Expedition leaders: Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Sorantaa Bain

Crew: Brenda, Justin, Mason, Michael, Natalie, Robert, and William

Introduction

A week of perfect conditions, high winds, blue hole swims, great hammerhead captures and so much more! Full details below…

Day 1

Our afternoon flight with Tropic Ocean Airways was as picturesque as ever, with blue holes dotting Andros' wild landscape below. After settling into the lodge, we met for our briefing and safety talk. Everyone was excited about two things in particular: the chance of seeing a big shark, and time in the shallows with juvenile lemon sharks. That second experience is fast becoming famous with our Andros groups.

Day 2

The only calm window of the week meant heading straight offshore into the pelagic zone to target silky sharks. We usually ease groups in on the shallow flats first, so they can get a feel for the water and the boat. But when the weather opens up for silkies, you take it. Call it a baptism by shark!

After a bumpy ride, silkies were waiting for us. We tagged, sampled and released two small sharks, likely 1–2 years old, within 30 minutes, taking blood samples for a new collaborative genomics study. We also met the US Navy to download our receiver on the buoy which received a massive 30,000 detections!

After a quick refuel at the lodge, we spent the afternoon in a channel that is usually extremely productive. There we caught a subadult male Caribbean reef shark, which turned out to be a recapture: a shark already carrying one of our tags. We also landed a rare treat, a large male lemon shark measuring ~250 cm. Lemon sharks are abundant across the mangroves and flats, but we rarely catch one over 200 cm! This healthy male was likely in Andros searching for mates over the summer. Soon after this capture we called it a day and headed back to the lodge.

We wrapped the day up with data entry and a delicious local fish dinner before heading to bed for some much needed rest.

Day 3

An early start took us to a team favorite, south to a cay which is a 45-minute ride along Andros' eastern shoreline. Tucked beyond the reef, it's a beautiful small cay with mangrove-fringed channels and abundant marine life. We started fishing on arrival and had our most productive day of the trip, with 8 sharks caught and tagged!

We ran ultrasounds on two of the female sharks, however several carried mating scars, a sign they were on the flats to meet mates rather than to pup. This was confirmed with negative ultrasounds.

Mid-afternoon, we snorkeled the blue hole next to the cay. Its shallow, crystal-clear water and bustling marine life made it perfect for our less confident swimmers. There's no better way to get over a fear of ocean swimming than in these blue, purple and turquoise waters.

After our swim it was time to head home. July is an incredibly hot month and the heat can quickly catch up with people, especially after 7 hours on the boat. In addition to the obvious risks e.g. The ocean, boats and sharks, dehydration, sun burn etc. are just as much a concern so we balance our days to ensure exhaustion isn’t added to that list.

Day 4

Another early start saw us head out early for another busy day on the water. We set, hauled and redeployed our gear over and over, however today was just a quiet day!

A long day fishing we ended the day with just two sharks, a nurse and a blacknose. Sometimes the sharks are simply switched off. We made the most of it, learning knots and talking shark research.

Young minds always ask the toughest questions: Can sharks feel pain? Do they have friends? We finished with an evening lecture on the sharks of the Bahamas and Saving the Blue's research projects, then caught up on data before heading to bed for some rest.

Day 5

Today was Independence Day for the Bahamas! We were excited to celebrate this day in the Bahamas, with some Bahamians on the boat Sarontaa and Marvin! So, with our team ready for a great day it was time to head out and find some sharks!

Some days you can just feel there's a big shark around. After nearly seven hours of fishing and only two sharks caught and tagged, a blacknose and nurse sharks, the team kept their spirits up right to the end… and they were rewarded.

In the afternoon, a female great hammerhead just over 10 ft long (~320 cm) surprised us all. We fitted her with an external acoustic tag and took a small genetic sample for DNA analysis. She was released within 9 minutes of being caught and swam off strongly over the edge of the drop-off!

The team was elated, exhausted and mesmerized by her beauty, power and extraordinary appearance. No matter how many times you see a hammerhead, they take your breath away and for those seeing one for the first time, it’s a moment you never forget.

Given we’d pushed today with a long fishing window we ended our day on a high and headed home. Data entry that night was easy with the entire team still buzzing, thinking about our hammerhead!

Day 6

Today we set out with two goals: Working our receiver array, and fishing for sharks.

We spent the morning retrieving and downloading some of our receiver array; we replaced the battery on three deepwater receivers on the drop-off. These receivers show how the species we track use the area, including Caribbean reef, silky, tiger and great hammerhead sharks.

With conditions too rough for fishing, we refueled at the lodge and spent the afternoon at a somewhat sheltered location, hoping a tiger shark would turn up on the flats. Unfortunately no tiger sharks were caught on this trip, however we did catch and tag two more nurse sharks which brought the week's total for that species to 9! It showed again how important Andros is for nurse sharks during the summer months.

After many hours of fishing it was time to head back to the lodge for the final time. We closed out the day with a final evening crunching data and sharing stories about the incredible week we’d shared together.

Day 7

Our last morning on Andros was a sad one, however we wanted to go out on a high so we ended the trip in the shallows with juvenile lemon sharks, a firm trip favorite.

These sharks grow up in Andros' flats and mangroves, and seeing them up close in their natural habitat is a real treat. Seeing these sharks up close and personal was the perfect way to end the week and it was hard for the team to leave.

Once back at the lodge we cleaned our equipment, packed our belongings and made our way back north to the airport. We then boarded our charted flight home and was back in Florida after an hour in the sky. We shared a wonderful week together and already can’t wait to do it all again!

Thank you

Thank you to our research trip leaders Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Sorantaa Bain for guiding the team through an incredibly 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 Stevano for his top class boating and captaining skills.