Oceanographic Center Researcher Deploys First Satellite Tag on Lemon Shark

Sam Gruber, Ph.D., and David Kerstetter, Ph.D., NSU Oceanographic research scientist (right), prepare to leave for the shark aggregation location. (Photo courtesy of Twyla Herrington, NSUOC)	Bryan Franks, Ph.D., of the Bimini Biological Field Station, holds the dorsal fin, showing the placement of the first PSAT tag. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Tony Grogan)

In conjunction with researchers from three other institutions, NSU Oceanographic Center research scientist David Kerstetter, Ph.D. deployed a pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) on a lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) on Saturday, Feb. 9, off Jupiter, Fla. PSATs record depth, temperature, and light level at 90 second intervals for up to 10 days and allow for detailed investigations into fish movement and behavior. While similar tags have been used on other fish by Kerstetter, including swordfish and sailfish, this is the first time that this tag technology has ever been used on this shark species. A second PSAT tag was deployed on Sunday, Feb. 24, in the same waters.

Discovered seven years ago, lemon sharks form unusual annual winter aggregations off the Florida east coast between approximately West Palm Beach and Jupiter Inlet around reefs and wrecks. This fieldwork is part of a larger project with collaborators Sam Gruber, Ph.D., owner and director of the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas; Bryan Franks, Ph.D., of the Bimini Biological Field Station shark research laboratory; Todd Gedamke of the National Marine Fisheries Service; and physical oceanographer David Fugate, Ph.D., assistant professor Florida Gulf Coast University.

Additional details on the lemon shark aggregation project can be found in an article in the Miami Herald at http://www.miamiherald.com/627/story/449252.html.