By Kellie Britch, College of Arts and Sciences
USF undergrad Erica Molnar (left) fitting a blacknose shark with a uniquely numbered acoustic dart tag near the base of their dorsal fins. (Photo courtesy of Chase McGuire)
Students from the University of South Florida’s Fish Biology Lab teamed up with graduate
students from Florida Atlantic University’s Elasmo Lab to embark on an educational
cruise across Tampa Bay, where they gained hands-on experience collecting, identifying
and tagging sharks and performing other biological survey methods.
“Our 2025 shark tagging education and research cruise was a joint effort with USF,
FAU and the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) aboard an FIO research vessel
operating out of Bayboro Harbor in St Petersburg,” explained Chase McGuire, a doctoral student in the Department of Integrative Biology and the trip’s main USF collaborator. “The data collected from this project will
inform researchers on the relative abundance of large coastal shark species traversing
the southwest Florida waters to study their life histories, essential habitats and
overall status of shark stocks.”
The vessel, which set out Oct. 10-13, steamed past Egmont Key where the students and
researchers set out drum lines and long lines baited with large chunks of bonita,
an oily fish that is great for attracting large predatory species. While they waited
for larger fish and sharks to find the bait, they dragged a trawl net in the surrounding
waters to survey some of the smaller sharks and fish species that inhabit the area.
“All sharks were identified, measured and documented with their location of capture
while the larger sharks (over 1 meter in length) were also fitted with a uniquely
numbered acoustic dart tag near the base of their dorsal fins,” said McGuire. “These
tags will transmit their unique identification number whenever they are in the vicinity
of acoustic receivers that have been strategically placed throughout the Gulf, Caribbean
and Atlantic regions to track their location over time. Dr. Kajiura and his team will
then use this information to piece together the migration patterns of the tagged sharks.”
All sharks were identified, measured and documented with their location of capture before being released. (Photo courtesy of Chase McGuire)
In all, they tagged 12 sharks.
“My personal highlight was being able to tag a blacknose shark myself,” said Erica
Molnar, an undergraduate student from USF’s Department of Integrative Biology. “Seeing
the joy on students' faces over the course of the trip was something that was unforgettable
and will stay with all of us for a lifetime. Everyone had a great time applying their
knowledge to the real world and getting involved in hands-on research that will provide
long-term benefits both to education and to ongoing projects.”
With the overwhelming success of this trip, McGuire and the Department of Integrative
Biology are looking for funding to make this program a regular part of the Fish Biology
Lab.
“There is simply no replacement for hands-on experience working with the animals and
collection methods they're learning about in the lecture portions of these courses,”
said McGuire. “None of this could have been possible without the guidance of Dr. Philip
Motta, Dr. Stephen Kajiura, my advisor, Dr. Brad Gemmell, as well as the support we
received from Florida Atlantic University, The Florida Institute of Oceanography and
the Department of Integrative Biology here at USF's College of Arts and Sciences.”
Support the Department of Integrative Biology and future tagging efforts.