Hammerhead!

The month of April is coming to a close and I have been at CEI almost 4 weeks. I have been keeping very busy working with the shark team. We’ve been going out on the boat almost every day conducting baited remote under water video surveys (BRUVS for short!). I have a blast going out and working with the team. We have 90 minutes in between dropping the video units in and picking them back up so it gives us time to just be out on the water and go snorkeling or look for shells on the sand banks, and we have now also started catching lion fish for a research project. When we are done BRUVing we watch the video surveys and it’s always exciting to see the sharks come up to the bait bag. This past week we captured a big male great hammerhead - IT WAS SO COOL!!!. We are almost finished with BRUVS, all though we have had to redo a few due to the pesky yellow tail snappers who very frequently will consume all the bait before the video time is over! This has been a set back along with some bad weather and as a result has delayed the start of long-lining. Besides fieldwork I have also had the opportunity to help with the lemon shark research in the lab at CEI. We are conducting 4 different experimental treatments with 8 juvenile lemon sharks. We hold each shark for about a month and conduct the trials and then release them. I have had the privilege to help with the trial by holding the sharks in tonic immobility (TI) which is a sleep like state sharks go into when they are rolled on their backs. I also got to go out and release two sharks Bob and Wedge and also help to catch two more. I am half way through my two months and I love it. This is a wonderful place and the stuff I get to do is fantastic. I can’t wait to go long lining and scuba diving!!!! - Adam Baugh

Shark research

Coming to CEI has been incredible!!! I have loved every minute of it. Every morning I wake up and look outside at paradise and I say to my self how awesome it is that I get to be here for two whole months in this beautiful and exciting place. There are so many great things I love doing here. The first is working hands on with sharks. When I held ‘Wedge’, a lemon shark, for the first time it was one of the greatest feelings I have ever had! I love the fact that I am able to work everyday with my favorite animal in the world. I have also been learning so much about how to do scientific research both in the field and in the lab, getting a really good idea of what working with sharks is like. I have also enjoyed other aspects of Eleuthera as well. I have had a blast going into Deep Creek, the local settlement, and hanging at Cheryl's restaurant. I also really liked going into Rock Sound for homecoming last weekend and dancing! The marine life is spectacular and I have really enjoyed snorkeling here. I have seen a variety of colorful tropical fish, a spotted moray eel, sea turtles , sting rays , sharks, loads of barracudas, and some awesome coral reefs . I can’t wait to start the long-lining study and catching sharks. I have been having a great time here so far and I look forward to the rest of my experience here. It’s going to be fun!! -Adam Baugh

Arrivals!

Our first 3 GAP-ers have arrived! Georgina from New York, Sarah from Colorado, and Adam from Virgina all touched down on Eleuthera last week and jumped straight into things. Watch this space for news on their exciting adventures over the next 8 weeks.