🦈 Sharks - they're JAWESOME!!🇧🇸

Smile for the camera!

SHAAAARK! 

It’s the classic ‘charismatic megafauna’ that elicits wonder, excitement, and (sadly) fear, and it's also a highly misunderstood animal. Who wouldn't want to learn more?!

I was so excited when I found out I was accepted into the Bimini Biological Field Station’s Shark Lab for teachers, so even though the timing meant I’d have to fly halfway across the planet from Saipan to Bimini, I jumped at the chance to go.

It was a looooooooong travel day, getting up at 4:30 in the morning in Saipan to make my flight to Tokyo.

Luckily I was flying with my roommate and new friend Erin, so the 7 ½ hour layover wasn’t too bad. We then flew to San Francisco (where the layover was long enough that I went home to shower and restock my bag), then a redeye to Fort Lauderdale where I met up with teachers Vickie and Sarah. The rest of the 15-teacher cohort met at the airport for our 25 minute charter flight to South Bimini – our little float plane flew over the lagoon by North Bimini, and we could see schools of eagle rays and several sharks swimming in the clear, shallow waters!!

South Bimini is a tiny, low-lying island about 50 miles east of Miami, Florida. It has one paved road, one gas station, and about 150 residents. It’s only about 500 feet from the much more bustling North Bimini (population around 2,500) - but there are no roads connecting the two. 

Pineapple House!

The teachers were separated into two houses – Sharkaholics is right by the beach and housed 6 teachers and instructor Dean, and Pineapple House, with four separate little apartment bedrooms and one main shared room with a connecting bedroom, which housed 9 of us. Right outside our door is a dock and waterway, and along the small shoreline we could see a dozen Cassiopeia jellyfish resting on the sandy bottom.

 

Easing our way into shark infested waters...

That evening, we walked over to the Shark Lab for our introduction and first experience with sharks. We waded into the beach behind the station where there were mangroves and a shallow sandy reef – the perfect place for baby lemon sharks. Lemon sharks are really well researched because they are so numerous and gregarious. They are easily recognizable because they have two almost equally-sized dorsal fins (the fin on their backs that many people associate with sharks). They are also a yellowish brown color (thus the name lemon shark), which lets them blend into the sandy bottom.

Baylie and Felicie, researchers at the lab, were throwing fish into the water in hopes of attracting sharks, and we waded thigh-deep in and waited. Most of the bait was being stolen by sea birds, who were scaring off the baby sharks, but we finally did see two small lemon sharks who were learning how to hunt and pinpoint prey. They were skittish and didn’t come too close, but it was an exciting introduction to our week!

The famed Lab Table

Pineapple House at the field station:
Carly, Vickie,Sean, me, Jules, Jackie,
Mattias, Dylan, and Emily

After a brief introduction to the field station, dinner was at the small (and I think only) resort on South Bimini, the Bimini Sands. A few of us walked down to the beach and walked along the water to get there, which ended up being reaaaaally hot and sweaty (but I guess it was good exercise after so many days of sitting around!!). Dinner was pizza as we watched the sunset and got to know one another. Most people on the island have golf carts (and each house has one to use as well), so I rode home, exhausted.  

The next morning we met at the field station for lunch and lectures on the history of the field station, and on the evolution and diversity of Elasmobranch Fishes. Shark expert Dean Grubbs was a wealth of information – way more than my tired brain could handle, but it was interesting hearing about how sharks ruled during the Devonian era and how sharks, rays, and chimera are now classified. 

There are 1,241 species of Chondricthyans, the class of vertebrates that include chimeras, sharks, and rays that have skeletons made of cartilage. The subclass Elasmobranchs have 5 to 7 gill slits, and sharks and rays are divided based on whether their pectoral (side) fins are fused to their heads. We went through nearly every family of shark and ray, and the main takeaway was that most sharks are small - only a few feet long, and definitely not man-eating predators that most people imagine when hearing the word 'shark'. 

They are also maligned, threatened, and vilified in the media, so we need to be doing a lot more to protect and conserve them (and all marine species)!

Lots of great lectures by Matt and Dean

After lunch at the station, we quickly went back to the house to change into our snorkeling gear. We first went out to a shallow area with the wreckage of a crashed drug plane – it was a fun and easy way to test out our snorkeling equipment. (There were also a LOT of tourist boats, and people sitting on the wreck drinking beer...) The sandy bottom was rich with seagrass, and there were so many different fish around the wreck. My favorite was the jelly-like ctenophore – they looked like transparent, tentacle-less jellyfish that are nearly invisible, but when you pick them up and bring them into the air, they turn into amorphous blobs of water.

From there, we went to slightly deeper water- Nurse Ledge, where we found a large coral rock teeming with fish. For a while I just swam around enjoying the view, when suddenly a nurse shark swam under me! It went under then around the edge of the coral, nosing under and around the rock. It was only after that that I realized there were more hiding under the overhang of the rock, and several swam right by us. Nurse sharks have little whiskers hanging down from their chins to help sense nearby prey. They are basically bottom feeders, staying close to the sandy sediment to suck up small fish and invertebrates. Even knowing they were basically harmless, my first glimpse was a total thrill. I loved following them swim around, although I didn’t realize how exhausting being in the water was (on top of being jetlagged).  

Yep, that's the whole store.

That afternoon we had another (continuation) lecture by Dean, as well as a talk by Baylie about sharks' portrayal in the media. After dinner at the station, we stopped by D&S, South Bimini's only store for snacks, then walked over to see the Sharkaholics house and to watch the sunset.

 

SUNDAY, JULY 23

One of the reasons why the Shark Lab is situated on South Bimini is because of the various diverse habitats found around this tiny island. 

Can't have enough mosquito repellant for a mangrove hike!

Today we traveled to the mangroves of North Bimini, where the sheltered roots provide the perfect habitat for baby lemon sharks. When the tide starts to rise, the baby sharks will swim into the sheltered lagoon to get away from the much larger tiger and bull sharks that patrol the waters near the mangrove’s edge. Many lemon sharks choose the same nursery where they were born to give birth to their own pups, and year after year they’ll return to the same location. It’s sad to note that the entire mangrove forest in Bimini is not protected, and already much of the area has been lost to sandfill for resorts.

We waded through waist- to neck-high water through the mangroves until we reached  a protected lagoon that was the perfect location for a lemon shark nursery.

With a bait can and bits of squid, we lured the sharks over to our side of the lagoon. These were small (between 2-4 ft) sharks that ranged from a few months to a couple years old. We lined up to form a barrier to keep the sharks on one side, then waited while Matt threw pieces of squid into the water. Much of our bait was stolen by the snappers, but we were able to dangle squid into the water and when the little shark would come close, we’d drop the food in and the baby sharks would gobble it up.

Also in the water were jellyfish, small needle-nosed fish, and pufferfish. The roots of the mangrove are teeming with life, and we snorkeled around the edge of the grove to get a closer look at what was living there. Nestled in the roots were bright orange sponges, and we saw baby barracudas,  snails, and so many different fish. In one pit below a root ball, a huge stingray rested in the mangrove roots, and we found several others gliding across the sea grass or half-buried in the sand. There was the biggest sea star I’ve ever seen (Oreaster), as well as a gorgeous sea cucumber.

Potential chum

We stood and made another barrier so that we could draw in older lemon sharks – these were about 4 years old, and much braver as they sometimes squeezed their way between our legs. A large barracuda loitered around the edges, staring menacingly but never coming too close. 

Later, when we drove a bit further out to see if we could find any blacktip sharks, several other barracuda came to join the party – as did a pair of curious tarpon who found us lacking and quickly swam away. Unfortunately there weren't any blacktips, possibly because the water temperature was so high - it was 91° that day! Chelle thought that may have driven the sharks further north to cooler temps.

Our next day’s outing was to Honeymoon Harbor near Gun Cay, just south of Bimini, where we would be baiting for stingray. The southern stingray has a flat diamond-shaped body, well adapted to stay on the ocean floor. On the top of its head are the eyes and small openings called spiracles, which take in water that flush through its gills on its belly, next to its mouth. It’s dark grey, olive, or dark brown with a white underside, and the thin tail has a serrated, venomous spine sticking back from its base. We were warned not to step back too quickly or to panic when being mobbed by rays, as they were extremely tolerant of people but would strike with their stinger if hurt or frightened.  

That's me in the white hat, sparkling in the sunlight

It was a smooth 20 minute boat ride down to the beach, and we walked into the water to stand in a line while Matt threw bait in the water to lure in the stingrays. In the lab, Dean and Matt had warned us that the rays would crowd around us – they have no sense of “personal space,” and it was so true! We started by touching the pectorals - flabby, slimy, blobs of flesh that seem too squishy and relaxed to be agents of propulsion. But when the rays swim through the water, they glide gracefully across as though soaring on wings. Soon the rays started to swim between and around our legs, sniffing for the squid juice that we were dripping into the water. Some would even ram straight into us or swim up our bodies, and even the large rays would flap around their wing-like pectoral fins to fit in spaces too small for their big floppy bodies. It was most nerve-racking when a large ray squeezed its too-large soft body in the small space between me and Jules, and the hard spine of its tail brushed against my arm.

 

We were given small pieces of squid to feed to the rays, but warned not to keep our fingers up as they should be fed much like a horse – with our palms flat and the squid held in place between our fingers. But we had to watch out that a hungry nurse shark didn’t come by to nip off a snack! Since the ray’s mouth is on its underside, almost under its eyes, we couldn’t see the mouth but were warned to drop the bait once we felt a light sucking motion. 

They are like floppy ocean puppies!

Because their eyes are on the tops of their heads, they can’t really see what you’re offering and sometimes swim up your body as they search for the source of the smell. I’ll admit – I probably let go earlier than I needed since we had been warned about stingray hickies, but I was mobbed by plenty of rays! 

 

Soon after we dispersed, the stingrays began to drift off as well, and smaller fish started swimming in to look for missed pieces of food. Large schools of tiny silversides flowed by in wave-like ribbons, swimming in synchronized streams. A 2 ft long houndfish hovered nearby, never coming too close. It was a gorgeous, thin needle-like fish with long crocodile jaws, nearly translucent except for bright azure accents. Soon, larger snappers and permit joined the party, and we sat in the sand enjoying the encounter.

 

Our last day snorkeling was to the Triangle, where three very low rocks form a barrier reef that attract Caribbean reef, blacktip, and nurse sharks. Right when we entered the water there was a reef shark cruising along about 25 feet below us, but soon after a large tourist boat of snorkelers joined in, splashing and cannonballing into the water, scaring the shark away. 

Ready to explore the SS Sapona

Because of this, we soon switched locations to the Sapona shipwreck, the remnants of a World War I ship that is now an artificial reef. It’s the perfect location for many species of sponges, corals, and reef fish. We swam around and inside the shell of the wreck, as well as in the seagrass just outside. A couple green sea turtles swam by, surprisingly agile in the water and seemingly unbothered by our presence. We also saw another Southern stingray cruising along.

I'm a fan of this gorgeous sea fan

He's molting!

That night, we went tidepooling at the end of Shell Beach. The sharp limestone made hundreds of small pools where we found limpets, snails, crabs, and urchins. It was fun walking around with Dean, who knew the scientific names of every animal we ran across.

Evening tidepooling with Dean

On our last day, we took a day trip to North Bimini, a short ferry ride away. We hopped onto our golf carts and drove up the ~1 mile to the South Ferry Dock. 

Can't beat me
on our speedy little golf cart!

It started raining when we arrived at the North Bimini dock, so I was glad we weren't having a water day! Our guides picked us up for a tour of the island - we drove up Queen's Road, stopping first at the craft center but we were a bit late in the day so most of the shops were closed. We did see a memorial for Martin Luther King, Jr., who spent some time on Bimini and was a friend of a local bonefisherman who would take him into the mangroves to relax.

One of the most interesting attractions on the island is the Dolphin House, a quirky home built by Bimini local Ashley Saunders, who had a connection with the ocean and particularly with dolphins and who believed in celebrating them in his decor. 

A jawesome group of teachers

The house is covered inside and out in mosaic tiles, shells, and other natural resources, and a tiny lighthouse on the roof is a "Beacon of Hope."

Harvesting fresh conch

From there, we drove up to Stuart's Conch Shack to try their conch salad and bimini knockout punch. (well, some of us just had a coke...). Conch is a common dish served all over the Bahamas, and salad form is one common way it is served. It's like a ceviche, with raw conch cooked in lime juice and served with fresh onions and tomatoes. Delicious! There are hundreds of conch shells littering the sea floor and along the beaches, but we did note that many empty shells seemed undersized (and therefore illegal to harvest). What was once a small local industry is definitely starting to outgrow its sustainability because of the growing demand from tourists.

On our final night, we went back to the beachside bar at the Bimini Sands for dinner and an impromptu concert from Dean. A man of many talents!! While we were there, the lab's friend Kyle stopped by with a Bimini boa that he had found. The Bimini boa is a rare, endemic species that is unfortunately now endangered because of illegal pet trade and loss of habitat. We were so excited to get to see one!

Our week at the Bimini Biological Field Station was such an amazing experience - I learned so much about sharks and rays that will hopefully help demystify them for my students. I loved getting the opportunity to interact with these extraordinary animals, and learning how to do so in a safe and sustainable way. I also loved getting the chance to see the different ecosystems around Bimini and snorkel in such warm, clear waters. I'm grateful to the Save our Seas Foundation, the Bimini Biological Field Station, and all the wonderfully dedicated staff - especially Dean, Matt, Chelle, Baylie, Felicie, Ilijah, and the rest of the team. What an unbelievable end to an incredible summer of adventure, learning, and fun. Thank you!