By Brittany Bartlett, RJD Intern 4/21/2013 When I woke up at 4:45am and saw that it was still dark outside, I had every intention of rolling over, putting the pillow over my head, and going straight back to sleep. But, it then hit me that I was going shark tagging down in Islamorada! I quickly […]
by Nick Perni, RJD Intern Saturday, April 20th, 2013 Saturday’s trip out of Islamorada was one to remember. Our guests were members of UM’s Marine science honor society Rho Rho Rho. Since their last trip yielded no sharks, the pressure was on to give our fellow classmates an up close encounter to the oceans top […]
by Zackery Good, RJD Intern Imagine you are a Yangtze finless porpoise, swimming through the Yangtze River in China (Figure 1). As you go about your daily business of finding food, you must navigate your way through heavy boat traffic, fishing gear, and water construction projects. The water you swim in is likely polluted and […]
by Emily Rose Nelson, RJD Intern Like any living thing, the lives of whales must come to an end at some point. Upon the death of these massive creatures some may strand and end up on shore, others may float and quickly be removed by other animals, and at least 50 percent will sink to […]
by Becca Shelton, RJD Intern There are few things I love more than sharks and a good debate. The white shark, or great white, (Carcharodon carcharias) is my favorite species of extant sharks and the megalodon shark (Carcharodon megalodon) is my favorite extinct species. It just so happens that both species are in the center […]
By Fiona Graham, RJD Intern Pain and suffering in fishes has been a hotly debated topic throughout the past, especially in the context of angling. While previous research has stated that fish might indeed feel pain, the authors of this paper decisively contradict these studies. This paper by Rose and colleagues details a comprehensive literature […]
By Dani Escontrela, RJD Intern Over time our understanding of animal migrations and habitats has greatly increased due to advances in tracking technology. Whereas before tags only told us when animals arrived and left certain places, tracks now are able to tell us about the migratory paths they follow. In addition other methods such as […]
by Gabi Goodrich, RJD Intern 1/20/2013 My alarm sounded promptly at 5 am. Coffee deprived and still half asleep, I got in the car with Meg and made my way to Islamorada. As I began waking up, my sleepiness was replaced with excitement; I was going to shark tag today. It was my first day […]
by Becca Shelton, RJD Intern In David A Pike’s scientific paper Climate influences the global distribution of sea turtle nesting, Pike takes an in-depth look at which factors contribute to sea turtle nesting sites. There are 7 extant species of marine turtles that inhabit mainly tropical and subtropical waters and globally, are all considered to […]
by Stacy Assael, RJD Intern Today the RJD team welcomed our first shark of 2013, a large male nurse shark! Upon leaving for today’s trip we were not sure if we would even catch anything. Although Captain Curt always delivers, everyone was a little apprehensive about his decision to fish at a brand new site rather […]