trampled once! He works in computers now, I think all the time at sea counting organisms was too much for him.

[Molotov]

The smaller sharks that were brought aboard live were tagged with a code number and contact number  if they were  ever caught, it went thru their  dorsal fin and  they were injected with a  little tetracycline anti-biotic that  has a  weird side  effect of  staining  a  ring in their  vertabrae  (tetracyline  will  do this with teeth too if it is taken too long or given to kids, ewww) and if they are caught later the line of yellow in the carilage would show how much they have grown since the original time they were caught. Their gender, stage of sexual development and size were all documented before they were re released. The larger sharks recieved a satilite tag in addition to the injection to document their movements. The locations the boat fished at were computer generated at random to give a representation of what all resided in various parts of the gulf, not just known fishing spots. We also caught a good amount of grouper and snapper and a few other species of fish. If they were dead we would remove the gonads, otoliths (little bone in the skull that can be used to determine age) and skin samples for analysis. The dead sharks brought aboard had their gonads, livers, blood and skin were anaylzed and studied. The data collected is used for various studies, health of a specific species, to determine their life cycles, migration and population health. It was a NOAA research vessel but the information collected was shared with scientists and other departments. We also had a device that was set down at every station that took every possible environmental factor, salinity, temp, turbity etc etc… lots of environmental evaluations

[Molotov]

I still have a little while in school, but i hope to graduate soon and become a marine biologist full time

[Scarlet_Rose]

I have to say molotov, that is commendable work and ambition you have to be a full time marine biologist.  I was fortunate when I was in California to visit a marine bio lab that NOAA had a boat anchored at and was able to learn a lot about jellyfish.  Marine life is just amazing, and it is sad about the toxins that are found.  I’ve also seen cases where shark fins are lopped off for "harvesting" to make shark fin soup and as a medicine and supplement (shark cartlilage) and they are left to die. They are a very misunderstood creature. Thank you for caring about them.

[Author]

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