The rolling, unsteady deck doesn’t seem to bother the scientist, standing there at the edge of the ship’s outer deck. Behind him, students who haven’t found their sea legs stumble every which way, but he remains focused on studying the fishing line that plunges into the depths. His eyes scan back and forth, back and forth, then suddenly, pause. “There’s a shark on the line,” Jack Morris says, and the marine biologist’s words sets off a cheer and a scramble to action.
Researchers and students from the New College of Florida, Eckerd College and Mote Marine Laboratory spent a week aboard the Florida Institute of Oceanography’s research vessel, the R/V Bellows, catching, tagging and releasing a variety of shark species along the coast of Florida.
Additionally, a Sarasota-Herald Tribune video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
And… a WGCU audio/video clip of an interview with researchers: http://news.wgcu.org/post/shark-study-tracks-tags-species-assess-gulf-health