The Shark Institute

We are pleased to announce that Hunter Taylor is our first Youth Ambassador for Global Eco-Adventures' Shark Institute. Earlier in the week, Bryan Keller paid a visit to Hunter and they discussed their favorite topic…sharks! Bryan was very impressed with Hunter’s overall knowledge of sharks and is excited to have him on our team.

As a Youth Ambassador, Hunter will help spread the word about sharks to his peers. At The Shark Institute, we are conducting research that will directly affect the conservation of sharks found right here in South Carolina. If you would like to learn more about how you can help, please feel free to send us a message.

Want to follow more about what the CCU Shark Research Team does? Go like their page!

CCU Shark Research Team Dedicated to sharing elasmobranch knowledge and current activities of the Coastal Carolina University Shark Research Team in Conway & Georgetown, SC.

Here's an update on our Scientific Engagement Officer, Shelby Barker! One of Shelby's jobs as Scientific Engagement Officer is to educate people on what shark scientists do, and why they do it, in order to better efforts in both research and management. Shelby is one of four leading scientists that assists with collecting data with Coastal Carolina University's Shark Research Team. In this picture, Shelby (in sunglasses), is teaching an undergraduate student at CCU how to take a fin clipping from a shark for DNA analysis. DNA analysis can be used to fill various data gaps. One of those gaps is the need for data on species-specific landings in the fishery industry. This helps identify the impact of the fishery industry, target and non-target, on shark populations, as well as identify carcasses where head and fins have been removed in the shark fin trade. DNA data will allow environmental and fishery managers to assess the health of shark species and populations, as well as the health of specific fisheries.

A WALKING SHARK?! Okay, it doesn't have legs, but it does do a little shuffle with its fins! Epaulette sharks are able to "walk" because they can conserve oxygen by shutting down a portion of their brains, sort of how your smartphone operates on low-battery mode. See it to believe it in the video below!



https://youtu.be/hdlHMMsP_ZI

The walking shark - Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough: Episode 3 Preview - BBC One Programme website: http://bbc.in/1SzMSgN David Attenborough gets close to a shark that can remarkably survive out of water, and even walk

Watch Brian Skerry dive with tiger sharks! Look out for those stripes on the sides of the sharks, that's where they get their name! These stripes are most visible when the shark is a juvenile, and fades with maturity.

They are a pretty hardy species, see why in the video below.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/magazine/160516-ngm-tiger-sharks-facts_mm8116?source=searchvideo

Tiger Sharks: Swimming With an Awesome Predator WATCH - Swim along with photographer Brian Skerry as he dives with tiger sharks in an area near Grand Bahama Island known as Tiger Beach.

Did you know that Sawfish are the most endangered marine species? Their fins can sell for close to $4,000 US dollars, thus making these sharks one of the most targeted for fin soup in the asian market. Even worse, their preferred habitat is mangrove forests, of which scientists estimate only 35% (by continent) of the world's mangrove stands.

Learn more on why sawfish are considered endangered and/or critically endangered with this info graphic:

http://www.sharktrust.org/shared/downloads/shark_conservation/iucn_sawfish_infographic.pdf

www.sharktrust.org

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Did you know that cats and sharks have something in common? Yes, it's true! Sharks have really keen eyesight in dim environments because they have a mirror-like layer in the back of the eye called the tapetum lucidum that aids them in seeing. And yes, cats have this layer behind their eyes too!

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (FAO-CITES) has come up with an online tool that includes information on threatened sharks, skates, rays, and chimeras!

The tool is still a work in progress. It will mainly be used by fisheries managers to maintain sustainable practices. The general public can use this tool to understand and identify endangered species as well!

http://www.seeker.com/new-shark-database-launched-1856176948.html

It's ! The best day of the week! Did You Know?

Certain species of sharks are ram ventilators. This means they need to be swimming or in a fast moving current in order for their gills to absorb oxygen (and breathe). Other species, like the nurse shark, are buccal pumpers, which means they can remain stationary while they manually force water over their gills.

Yesterday was Shark Awareness Day! All thanks to Ocearch, you can follow tagged sharks on an interactive map. You will find the link to the map in the article! Also, in this article, you will meet three sharks; Georgia, an 8.5 foot long Tiger shark; Jax, a 12-ft Tiger shark, and of course Mary Lee, a 16-ft Great White! Follow them to see where they travel!

Several tracked sharks swimming near Myrtle Beach on Shark Awareness Day MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Thursday, July 14 is Shark Awareness Day, and appropriately, several sharks being tracked by a marine research organization are swimming around the Myrtle Beach area. Geo...

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Did you know that the Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second largest shark -- after the whale shark -- growing as long as 40 feet? They utilize their huge mouths to filter feed! Basking sharks have been seen filtering 2,000 tons of seawater per hour to eat zooplankton!

Learn more cool facts about Basking Sharks here:
https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/discover/species-profiles/cetorhinus-maximus

Cetorhinus maximus :: Florida Museum of Natural History

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A few fridays ago, we mentioned that sharks do not have any bone, and instead have a cartilaginous skeleton! Well, since they don't have any bone tissue, they don't have red bone marrow! Red bone marrow makes red blood cells in vertebrates, so how do sharks make red blood cells? Red blood cells are made by the shark's spleen, special tissues around reproductive organs, and in some species by an organ called "Leydig's Organ" !

Learn more about this special organ here:
http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/p_blood_cells.htm

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