Expedition leaders: Dr. Tristan and Annie Guttridge

Crew: Alisa, Dakota, Dani, David, Gabby, Sami and Scott and local Bahamian Sorantaa. Resident marine science student Blaine from Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), also joined the crew for a day to assist the team.

Introduction

A week of adventure, exploration, and fun. We saw seven different species of shark from a Great Hammerhead in the shallows to dozens of silkies in the open ocean and little lemons in the mangroves! It was an incredible time with an amazing crew, read a day by day break down below.

Day 1

Our day started in a small semi-private airport in Fort Lauderdale where the crew met to prepare for our 9 am flight. Enthusiastic hellos from returnees and friendly introductions with new people kept us occupied until it was time to board and head off to Andros!

There was plenty of cloud coverage as we approached our destination, so it wasn’t until we descended that our crew was able to see the island. Everyone was able to view the gorgeous creeks and blue holes that make Andros so special before landing. We quickly stopped in customs, loaded up our taxis and headed to our home for the next six nights. Upon arrival, the team unloaded their things in their rooms, and all gathered for lunch and a quick briefing on the safety and what to expect in the following days.  

With a windy day making it unfeasible to head out, we decided to explore the creek right next to our lodge. Splitting up into groups of 3-4, we took a flats boat into the creek and tested out some new equipment. Our team has acquired a fish finder that allows us to see what’s under the water without ever having to enter it. We drove slowly through the creek watching the screen and familiarizing ourselves with the setup.

Those that were waiting for their turn on the boat, hung out at the lodge and waited to see if they could see any sharks swimming by. No sharks were seen, however two moray eels stuck around for quite some time! After everyone had time on the boat and viewing the eels, we headed to get cleaned up for the night. Dinner was incredible as always and we were all able to end our night watching lemon sharks swim along the seawall.

Day 2

Up early but a mild storm kept us land locked for a while. Our team had a delicious breakfast and chatted in the common area as we waited for the storm to pass. As soon as it was clear enough to head out, we loaded up onto the boat and made our way to some mangrove channels to further test our fish finder. The team took turns watching the screen to see if we could identify any animals, but we weren’t having much luck.

We spent a bit of time baiting in the channels to see if we could bring anything in but sadly, nothing seemed to be around. After a few more passes, we decided to head to a nearby blue hole.

Finally, a success! An hour in and we had four sharks of three different species swimming around the boat. This helped us understand our equipment much better as we were able to see what each animal would look like on our screen and gage how far they were before we could spot them on the fish finder. Everyone also enjoyed simply spending some time with the lemon, Caribbean reef, and nurse sharks.

With a successful day of exploration and work, we decided to have a bit of fun. Gathering our dive gear from the boat, we hopped in the shallow water and walked to the beach and further inland to explore an inland blue hole. The blue hole is like a large natural swimming pool with marine fishes swimming around. We all hopped in and enjoyed diving towards the bottom and snorkeling along the edge looking at the life.

Regrettably it was time to get back, so we made the walk back to the boat, loaded up, and headed back to the lodge. The team cleaned up, ate another amazing dinner and then it was off to bed.

Day 3

An early morning where we watched the sunrise as we ate our breakfast and prepared for the day. Today we would be deploying camera traps. Annie worked with some of the team to get the gear set up while the rest of the group prepared the other items we would be using. Selecting locations that we knew have been quite productive for shark activity, we dropped our camera traps in and decided to go for a dive nearby while they recorded anything sniffing around. As soon as we entered the water, we were delighted to find a couple blacknose sharks cruising along the reef 40 feet below. We began baiting to see if we could bring them in closer and maybe attract any other sharks in the area. We were in luck!

It was a gorgeous scene with incredible visibility, plenty of reef fish joining us at the surface and before long we had a large barracuda and more sharks! The blacknose sharks were joined by some bold Caribbean reef sharks who gave everyone some very close passes. The whole crew had an amazing time on this dive with this being some people’s first ever experience with sharks in the water! With the winds picking up and the water becoming choppy it was time to say goodbye to the sharks and head to a calmer location.

On our way to the next area, we spotted a shark cruising the shallow water, so we stopped to have a look. Shortly after another shark joined it and we decided to hangout for a bit. We had a blacktip and lemon shark making close passes as our group stood in the thigh deep water and took videos and photos of the animals. Once the sharks began to disperse, we continued on our way to our original destination. This location is known to have plenty of juvenile lemon sharks, so we were hoping to see a few even though the tide wasn’t quite right. We waded into the water from the beach and it didn’t take long before we had a couple little ones and even a subadult shark in to investigate us.

With an incredibly sharky day in the books, we hopped back on the boat to collect our camera traps and make our way back to the lodge.  

Upon our return, we cleaned up and Tristan gave a lecture on our research in Andros. We enjoyed a quick dinner before everyone gathered around the TV in the common area to review our camera trap footage. A few reef sharks and a loggerhead sea turtle were spotted along with plenty of tropical fish! Happy and satisfied with a fun filled day, our team made their way to bed for a good night’s rest.

Day 4

Up with the sun and we ate breakfast while Tristan gave a short talk on research equipment. After the talk, we gathered our dive gear, loaded up the boat and headed to one of our favorite blue holes around. 

The “Coffin” is a regularly visited blue hole not far from the lodge which has beautiful, healthy coral reefs surrounding the rectangular crevice in the seafloor. The whole team hopped in and snorkeled around enjoying all the marine activity and taking turns diving down into the blue hole as well as a smaller tunnel in the reef.

After an hour of snorkeling the blue hole and surrounding reefs, we headed back to the lodge where Annie gave a small breathing workshop. She discussed lung capacity and gave tips and tricks on increasing your breath hold. Everyone participated and enjoyed the lesson to help expand on their growing skills.

During our trips we like to give back to the community in different ways, so we made sure to do a school visit. We packed up into Captain Cole’s truck and made our way to one of the local schools to distribute Annie’s book on marine life of The Bahamas. Each child was given a book and Annie went through the pages with them as the rest of the team walked around the classroom helping individual children and answering any questions they had. The class was extremely excited with their gift and to say thank you they played the drums for us, showcasing how talented they are at such young ages.

With another successful school visit in the books, our team headed to another location to explore. We again piled into the truck and drove up to another inland blue hole. This one is quite large and has a jumping platform to enjoy! Everyone took turns jumping in and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Annie then helped team members with more freediving techniques to once again improve their skills.

Over an hour spent playing in the blue hole and then it was time to grab some dinner. Local team member Khrys joined us as we all headed to a bar and grill for food. We enjoyed many discussions on our very exciting day while we watched the sunset and ate.

Happy and full we headed back to the lodge for the night to get some sleep!

Day 5

To start our fifth day, we decided to deploy exploratory camera traps again. This time we did them in shallower water in an area that we have spotted hammerhead and tiger sharks. We set up one of the camera traps and within a few moments there was a Caribbean reef shark coming around to investigate. Then we dropped off our second camera trap and as we drove away from the location, we spotted a large shark swimming along. Everyone was amazed to see that it was a Great Hammerhead!! We wanted to get a closer look but decided it was best to leave it be and see if we would be able to see it on the camera traps later.

While we let the camera traps do their thing, we headed out to a reef for a snorkel. Another favorite spot of ours with very healthy corals and abundant life is always a fun spot for a swim. We were greeted by plenty of fish and even a couple Caribbean reef sharks cruising around the area.

With a satisfying and beautiful snorkel completed, we headed back to collect our cameras. It was very exciting to see multiple lemon and Caribbean reef sharks swimming around the first location. As we collected our equipment, we decided to spend a bit of time with them, and everyone was able to get GoPro and phone footage of the sharks in the clear, shallow water.

Reluctantly we said goodbye to the sharks, collected our other camera trap, and went back to the lodge. To end our day on the water, we decided to test our luck at our silky shark spot. We made the trip out to the buoy and upon arrival we spotted several juvenile silky sharks, including a neonate (little baby!). Everyone was ecstatic to see so many sharks around the boat and prepared to get in the water with them.

Prior to entering the water, we deployed another one-off custom camera trap for a few minutes so that we could review the footage later. Once the camera trap was back on the boat we hopped in the water. Swimming with pelagic species like the silkies is always very exciting as they are quite bold and come in very close. The entire team had a blast swimming and diving with all the little silkies but with the day growing late, it was time to head back.

After arriving back at the dock, we cleaned our gear and ourselves, had another delicious dinner and reviewed our camera trap footage. The hammerhead did not make an appearance, but plenty of life was seen!  After reviewing the footage and chatting, it was off to bed to prepare for a long and exciting last full day.

Day 6

A super early morning as we set out for some true exploration on the untouched west side of Andros Island. Our team loaded up onto separate flats boats, joined by Blaine, a BAMSI student for the day, and we started out through the center channels of the island to cross over to the west side.

The channels that bisect the island are incredibly beautiful and full of life, so the team enjoyed spotting birds, sharks, rays, and turtles along the way. Once we had almost made it all the way through, we slowed down and one of the boats started using our fish finder again to see if we could find a critically endangered smalltooth sawfish.

We took our time cruising slowly through the channels and watching the screen and water looking for any life. We saw a lot but sadly, no smalltooth sawfish. While the one boat used the fish finder, the other cruised around searching. It didn’t take long for a few lemons and blacktips to show up and entertain everyone as they made circles around the boats. We spent some time watching them and then decided to go along the coast to another location.

We spent some more time searching the channels for sharks and rays. At the end we were able to see a third shark species of the day, a little sharpnose! With the team tired from being in the sun all day, and a long ride back to the lodge, it was time to call it a day and make our way back.

When we finally made it back, everyone cleaned up and sat down for a well-deserved dinner and drinks after a quick Covid test. The weather was not going to be ideal the next morning to take the boat out so with no reason to wake up too early before our flight, the crew decided to stay up late! Before long we had several lemon sharks swimming along the channel! A few determined people stayed up all night, keeping the sharks entertained and just enjoying the last night in Andros.

Day 7

Unable to head out in the morning, our crew had a very relaxed breakfast. People watched the sunrise, chatted in the common area, and slowly started to get their things together in preparation for departure. Once it was time to leave, we said our reluctant goodbyes to the wonderful staff of the lodge and then hopped into our taxis for the airport.

With an excited take off and scenic fly over the island, we all got our last views of Andros before finally dozing off on the short flight home. Upon arrival, people said their goodbyes and headed off to their destinations but we know we will see each other again.

Thank you

Thank you to our research trip leaders Dr. Tristan and Annie Guttridge 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 skilled Sorantaa Bain and 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. Gratitude must also go to Gabby Lozada for her generosity in allowing us to use her imagery in day 4 of this blog.