Mating Sharks- June 6, 2011

Today starts the first day of a long week. We have a schedule and every day this week, we will be going out into the field. We split up into 2 teams. Each team goes to specific creeks in the morning and afternoon. Today Niels and I are going to Paige in the morning, then the long haul to Plum, Deep, and Broad Creek. I will be mentally preparing for this bike ride all day! This morning we met in the lab at 7 am, we discussed a few things and gathered the equipment. Then at 8:15 we were off to breakfast. This morning we sat on the rooftop and enjoyed a lovely breakfast of oatmeal!

After breakfast we were off to our different creeks. At every creek there is a certain spot we have to take measurements. We record environmental data such as: cloud cover, wind speed/direction, and water temperature. Then we record more scientific data such as: Dissolved Oxygen, Salinity, pH, and we record the GPS point. Once we measure all of that at the specific point, we walk along the shore keeping our eyes out for nurse sharks. Typically you can see their dorsal fins in the water because they are found in generally shallow water. Especially the females, they go as shallow as they can to hide from the males. When we were at Paige we saw about 2 sharks in one area so we observe them for 10 minutes. We write down everything they do and the time. Their behaviors usually entail resting, swimming parallel to the shore, swimming deep/shallow, and circling. However when there is a male present they are usually trying to mate so there are different behaviors we look out for. They will bump the female attempting to bite on to the pectoral fin. I only know this because I got to experience it today. There was one female nurse shark and about 4 males, they were all bumping her and biting onto her pectoral fins. It was so neat to watch, I have never seen anything like it. There were two males attached to each of her pectoral fins, they had flipped her onto her back. The other two males were either circling the female or trying to grab ahold for themselves. We watched this process for about 30 minutes. Then the mating process was over. I am not sure the details about nurse shark mating, so I will have to do some research but it definitely was an interesting thing to watch. They just roll around in the water, tails flying in the air. It is so cool. I took a video of it.

After our observations at Paige, we biked back to campus because it was about lunchtime. I forgot what we had to lunch but I am sure it was vegetables, rice, and something else. Niels and I headed out for our LONG adventure to take measurements of the far out creeks. It took us 40 minutes to ride our bikes to the first site. Keep in mind we are riding beach cruisers, with no gears, and all our equipment on our back in the middle of the day. Once we got to Plum creek we went for a little swim before we walked the beaches. Plum creek is breathtaking, so it was worth the bike ride. Deep Creek and Plum are all on one stretch of beach so that walk was a total of 2 hours. We took our measurements in the 2 spots and walked the beach; however there were no sharks present. We made it back to our bikes and got ready to bike to the next creek. The bike time to the next creek was about 20 minutes. We got a little adrenaline rush at the third creek (Broad Creek) because we saw some sharks! The sun was starting to get low, so it was a beautiful late afternoon light. The sharks were so cool, they let us just sit next to them and pet them. It was crazy. This is where my profile picture came from. Once we observed and took sediment samples we decided we should make our way back because it was dinner time. We peddled back so fast so we would make it in time before the kitchen closed. We barely made it! We were so exhausted once we returned.

After dinner we worked in the lab for a little bit then we went to the octagon to settle down for bed. A few of the interns were watching a funny British comedy show. So I stayed awake and watched that. I also got to skype Morgan tonight! Then it was off to bed for another long day.