Hi! This page was created to document the class I took at Bimini Biological Research Station on Bimini, Bahamas in May of 2001.  On this page is an account of my expierience there, photos of the trip, and links to informative shark sites.  I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer:  If you don’t like sharks you might think that this is scary or that I was crazy.  I want to let you know that I made it back safe and sound, no bites other then mosquito, and I have all of my appendages.  No one was harmed in any of this and we were not forced to do any of this.  The sharks were not intended to be harmed if at all possible and the injuries to the sharks were purely unintentional.
 

The Shark Class - An account of my expierence.

Pictures, Pictures and More Pictures!!!

Links - Other websites with pictures and info about sharks.
 

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We left from school and drove to Daytona the first day.  I got to drive one of the vans some of the way b/c the school had a copy of my driving record (which was cool or scary depending on your point of view).  There were twelve students (including myself) and two professors on the trip.  We spent the night in Daytona, which from there we drove the next morning to Ft. Lauderdale.  They couldn’t get two planes to take us, like originally planned.  So one group spent time at the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, and the other (my group) got to spend time at the beach on S. Bimini in the Bahamas.  The flight over was a little sketchy b/c we were in a nine-passenger plane (like on the TV show wings) and our pilot was busy eating his Arby’s.  It wasn’t quite what I expected.  The only thing on the S. Bimini Island is a small neighborhood, and airport, and the Bimini Biological Field Station (BBFS)(where we stayed).  The water and everything was beautiful nevertheless.

 Well b/c the second group didn’t get in till about 5:30-6:00 we ended up just having dinner and starting the lectures that evening.  Around 10:00pm we went and set out gill nets (which are meant to trap fish by their gill coverings or operculum but since sharks don’t have these they get caught when they bite the net).  We took turns going out and checking the net and various other duties that went along w/ it.  On my trip out we were checking the net and caught a baby lemon shark!  It was soo cute and cool.  That was the only thing that was caught that night, but it was definitely a fun and interesting experience.
 
The next day, the weather wasn’t what they considered great, it was about 80 but w/ really strong winds so we couldn’t go out and do anything on the water.  We had a bunch of lectures from about 9:00 am till around 4:00 PM with a quick break for lunch.  Four o’ clock is about when Mary (Dr. Crowe one of our profs) convinced Dean (Dr. Grubbs our guest lecturer) to let us go snorkeling at shell beach.  Did I mention it was really windy?  The water was clear and you could see all sorts of fishes (yes fishes b/c they were different species of fish).  We did not see any nurse sharks or rays, which is what we were looking for.  We were getting knocked around a lot b/c the water was soo rough.  Even the fish were getting tossed around!  Unfortunately we did a divers/snorkeling no-no and to get back up to the beach area we had to swim against the current, it was very tiring.   We got back, cleaned up a bit, had some more lectures and watched a movie.

The next day, Wednesday, was long enough to be a week.  This is the day that is basically causing me to write all this out in a letter instead of just calling people.  Well the wake-up call was suppose to be at 7:30 am… but it happened at 7:00am.  I was getting ready for breakfast and lecture when I overheard something about dive gear.  I asked someone what was going on and we had 2.54 m or 254 cm or …well I don’t like the standard system so you will have to convert that for yourself… TIGER SHARK on the longline (it’s a method of fishing for pelagic fishes that was specially set up to get sharks in the shallows)!!!  In any case we rushed to get ready and were out on the boat in about 15-min.  We road out there and watched as they worked up (took measurements, tagged, and got sample for DNA purposes) this shark.  After that was done they put a buoy on the tail and let it swim around.  That’s when we were allowed to “jump in” and swim w/ it.  I thought that I was going to be nervous at first, but when the time came I was one of the first people in the water.  The shark was very tired from being on the line and didn’t move around much.  It sat on the bottom which was only like 3 m below the surface.  It was soo cool.  Anyway, we then went back had a brief breakfast and started into more lectures, had lunch and then more lectures.  We did have a little break when we got to go out and work up the baby lemon shark that was caught the other day and learn more about what went into working up a shark.  We had a late dinner and right after dinner (about 9:00pm) we get word that there is a > 3m Tiger shark on the line!!!!  Well of course the whole class wanted to go out there and go swimming w/ it.  So we got our gear together and headed out there.

This part is why the day seemed to last for-ev-er.  Well b/c it was rough they had been using the big boat (Aquasport) to check the long lines and so when we got out there no one had bothered to check our gas and halfway out there we ran out.  It gave us a great opportunity to check out the stars.   Well another boat cam out and brought us gas, while the other boat, with staff members on it that was with us, went out to start to work up the shark.  Well we get the gas and the engine isn’t starting properly.  Well in between the engine noise we hear on the radio that the boat that was working up the shark went down.  Well like a miracle we got the engine into high gear and raced out there.  We were expecting them to be in the water and weren’t sure of the condition of things.  Well we found them sitting on the boat which was upside down.   Things that were lucky for the crew: they were able to grab the radio and a light so we could find them, we were already halfway out there and the boat that brought us the gas wasn’t too far behind, they were able to cut the shark free before the boat flipped (otherwise it would have been strapped to the boat) and the prop was caught in the line so they didn’t drift anywhere.  Well, as we were approaching we could see this HUGE tiger shark on the seafloor with the hook in its mouth, it seemed dead but it must have been resting b/c when we went back to see if it was all right, it had left.  The staff got on the other boat and we got a couple of people in the water to get some of the equipment and stuff.  We tried to tow the flipped boat back (which was a very slow process) and the other boat went and dropped off some of those people and came back out with even more gas for us and to try to flip the boat.  In a feat of mastery (well so I heard b/c I went back b/c I had to use the potty and they weren’t going to let us go off the side) they brought Missy (one of the staff who had worked as an emergency rescue person) out and she did this amazing thing with crossing lines and stuff and re-righted the boat and it was then easily towed back.  Well it was 3:00am and everyone was back and ready to go to sleep.

Well it was about 11:30am when everyone got up.  We had a brief lecture and then went out and dissected a very large Lemon Shark (2.7 m) which was caught on the line and passed away b/c the line wasn’t checked during the night b/c of the boat fiasco.  The dissection was very cool.  Unfortunately the shark was pregnant and did not get a chance to pup.  She had 18 young that did not survive.  Dr. Gruber (or Doc who’s head of BBFS and works for U of Miami) said that he thinks that that was the largest number on record.  It was really sad that she died along with her young b/c it was very detrimental to the lemon shark population.  After that we were suppose to go out and seine (which is done by dragging a large net along the bottom of the water by hand, dragging it up on the beach and seeing what you got) in this area of the North Sound.  Unfortunately it was too shallow b/c they are building a resort up there on the N. Islands which is causing large sediment deposits in the sound making it shallower then normal.  We did get to get out and push the boat out of the shallows.  When we got back we got two more lectures followed by dinner and some more lectures and then a movie.  We got out of the movie close to midnight, and I was glad to get back into bed then.

The last day, Friday, was a very busy and long day.  It started out with a quick lecture.  Then we went on the traditional shark dive.  There were a couple of sharks in the water when we got there.  Once again I was one of the first to jump in.  We held onto a line while they chummed the water (put bait w/ large chunks of fish in it).  There were a lot of large Caribbean Reef Sharks and a few Blacknose sharks.   There were at least 20 to 30 sharks swimming in the water with us!!!  After the chumming stopped we were allowed to swim around with them.  Most of them left the area when the food left…some stuck around.  I got so close to them.  It was soo cool, I only got a little nervous when I felt that I was a little close and worried that I wouldn’t be able to kick them off in time (you kick with your flipper and that normally deters the shark)  but nothing happened.  I can’t wait to see those pictures.   After that dive we went to another area which was a shipwreck.  We were looking for rays but didn’t find any.  It was really cool to see all of the different invertebrates and fishes living around the boat.  It was a beautiful site.  When we came back we had lunch and a quick study session and then took our test.  After the test we walked down to shell beach for some swimming, beach combing or snorkeling (if you were still up for that after the two dives we did earlier).  Afterwards we all, staff and students, got dressed up and went to North Bimini for dinner.   It was a great little place with lots of charm and we followed it up with lots of fun and dancing at one of the local bars.  It was nice to relax and have fun.

The leaving day, Saturday, considered mostly of cleaning up the BBFS, saying good-byes and taking another thrilling plane ride.  Well from there we loaded up on the vans and drove the 10 or so hours back to school.  I was real happy to spend a night in my own bed.