Expedition leaders: Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Sorantaa Bain

Crew: Blake, Brendan, Elizabeth, Max, Ryan, Veronica and Wade

Introduction

We have just returned from Saving the Blue’s fourth dedicated research expedition to Andros this year! In the course of our seven day excursion we captured an abundance of sharks of different species. This amazing week was full of not only sharks but snorkels in blue holes, lemon sharks in the shallows and lots more, read all about our week below!

Day 1

After safely landing on Andros we got straight to work! Tristan delivered a safety briefing followed by a shark handling talk and lastly, an equipment presentation.

After the talks and training it was time to board the boat and get to work! Our first shark of the day was a large nurse, then we caught another and then another! Although the last one was lost at the boat the two previous nurse sharks were given a full ‘work up’ which includes placing takes and taking measurements.

With a busy afternoon behind us it was finally time to settle into our rooms, unpack, shower and have dinner, before heading to bed.

Day 2

Today we set out at sunrise as we made our way to the pelagic zone in search of silky sharks! We got straight to work, however after multiple sets no sharks were seen. This location appears to be on or off. Sometimes we visit and see 20-50 sharks, other times there are none! We are trying to understand the driving factors to this inconsistency which is why regular visits are so important.

Given the location was quiet we moved on to our receiver project. We retrieved and deployed three receivers in total. Some shallow and some deep so we adjusted our methods (SCUBA or freediving) accordingly.

On moving to our next location a large shadow was seen! It was a great hammerhead!! It’s always an incredibly exciting and thrilling moment when you see such a beautiful and powerful shark and although the temptation was to follow it, we made one pass and left it alone to get on with its day!

After our hammerhead excitement it was time to fish. Our first shark of the afternoon was a nurse and then a few others! During the summer months we see an influx of nurse sharks as this time of year is their mating season.

After our captures it was time to head home for showers and dinner, and some receiver preparation for tomorrow’s activities.

Day 3

Today started with a bang! We arrived at our location early and set up in the hopes of capturing a hammerhead, and wow, we didn’t wait long! Our first shark of the day was indeed a great hammerhead! These animals are EXTREMELY sensitive and our team go into overdrive to ensure the animals safety. We have a number of safety protocols in place to minimize the impact on all sharks, however hammerheads have a few extras. Our team worked this shark up from bite (the moment it look our line) to release (when it swam away) in just 9 minute! This is an unbelievable time and one we have worked very hard to achieve over the years. This beauty swam off strong and we received transmissions from her tag within a few hours of release confirming she was ok.

After the hype of the hammerhead we took a moment to reflect and then it was back to fishing. Our next shark of the day was a blacknose! These small little sharks are likely the reason why the hammerhead was in the area - She was probably looking to eat!

After the blacknose things turned a little quiet and so the team practiced knots while watching to buoys for movement.

With things quietening down our team changed gears and moved onto receivers. In total we retrieved and redeployed four. This activity is always exciting as we search for our receivers, once found we download the data and learn which animals have been detected!

After our receiver work a storm rolled in which had us packing up equipment and retrieving back to lodge for showers and dinner. After dinner Tristan lectured and the team headed to bed for an early nights rest.

Day 4

Another early start saw us set up first thing in the morning. We check our lines every 45 minutes regardless of movement, however we are always watching them and as soon as we see (or believe we see) movement on the buoy we immediately check to see if a shark is on the line.

With our lines set we didn’t wait long before we caught and tagged our first shark of the day, a nurse! Soon after we caught more sharks!

After the two nurses things went a little quiet and so we hauled our lines and enjoyed a mini break with a swim in shallows! We also deployed the drone to view things from the sky. After our break we deployed our BRUVs and reset our lines.

Our afternoon set saw us catch a blacknose and another nurse! During our checks we heard a smalltooth sawfish was spotted nearby! As it was almost time to haul we decided to leave a little early and on the way back to the lodge we drove past the location the sawfish was seen. Unfortunately, we didn’t see the sawfish, but it was exciting to hear one was in the area nearby!

Once back at the lodge we all cleaned up, enjoyed dinner and listened to Tristan lecture before finally reviewing our BRUV footage from the day.

Day 5

With a large storm present this morning we had a later start to the day. With the team temporarily landlocked we entered our data from the last few days and observed Khrys conduct some interviews for our Fisher project.

Once out on the water we started our first mission to deploy more BRUVs! Soon after we deployed a new receiver. This receiver was sponsored by Endangered Species Chocolate and we are incredibly grateful for their kind support!

After our BRUV and receiver work it was back to fishing. Our first shark of the day, was, you guessed it, a nurse shark! Followed by a Caribbean reef shark which we acoustically tagged as part of a new project.

After fishing a few team members hopped in the ocean for a quick cool down before heading back to the lodge for our usual showers, dinner and BRUV review before bed.

Day 6

Today we set off just as the sun was rising… We headed back out to the pelagic zone in the hopes of finding silky sharks!

On arrival over 15 mahi mahi were spotted; these beautiful fish lit up the ocean with their vibrant greens and yellows! We set our lines and quickly caught a large silky, however the shark spat the hook just as it approached the boat so we were unable to measure or tag the shark. After many more deployments with no success we decided to move on to a new location.

Our new location saw us catch a large Caribbean reef shark, a huge lemon shark and one other! With the sharks measured and tagged we moved on to new tasks; more receiver retrievals, downloads and deployments!

Day 7

Our last morning on Andros (or so we thought) saw us enjoy some lemon sharks in shallows. Our team worked incredibly hard all week and this was the perfect ending to an incredible week; what a treat!

Once back at the lodge we packed and cleaned up, and headed to the airport for our flight home, however, mother nature had other ideas… Our flight got delayed due to a large storm and eventually the flight was cancelled! - This has never happened during a Saving the Blue trip before!

With another night on Andros on the cards we decided to head out night fishing! We went on to only catch one nurse shark, however the experience alone was one many of the team members would next forget!

The next morning saw us depart early and head home. Until next time Andros…

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.