by Jessie Wingar, RJD student When I woke up on Wednesday morning, I was incredibly excited to be going shark tagging. I couldn’t wait to go on a trip with a new school group from Deering Estate. I grabbed everything I needed for the day and drove to Diver’s Paradise at Crandon Marina. Little did […]
By Beau Marsh, RJD Intern The day of March 28 proved another successful shark tagging trip. RJD had the pleasure of spending the day on the water with the Big Brothers Big Sisters group. The crew was especially excited because past trips with BBBS had all been a treat, and, of course, today was no […]
By Hannah Calich, RJD student The benefits of marine protected areas (MPAs) have been well documented. However, since implementing them usually involves the removal or restriction of certain human activities, their implementation is often controversial. For example, MPA regulations that limit fishing can have negative socioeconomic consequences in fishing communities, which can lead to illegal, […]
by Pat Goebel, RJD Intern There are fewer fishes in the ocean today than there were 200, 100, and even 20 years ago. This fact is reiterated in the case study authored by Pita, which shows decreases in the abundance and weight of coastal rocky reef fishes over the last 50 years in Galicia. The […]
by Alice Schreiber, RJD intern The rapid increase of world population and the large number of already depleted fish stocks pose a significant problem for fisheries currently, and will continue to do so in the future. The growth of responsible and sustainable aquaculture facilities can help to alleviate the strain the human population has on […]
By Dani Ferraro, RJD student In the Indo-Pacific, coral reef fish have encountered behavioral changes due to increasing local fishing efforts. The rise of commercial fishing and local fishing have caused a change in species composition, abundance, and behavior of species inside protected areas. In an experiment done by Fraser A. Januchowski-Hartley et al, two […]
by Laurel Zaima, RJD intern Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a large concern for many who live on the coasts. People are told to avoid eating local seafood and contact with the contaminated water. However, the consequences of HABs extend much further than many people realize. HABs are associated with high fish mortality, which disturbs […]
By Jessica Wingar, RJD Intern With decreasing fish stocks, there has been an increase fishing regulations. One of these categories of fishing is recreational fishing, which includes catch and release fishing. In catch and release fishing, the fish is released back into the ocean after being reeled in. Despite the fact that this practice puts […]
by Daniela Escontrela, RJD intern Sea otters are a very charismatic species due to their very cute and cuddly appearance; however, sea otters are quite interesting animals for many reasons. For one sea otters lack a blubber layer like many other marine mammals. To make up for this, they have the thickets fur of any […]
by Jacob Jerome, RJD student Last Sunday the RJD crew had a VERY exciting and successful day of shark tagging with citizen scientists off the coast of Miami. We left the dock on Key Biscayne early Sunday morning and headed for the waters off Miami Beach. Blessed with calm seas and beautiful weather, we set […]