The United States’ Forgotten Sharks
Though the U.S. is a global leader in shark conservation and management, the sharks of the U.S. Caribbean are often overlooked, with many questions remaining about species abundance and spatial ecology. Shark research in Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM), St. Croix, USVI, began in 2013, led by Dr. Greg Skomal and Bryan DeAngelis in collaboration with the National Park Service. I joined the project in 2015 for my Master’s degree at UMass Amherst, co-advised by Greg and Dr. Andy Danylchuk.
Together we’ve used acoustic telemetry to track over 50 sharks from four different species, comprehensively characterizing their spatial ecology within St. Croix’s largest marine protected area. The project expanded in 2019 to include satellite tracking of tiger sharks to better understand broad scale movements and connectivity between BIRNM and nearby management areas.