Expedition leaders: Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Annie Guttridge and Vital Heim, PhD Student

Crew: Bailey, Carol, Charlie, Christy, Lily, Tiff, Veronica and local Bahamian Sorantaa

Introduction

We never knew quite what to expect on this unpredictable trip, but we ended up with some exciting and productive research! We filmed sharks at underwater stations and caught and tagged sharks representing four species, including the acoustic tagging of three silky sharks, which will be a source of remote data gathering for ten years to come.

Day 1

An international group of travelers assembled at the semi-private airport in Fort Lauderdale for our charter flight to Andros. Given the attire there was no question this was a group of shark lovers: shark t-shirts, shark hats, shark shoes, shark masks, shark jewelry and shark tattoos. Several in the group knew each other from previous shark adventures. We had our baggage weighed, boarded the plane and were off to Andros. The clouds of Fort Lauderdale gave way to Bahamian sunshine the closer we got to our destination. From the air we could see just how big Andros Island is, flying over its mix of densely vegetated land and crystalline waterways, or “bites,” that cut horizontally across the land mass. After landing, we went through customs, then loaded up the taxis to head south to the Andros Island Bonefish Lodge, our home base for the next six nights. 

We got settled in our rooms and then had our first taste of Johnny Bread at lunch – yum! Then we loaded up the boat and headed out on the water with our boat captain, Cole, and his trusty assistant Ronte. We deployed some camera traps to see if we could catch sight of a sawfish, shark or anything else that happened to swim by. While we waited on the boat in 45-minute time blocks, everyone got practice tying bowlines and other knots that would be useful for this trip and beyond!

Back at the lodge, a delicious fish dinner came with a second serving of Johnny Bread. After dinner, we skimmed the underwater camera trap footage. Sawfish had previously been spotted in the creek, however aside from a super interested snapper, the activity was fairly quiet with only a handful of fish passing by. That evening we spotted our first shark of the trip! An interested lemon shark swimming by the lodge dock, accented by an impressive lightning storm in the distance. A great moment that concluded our first day!

Day 2

After a yummy breakfast of bacon and eggs, we again loaded up the boats with our camera traps and headed to prime sawfish habitat to see what we could find. Before setting the cameras we took advantage of the high tide to snorkel around the mangroves – lots of jellies, and some cool fish laying low under the edge of the mangrove. For many of the team this was their first time snorkeling the mangroves and was a treat doing it in the crystal clear waters of The Bahamas! We set up the camera traps, and while we waited 45 minutes some of us got back in the water and retrieved a giant fishing net that had gotten caught up in the mangroves. The huge net weighed around 100 lbs; it felt incredible hauling it away from sea life and onto our boat.

As we moved the camera traps to another area, we were treated to a drive-by of six eagle rays. We enjoyed a few passes with these beautiful birds of the sea before getting back to work! Once the cameras were deployed for a second time, we had 45-minutes to check out a blue hole! As we were getting in the water with our snorkel gear to wade to shore, a large bull shark swam by! Those of us in the water got a good look close up, as the bull shark made a few passes checking us out! Andros is a truly wild place, you just never know what animals you’ll encounter or what experiences you’ll have!

Knowing there were sharks in the area, we decided to skip the blue hole and instead got back in the boat to see who else might pay us a visit. We had a steady following of six Caribbean reef sharks plus guest appearances by a nurse shark and lemon shark! All team members took it in turns to view the sharks up close and enjoyed watching them interactive with each other.

Once the camera traps were collected back in the boat, we headed back to the lodge. Before dinner, Vital gave a lecture to the group on identifying the various species of sharks and rays we were likely to encounter in Andros. Some of the fly fisherman also staying at the lodge sat in to listen as well. After dinner we reviewed our camera footage and although no sawfish were spotted we did see lots of fish and a few sharks!

Day 3

Per new requirements in the Bahamas, we headed to Andros Town first thing for a post-arrival COVID test. All were negative, and we were able to get back to looking for sharks! Heading out in the boat, we were soon treated to a pair of bottlenose dolphins swimming nearby. We stopped the boat and they swam over to get a closer look at us. A few of us got in the water to get a closer look at them which was absolutely breathtaking! Seeing wild dolphins is always a treat, however sharing space with them in super shallow water (~6ft) took our breaths away!

Then we took the boat to an area where hammerheads have been seen in the past. We put on full snorkel gear and as a group got in the water and waited to see if we would have similar luck. And waited. And waited. And waited. We had several Caribbean reef shark sightings, some barracuda, snappers and groupers, but it was not our day for hammerheads. Although disappointed with the hammerhead void, all water time is enjoyable and important in improving skill and experience.

After our dive we drove the boat back to the lodge to pick up the camera trap equipment and then headed to our lemon shark site. And lemon sharks there were. We saw several, including a little guy, a pup which was unbelievably cute! We retrieved the camera set up and all enjoyed the sharks as they swam around our ankles, we then lingered until the sun was just over the horizon before loading back into the boat. The horizon glowed with brilliant oranges and reds as we cruised back to the lodge, arriving just as a full moon was rising.

Once back at the lodge it was time for a shower and dinner followed by lots and lots of shark talk while reminiscing on previous encounters and experiences. With another long day planned tomorrow we soon disappeared to bed for some much needed rest.

Day 4

On day four the conditions were right to start fishing for sharks! The entire crew congregated in our communal area for another briefing. This time Vital and Lily talked through research equipment and the process of working up a shark for research.

We headed for a cay known for sharky waters and set up an evenly spaced drumline of five buoys with bait. The open water was a bit choppy so we parked the boat close to the shoreline sheltered from the wind to wait. We check out lines regularly, however we also watch the buoys for tell-tale movements indicated a shark had taken the bait. And soon enough we had one, with an oblong buoy bobbing in the wave in a vertical position. It was a nurse shark, and she was extra docile, as if she knew it was this crew’s first capture of the week and took it easy on us!

Next came a Caribbean reef shark, who was a little more frisky when brought to the boat. The chip scanner (PIT tag reader) told us she was a recapture, which is always incredibly exciting! Next up came another nurse shark. With the three sharks we all got an opportunity to rotate through the different roles involved in capture, data gathering and tagging.

After a full day out on the boat, the tide was turning, and it was time to head back to the lodge. We unloaded the drumline gear and hosed it down, along with the other tools, and rinsed out our personal items. It’s often tiring at the end of a long day of research, yet the team always unite for the final push of cleaning and preparation for the following days research. After cleaning equipment it was shower and dinner time before bed.

Day 5

The next morning we were back up and at it again, this time heading for a different area known for its sharky waters. However, past performance is not always an indicator of future success, and it was a bit of a slow day. We did capture and tag two nurse sharks and a blacktip. Worth noting, however, was the one that got away. After hours of watching the buoys without much action, we were becoming slightly hypnotized by the gentle bobbing of our boat and of our buoys in the distance.

That was until Veronica called out that she saw one moving, and as we all turned to look, the buoy took off! The oblong orange buoy was standing straight up and moving! It had to have been a big shark with the strength to swim away with the 25-pound drum attached to the bait. We’ll never know though because as quickly as it had started, the buoy simply stopped moving, which could only have meant that the shark had detached the bait. We pulled up the buoy and line to take a look, and sure enough the bait was gone. Vital and Annie speculated that the presence of this big shark in the water may have kept other smaller sharks laying low and less willing to be enticed by our lines, hence our low shark count for the day.

This was our cue to move on, and we relocated the drumline to an area where monitors had picked up hammerhead and tiger shark presence in the past. But all we caught for the rest of the afternoon were “zeros” – meaning we had useful data that shark presence was at a minimum in the area, but the lack of sharks always leaves the team a little disappointed. As the saying goes “that’s why it’s called fishing, not catching”! Often you have to earn incredible moments in and on the water, nothing is guaranteed except putting in time increases your chances of unforgettable moments, and the ‘downs’ always make the ‘highs’ that little bit sweeter.

Back at the lodge, we cleaned the equipment and sat down for another delicious dinner. For an evening activity, Vital presented some of the hammerhead research he’s gathering as part of his Ph.D. which was wnjoyed by all.

Day 6

For our last full day of the trip we had an early 7 am boat departure time to head out to the open ocean. This ruled out our regular hearty breakfasts of bacon and eggs because the kitchen staff didn’t arrive until 7 am. But Annie suggested it was best to not eat a big breakfast – or any breakfast at all – if you suffered from motion sickness, before heading out to the big swells of the silky shark habitat. She might have been onto something, as it was a bouncy ride to our destination. We got soaked as the boat splashed with every wave, and a few times took water over the bow. But thankfully, no one got motion sick!

Soon after we arrived at our intended fishing spot, the silkies came out to say hello. What these silkies lacked in size they make up for in vigor and agility. A major priority for our research week was to surgically implant acoustic tags in the silkies that could enable location tracking for up to ten years. But with the rough waters of the morning, it was looking like surgery would not be an option. We deployed our baited buoys and waited. It was not long before we caught our first silky, a little guy who was too young and too small for an acoustic tag anyway. But he was a feisty one, and it took a lot of effort for the tagging team to hold him steady. The next catch was another immature male, a bigger one this time, and the waves had calmed just enough to make surgery feasible. This silky got the full work up: measuring, fin clip, blood draw, muscle sample, PIT tag and an external tag. Then he was rolled onto his back for a lower-belly incision and insertion of an acoustic tag. A few sutures closed the incision and he was released to go on his way. This process was repeated for two more immature male silkies. A very productive morning! But had us wondering … where are the female silkies?

We had to head back to land for the afternoon, and yet another COVID test. We loaded up into Cole’s truck and drove to Andros Town, back to the clinic and another round of nasal swabs. All negative. For a treat we went to a local restaurant for a late lunch of fried conch, fried grouper and French fries. Did we mention we had skipped breakfast that morning?

As part of Saving the Blue’s commitment to contributing to the Andros community, we closed out our Andros Town afternoon with a beach clean-up. It’s amazing the things that wash up on shore – shoes, boat parts, buckets, nets, you name it. We almost filled the back of Cole’s pick-up truck with garbage and drove it to the local dump to be destroyed.

At dinnertime, a local biologist named Khrys set up a table to sell his sister’s jewelry made from conch shells. The shark key rings went fast, and even the Andros fly fishing guests picked up some gifts for their wives. After dinner, Vital finished presenting his hammerhead research to the group and off to bed we went!

Day 7

For our last outing we had another no-breakfast early start and headed back out to the open ocean hoping to repeat our silky success from the day before. There was no such luck as few silkies were to be seen, and none caught. We did get a close up look at a gorgeous mahi and a wahoo who took the bait but was quickly released after being brought up to the boat.

On the way back to the lodge we stopped for a snorkel at an underwater blue hole, which is like a crevasse in the ocean floor and goes deeper than the eye can see. It was a fun way to unwind at the end of the week, and a chance to see some of the smaller fishes and coral of the area. Annie and Ronte demonstrated their free-diving skills going into the deeps of the blue hole which everyone enjoyed viewing!

Back at the lodge, we gave one last rinse to the equipment and our snorkel gear, letting it dry while we had our last lunch at the lodge. We packed up and the taxis arrived to take us back to the airport. We boarded our Tropic Air charter, and at take-off our pilots stayed low for us to enjoy our last sights of Andros Island. After landing in Fort Lauderdale and clearing customs, we said our bittersweet goodbyes in a flurry of activity to catch flights and scatter to the adventures we were heading to next.

Thank you

Thank you to our research trip leaders Dr. Tristan and Annie Guttridge and Vital Heim for guiding the team through a successful week. A huge thank you to our research assistants for their passion, determination and endless enthusiasm to work hard, learn and produce results. We would also like to thank the Andros Island Bonefish Club for their hospitality, and the hardworking and ever professional Cole from PFO Charters for his top class boating and captaining skills.

Gratitude must also go to Annie Guttridge for her generosity in allowing us to use her images in this blog.

Early results

Blacktip - 1

Caribbean Reef Shark -1

Nurse shark - 4

Silky shark - 4

Total shark count for the week: 10