by Evan Byrnes, RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation program intern According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature guidelines, “translocation” refers to a “deliberate and mediated movement of wild individuals or populations from one part of their range to another” . However, it often is used to describe movements outside of the natural range. These […]
Monday, June 25th Katie Titley, RJD Intern Words cannot express how ecstatic I am to be back with RJD for another summer! My love for sharks and this program grow exponentially every time I go out with this amazing research team! Despite the ominous bad weather and choppy seas threatening our trip on Monday, we […]
Friday, June 22, 2012 Megan Piechowski, RJD Intern Three weeks ago I imagined spending my summer at home, in Austin, TX. When I was offered an internship with RJ Dunlap I was ecstatic, as this incredible opportunity seemed to piece itself together nicely. Last Friday was my second trip as a member of the team, […]
by Becca Shelton, RJD intern Thursday, June 21 I have been dreaming of going shark tagging for as long as I can remember and last Thursday morning, I was headed down to Islamorada to join the RJD team for a day in Everglades National Park. Besides being a first timer and the chance to research […]
This week’s photo of the week shows a blacktip shark swimming away after being tagged and released by the RJD team. Enjoy!
by David Shiffman, RJD student 6/10/12 Last Sunday, the RJD team headed to one of our newest sample sites, “the bridge”, a popular recreational fishing spot for locals. We were fortunate to have three different enthusiastic groups with us- a course from the University of Denver which joined us as part of a series of […]
6/9/12 By James Komisarjevsky, RJD intern Last Saturday, the RJD team took the UMiami Global Academy out for a fun filled day of shark tagging. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and everyone’s hopes were high for a day filled with lots of sharks. The team took the UM Global Academy out to […]
Although we use specialized fishing gear designed to minimize bycatch, we do occasionally catch large predatory animals other than sharks. This beautiful goliath grouper, more than six feet long and estimated at over 300 pounds, was caught last weekend. As goliath grouper are a Critically Endangered species (according to the IUCN Red List) and are protected by both […]
6/8/12 Kyra Hartog, RJD intern Driving down I-95 on Thursday afternoon, I couldn’t stop talking to my parents and grandmother about how excited I was to get back on the water with the RJ Dunlap team. Last Friday, I was lucky enough to have my parents and my grandmother, who just happened to be in […]
by Laurel Zaima, RJD intern The depletion of fish stocks is a direct result from human’s impact on the ocean. Overexploitation, pollution, and habitat loss are the driving forces behind this problem. Data indicates that the overall rate of fishing is inclining, the condition of global fisheries is declining, and the socio-economic benefit of fishing […]