Expedition leaders: Dr. Phil Matich and Sorantaa Bain

Crew: Amanda, Brian, Gabby, Kristina, Mariana, Shane, and Shivani,

Introduction

A week of new tactics, locations, and processes for our team. We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and saw lots of sharks! Read the full breakdown below.

Day 1

The team arrived at the airport bright and early and ready to kick off the week. We chatted while our luggage was loaded onto the plane and then it was time to go!

Upon arrival to Andros, we all piled into our taxis to head to the lodge. The group grabbed their gear for the boat and had a quick lunch while they were briefed on the week. It was finally time to get out on the waters so everyone helped load the boat and then we were off!

First up was eDNA water sampling run by Mariana. This DNA sampler aka a puffer fish (no really) is used to collect traces of a target species in the water. In this case we are looking to detect sawfish!

Water passes through a filter and the filter is then analyzed for any DNA left by animals in the water. Such as skin cells, blood, or urine.

After doing two water samples we moved on to see if we could catch some sharks. We set five drumlines and it didn’t take long before we had our first shark of the trip! It was a male blacktip and we tagged and released him right before we had another shark on the line!

We pulled up to find a nurse shark, but it spat the hook out before we could get them to the side of the boat. Shortly after we had another nurse shark that looked like it could have been the same one that got away. This time we were able to quickly tag and release it.

Not long after that we had another nurse and it turned out to be the same nurse shark we had just tagged! They definitely don’t shy away from free food! Although this has happened before it is incredibly rare.

A few more checks but no more sharks and then it was time to head home.

The group watched for lemon sharks at the dock, ate dinner and then split into teams to wrap Christmas gifts before bed. We will be visiting two schools later in the week to hand out gifts with Santa and wanted to make sure everything was ready to go!

Day 2

The team woke up bright and early for a 7 am breakfast. Once everyone had their meals and packed their lunches for the day, we all loaded onto the boat to start our long journey.

We were heading west across the bite of Andros, which takes about an hour. The drive over is gorgeous with the flat turquoise waters, various wildlife , and mangroves everywhere you look.

As we breached the west side of the island, we made some stops along the way to do more water samples for eDNA. Watching turtles, sharks, and rays while we conducted our work.

In between water samples, half of the team worked on setting up and deploying BRUVs (baited remote underwater videos). These BRUVs were set in super shallow water near mangrove channels in hopes we would see sawfish on them.

After a few hours of water samples and BRUVs, we decided it was time to see if we could tag some sharks while we were on this side of the island.

We collected all our BRUVs and then prepped our gear to deploy our drumlines. Once the lines were in the water we didn’t have to wait too long before we had a shark! The first and only shark of the day was a beautiful blacktip.

Before we knew it, it was time to haul our gear and make the drive back to the lodge. As we gathered our lines from the water we had dolphins show up to see what we were doing! It was an incredible moment!

The drive back was lovely with a small storm bringing out a rainbow.

When we returned, we quickly cleaned up and met back at the main area to wait for dinner. We watched the lemons and a stingray swim around before we ate. These peaceful moments always offer a moment to reflect on the day.

After dinner we ended the night reviewing the BRUV footage from the day. We didn’t see any sawfish but there was plenty other wildlife on the cameras.

Day 3

For the third day, we were going to do things a little differently. The group split into two teams so we could tackle two different activities at once and give everyone an opportunity to participate in both.

The first team boarded the boat and headed out to do more water samples and BRUVs while team two prepared to do a beach cleanup and a school visit.

The team on land headed to a nearby beach and spent about an hour collecting various plastics, bottles, and netting. The trash was then dropped off at the dump and the group headed back to get cleaned up and ready to visit the children and deliver Christmas gifts from Santa!

Our volunteer Brian dressed up as Santa, and we headed to a local middle school to hand out gifts and talk to the children. We are truly so grateful to all who donate and support us, you make these impactful and meaningful events happen.

Afterward we headed back to the lodge and met with the other team to have lunch. The teams then switched, so those who were on the boat in the morning stayed on shore and those who were on shore went on the boat.

The second team on land then cleaned up and this time Rantaa dressed up as Santa. We headed to our second and last school of the day and the children were buzzing with excitement! This time we were delivering gifts to a primary school and the children were extremely excited to see Santa.

We spent time with them after handing out the gifts and it warmed our hearts to hear their stories and excitement for Christmas. Soon after it was time to head back and wait for the boat team to return back from the day.

After they returned everyone cleaned up for dinner. We finished the night watching our BRUV footage from the day.

Day 4

We had another early morning and headed out to the pleagic zone known as the tongue of the ocean (TOTO). The hope was to try to tag some illusive silky sharks!

Upon arrival we saw one small silky shark and set a line. Unfortunately after several attempts were were unable to catch the shark so we had to give up on the location and try another. Before changing spots a few of the guests hopped in the water and briefly saw two silkies but they did not stick around, they dived deep! It was a nice snorkel with rainbow runners darting around and even a wahoo!

After the snorkel we headed back to the lodge for a quick break and to grab BRUVs and our drumlines. On our way out to our fishing spot for the day we stopped for another water sample.

We dropped off our BRUVs and then headed to set our lines. The conditions were glass flat so some of the team members took time to snorkel around the boat while we waited for sharks.

After a few hours we finally caught our first shark of the day, a Caribbean reef shark! And shortly after we tagged a second one!

With no more shark action for some time and the sun getting low in the sky, it was time to haul our gear and collect our BRUVs. On our way back in we stopped for one more water sample and had a little lemon shark and relatively large southern stingray swim right past the boat!

Another night of a delicious dinner and BRUV review before we headed to bed.

Day 5

First things first was to capture some more water samples in the early morning. After, we dropped off more BRUVs in deeper reefs and then set our lines.

It was a very slow morning with no action so the team just chatted while we waited for a shark or two to show up.

Eventually we caught our first shark, a nurse! The shark was quickly tagged and released and we went back to waiting for a long time.

It was getting later in the day but suddenly we saw one of our buoys take off! This can be a sign of a large shark so the whole group was super excited as we made our way over to the line.

As we approached, we saw the distinct shape of a Great hammerhead! We quickly prepared to satellite tag the shark and had her tagged and released in less than 10 minutes!

After a few more checks with no other sharks and still riding the excitement of the hammerhead, the team hauled the gear and hopped in for a quick snorkel over the beautiful reef.

Soon after we started to head in, back to the lodge and watched BRUV footage before Phil gave a lecture on the sharks of the Bahamas. What an incredible day!

Day 6

The last full day had us up and out the door early as we made our way back to the west side.The plan was to knock out several more water samples and set more BRUVs in various locations.

We then set our lines and anchored to watch the buoys. While we were sitting there, a bottlenose dolphin came right up to the boat and gave us several passes. These beautiful, unexpected moments really showcase why Andros is so special.

After a few checks, we finally caught a blacktip! Again while waiting, we had a large shark swim directly under the boat. It looked like a tiger shark and it went to one of our lines but did not take the bait. Perhaps it had just fed and didn’t want or need to take any risks… Clever tiger!

On our final check we had a little Atlantic sharpnose on the line that we tagged and released before hauling the rest of our gear and collecting our BRUVs.

We reset the BRUVs, did a few more water samples and then it was time to collect everything and head back to the lodge.

Day 7

The last morning is always a sad one but we made the most of it by going to one of our favorite locations.

We collected the last few water samples of the trip while sharks and rays swam around the area.

Then we hopped in the knee-deep water and attracted in several lemon sharks giving everyone an opportunity to have close encounters and take photos and videos of the little sharks in stunning, crystal clear Bahamian water.

As we were leaving, we had a blacknose shark show up as well, giving the group one more species before the end of the trip.

Reluctantly it was time to head back to clean up our gear and head to the airport to go back home.

Thank you

Thank you to our research trip leaders Dr. Phil Matich 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.

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