bull
(Source: Flickr / fttpwwwflickrcomalbert)
- Posted 2 months ago
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- sharks
- bull shark
bull
From the photographer:
We’ve been putting satellite tags on bull sharks over the last two years to get a better idea of where they are going and what they are doing in their summer habitats.
Satellite tags, like this one, collect real time date on temperature, depth, and position. They newer ones even collect salinity. After a set amount of time, the tag pops off, floats to the surface, and beams the information that it collected to a satellite. Then, the satellite sends us an email and we go download it.
The water is that color because of where we were sampling (gulf-side of St. Vincent Island, FL .. where the Apalachicola River dumps out) and what type of bottom we were over (mud). We were only about 3 meters (9 ft) deep. This shot was taken earlier in the morning so that may have something to do with it, too.
Sharks eat all kinda of things. This is a bull shark. Not a lot of comprehensive diet stuff has been done on bull sharks .. they are larger and harder to catch with gear that wouldn’t bias the data (e.g., gillnets versus hook and line with bait). But, most large sharks eat fish, shrimp, crab, and molluscs.
We’re wearing gloves because although shark skin is pretty smooth when you rub from nose to tail, it is very rough when you rub from tail to nose. Think road rash. We try to take every precaution when playing with these guys. If this shark were to thrash around, there is very little we could do to hold him still .. even with that tail rope on him.
This, by the way, is a juvenile female .. about 150 cm fork length (tip of the nose to the fork in the tail).
- Posted 4 months ago
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- sharks
- bull shark
- conservation
