Satellite tagging endangered sharks and delineating shark nursery areas inside The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary Cruise

Report.

DEMIAN D. CHAPMAN (PH.D.), MARK E. BOND, School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, Stony Brook University. TREVOR BACON, Moore Charitable Foundation.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Commonwealth of The Bahamas recently enacted legislation that prohibits commercial trade in sharks throughout the countrys Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). At a total size of 629,293 square kilometers The Bahamas is now the single largest sanctuary for these imperiled apex predators anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary research cruise was conducted from May 4- June 12, 2013 and visited five major islands (Cat, Nassau, Andros, Berry and Grand Bahama). Nearly 100 sharks were tagged as part of the cruise, about a quarter of them with transmitters that enable us to track their movements remotely. Twenty four oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) and one blue shark (Prionace glauca) were fitted with pop-off satellite archival tags (PSAT) off Cat Island between May 4 and May 17. TV, radio, print and internet media outreach activities were conducted between May 19-25 in Nassau, educating a very large Bahamian audience about The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary and shark biology and conservation. Andros, the largest and one of the least populated Bahamian Islands, was surveyed from May 26-June 2. We observed but were unable to catch a critically endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), confirming that the species still occurs at Andros. We documented the presence of juvenile lemon (Negaprion brevirostris), blacktip (Carcharhinus limbatus) and bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) off Andros, suggesting the island serves as a nursery area for these species. We also observed large aggregations of mating nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and located an aggregation of juvenile silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis). The Berry Islands were surveyed from June 2-June 9, yielding evidence of lemon shark nursery areas. Finally, Grand Bahama Island was surveyed from June 10-12. We found evidence of lemon, blacktip and bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) nursery areas on this island. Overall, we found sharks and shark nursery areas to be common and widespread in The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary and we tagged enough critically endangered oceanic whitetips to conduct a comprehensive analysis of their movement patterns. We are now positioned to produce peer-reviewed publications on the following subjects: (1) Migrations and breeding areas for oceanic whitetip sharks in the Western Atlantic (projected date of submission June 2014), (2) Diving behavior of oceanic whitetip sharks (projected date of submission December 2013) and (3) Homing sharks: local population structure of lemon sharks based on genomic analysis (projected submission date March 2014). We will also make a detailed presentation to The Bahamas Department of Fisheries by the end of 2013 in which we will disclose the locations of potential shark nursery areas around the islands we surveyed.

PROJECT RATIONALE & OBJECTIVES

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas recently enacted legislation that prohibits commercial trade in sharks throughout the countrys Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). At a total size of 629,293 square kilometers The Bahamas is now the single largest sanctuary for these imperiled apex predators anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The effectiveness of The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary will hinge largely on whether or not individual sharks spend significant amounts of time within its boundaries. Movement outside of these protected waters will expose them to potential capture in ongoing shark fisheries operating on the high seas or the EEZs of other nations. Another key factor in determining the success of The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary will be the availability of nursery habitat for sharks to breed within its borders. The final ingredient for success will be education of the general public and regulatory agencies about the sanctuary, so that it enjoys broad public support and is effectively enforced. We propose a research and educational expedition within The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary that would bring these elements together. Our overarching goal was three-fold: (1) to use pop-off satellite archival tags (PSATs) to track the movements of three species of endangered sharks and sawfish (a close relative of sharks) in relation to sanctuary boundaries; (2) survey shark nurseries to delineate important breeding habitat in the sanctuary; (3) raise awareness among the general public and key regulatory agency (Department of Fisheries) about the sanctuary and endangered sharks of The Bahamas.

CRUISE MAP

Figure 1: Red triangles locate stations visited during The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary research cruise 2013 (May 4-June 12).

CRUISE RESULTS

Objective 1: Satellite tagging sharks (oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus, and great hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini) and smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata). The oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, is among the most threatened of all of the large epipelagic sharks. They are a large-bodied species, maturing at lengths of 170-190 cm1. Very little is known about their reproduction1, but they have a delayed maturation, relatively slow growth, long gestation time and infrequent breeding. This makes them keenly vulnerable to overfishing. Oceanic whitetips have declined precipitously in the Northwest Atlantic and Pacific basins, due largely to excessive longline landings2,3. The fins of oceanic whitetips are highly valued in Asia and made up 1.6-2.1% of the global shark fin trade in 20004. They are currently listed as Critically Endangered in the Northwest Atlantic and Vulnerable globally by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. There is growing international interest in oceanic whitetip conservation, including a recent listing under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and efforts to reduce the catch of this species by regional fisheries management organizations (e.g., the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna; ICCAT). Many of these efforts are limited by a lack of scientific information on the species. Oceanic whitetips have a circumtropical, pelagic distribution but very little is known about their migration patterns1. It is not known if they routinely move long distances throughout entire ocean basins or spend substantial periods within the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of particular countries. This is important in the Atlantic, as some countries operate extensive longline fleets while others have banned longlines altogether. The safest place for oceanic whitetips in the North Atlantic is likely the EEZ of The Bahamas, because longline fishing was prohibited there in the mid-1990s and commercial harvesting of all sharks was recently banned by the creation of a nationwide Shark Sanctuary. There is a clear need to investigate the movements and habitat use of oceanic whitetips in the Atlantic in relation to relatively protected areas, such as The Bahamas, and potential threats. Pop-off satellite archival stags (PSATs Microwave Telemetry, Maryland) have proven to be a valuable tool for obtaining conservation-relevant data on the shark movements and habitat use 5,6 . PSATs are externally attached to individuals and collect information on light, temperature and depth during this deployment. They are pre-programmed to detach from the shark at a specified time (usually a few months to a year), at which time they pop off and float to the surface, where they transmit data summaries to the ARGOS satellite system. The pop-off location provides an end point to the track, akin to a conventional tag recapture. Light levels recorded during the deployment can be used to reconstruct a track of the animal over time. In 2011 and 2012, our research team fitted 41 oceanic whitetips with PSATs off Cat Island in the Bahamas, with the goal of learning more about how much time they spend within The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary. Results from the first 12 tags applied to adult females show that some individuals spend nearly the entire year in the sanctuary where others move long distances over

several months before eventually returning after ~ 3 months. One third of the tagged sharks moved north to an area between Cape Hatteras, NC, and Bermuda. Another third moved to an area north of Puerto Rico. The goal of the 2013 cruise was to fit adult males and females known to be gravid or non-gravid (based on an ultrasound examination or blood test) with PSATs as a means to delineate the species mating and pupping areas in the Atlantic. We reason that gravid females will migrate to the pupping areas, while non-gravid females and males will migrate to the mating areas. In 2013 at Cat Island we fit 24 oceanic whitetips with PSATs and 6 more were captured and fit with ID tags. Four adult males, 2 gravid and 2 non-gravid females were among those fitted with PSATs. All other PSAT sharks were adult females and blood tests are being carried out to determine their reproductive status. Notably, the PSAT applied on this expedition brings us to 65 total, making this the third largest PSAT study for a marine animal in history. The PSATs are set to detach from the sharks anytime from August 2013 through to April 2014. During fishing operations for oceanic whitetips we also tagged Caribbean reef Carcharhinus perezi (N=2), tiger Galeocerdo cuiver (N=1), blue Prionace glauca (N=1, including a PSAT) and silky (N=1) sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) and observed many more, including the only great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) observed during the cruise. Three oceanic whitetips were also fitted with accelerometer tags to study their short-term movements and hunting behavior. One of these tags was recovered after a 4 day deployment and revealed the depth, swimming speed and orientation of the shark every 5 seconds during the track. Analysis of the recovered data is ongoing but there were several instances of vertical burst swimming by the shark (i.e., launching itself upward in the water column from depth). This is likely to be related to feeding, suggesting that these tags could provide useful information on the hunting behavior of oceanic whitetips. At Andros we attempted to fit smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) with Smart Position Or Temperature Transmitting (SPOT) tags to enable almost real-time position and temperature data to be transmitted to the Argos satellite whenever the tag breaks the surface of the water. Based on what we know about the sawfishs movements and the type of habitat they inhabit the SPOT tag was thought to be a useful tag to apply to them to help in delineating their movement patterns. To locate sawfish, searches were conducted with 2 boats moving in a grid like pattern parallel to one another, covering the shallow sand flat adjacent to the west coast of Andros. Additionally aerial observation support was provided with the Flamingo Cay helicopter. One smalltooth sawfish was located at Andros (24.43016 N; -78.23705W), however it evaded capture by accessing water too shallow for the boats to follow. Estimated to be 2.45m (8ft) in length this was still an interesting finding. Previous attempts to locate the smalltooth sawfish at this time of year have failed and due to their extremely low numbers in The Bahamas even observational data is valuable. Interviews with some of the local bonefishing guides indicate the smalltooth sawfish are more common in March/April around Andros and our collaborators at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are planning a new expedition to this site in 2014 to complete this objective.

At all of the sites we chummed and fished in an attempt to locate, capture and apply a PSAT to endangered great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran). We did sight one individual at Cat Island, unfortunately it only approached the boat briefly and was not captured. Despite failing to PSAT any of these sharks we developed connections at Bimini that will enable us to tag these sharks in 2014.
0
Depth (m) Speed (m/s) Temp (deg.)

40
80 120 160 4

3
2 1

32 30 28 26 24 22

13:20 2013/05/10

13:40
Time

14:00

14:20

Figure 2: A vertical speed burst in oceanic whitetip carrying an accelerometer tag. At 13:46 the shark, which was cruising slowly (< 1-2 m/second) at a depth of 80-160 m, suddenly accelerates to > 4 m/sec and rushes vertically towards the surface.

Objective 2: Identifying habitat for juvenile sharks in The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary

Based on previous knowledge of the area and our understanding of what constitutes suitable nursery habitat for sharks we set out to capture juvenile sharks at Andros, Berry and Grand Bahama islands using custom shark-friendly longlines and rod and reel. Once hooked, the shark was secured alongside the vessel while still in the water via a tail-rope. The data taken included three body length measurements, a fin-clip to provide DNA and the sharks sex. The shark was then fitted with a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) dart-tag to assist in a regional mark-recapture study, the entire hook was removed and the shark was released.

Figure 3: Shark sightings (right) and captures (left) off Andros Island. Circles in right panel indicate sightings of sharks color-coded by species (see inset key). Circles in left panel are colorcoded according to species and sized proportionately to the number of individuals sampled at that location. The red star in the right panel shows the location where a lemon shark was fitted with a PSAT tag. Andros: Juvenile lemon sharks were common around Andros (Figure 3, Table 1). Twenty-six individuals were captured and tagged, including two newborns (neonates). Other species that were captured around Andros included two mature Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) and a mature female blacktip (Carcharhinus limbatus). Two juvenile silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) were caught further offshore. This species is listed as Vulnerable in the region (IUCN Red List) and could warrant additional protection in the near future. We also observed a juvenile bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), suggesting this species may breed at Andros as well. Mating nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) pairs were also observed throughout western Andros indicating this island serves as a mating ground for this species (Figure 3).

Table 1. Neonate Juvenile Subadult

Male Female 0 2 12 6 2 4

Table 1: Lemon sharks captured at Andros by life stage and sex. The Berry Islands: A total of 17 lemon sharks (Table 2) were caught at the Berry Islands including two neonates (Figure 4). Sightings of juvenile lemon sharks throughout the islands suggest it is a nursery area for this species similar to Andros (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Lemon sharks sighted (left) and captured (right) in the Berry islands. Table 2. Neonate Juvenile Subadult Adult Male 1 4 2 1 Female 1 2 3 0

Table 2: Lemon sharks captured at Berry Islands by life stage and sex. Grand Bahama: Grand Bahama was the most densely populated island we visited on the cruise. Nonetheless, juvenile sharks are common on the flats we surveyed on the northeast coast of the island (Figure 5, Table 3). Juvenile lemon, blacktip and bonnethead sharks were all sighted and captured at this site (Figure 5). The recreational dive site known as Tiger Beach was also
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surveyed and we observed at least 13 individual adult female lemon sharks and two tiger sharks (Figure 5).

Lemon Juvenile Subadult Adult

Male

Female 3 1 1 1 0 1

Table 3: Lemon sharks captured at Grand Bahama by life stage and sex.

Figure 5: Sightings and captures (inset) of sharks around Grand Bahama Island. Circles are color-coded by species. Numbers adjacent to circles indicate the number of individuals of that species seen at the location at one time.

Objective 3: Conduct outreach activities aimed at educating Bahamians about The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary and sharks in general.

Participation of Bahamians in Cat Island research cruise: Two BESS scholars (Jesse Courtemarche, Christina Roberts) joined us in the field in Cat Island during the first two weeks of the cruise. Both of them assisted directly in research activities and were educated about The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary and shark biology (Figure 6). BREEF event at Stuart Coves: In conjunction with Stuart Coves and BREEF, Demian Chapman, Amy Abercrombie, Christina Roberts (BESS scholar) and Mark Bond presented information on sharks and the Shark Sanctuary to 35 Bahamian high school students and took them on an afternoon snorkeling trip with reef fish and Caribbean reef sharks. This was a full day event that included local media. Island FM Radio Interview: The Morning Boil show (Demian Chapman and BREEF). This featured a 20-minute segment in prime time covering the significance of The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary as well as talking about the objectives and initial results of the cruise. Guardian Radio Interview: The morning show with Dwight Strachan (Mark Bond and BREEF). This interview covered why sharks and shark conservation are important, goals of the expedition and Bahamian involvement in the work. Bahamas@Sunrise TV Interview: This was a 10-minute segment on same topics as above (Mark Bond and BREEF). Print and web-based media coverage: Bahamas Weekly http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/community/Bahamian_students_participate_in_Shar k_Research_Expedition28407.shtml The Nassau Guardian http://www.thenassauguardian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39506:aonce-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-&catid=36:education&Itemid=57 BREEF staff use the presentation materials we developed during the course at teacher training workshop. Most recently they did this in San Salvador (July 2013). Other: In conjunction with efforts to reach Bahamians we also strived to provide information about the cruise to a broader audience. This information was disseminated in a blog format through the websites of Stony Brook Universitys School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (SoMAS) and internationally recognized marine conservation author Carl Safinas Blue Ocean Institute (BOI). SoMAS: http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/research/highlights/Chapman/index.html

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Carl Safinas BOI: http://blueocean.org/2013/05/heads-up/?shared=email&msg=fail

Future outreach: We will make a detailed presentation to The Bahamas Department of Fisheries, Department of Marine Resources and Department of Environment in November 2013. In these meetings we will disclose the locations of potential shark nursery areas around the islands we surveyed as well as bringing them up-to-date on our satellite tagging efforts. We will stress the finding that many threatened and endangered sharks are flourishing in The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary, validating their continued support for this approach and to persuade them to support

Figure 6: BESS scholar Jesse Courtemarche helping tag an oceanic whitetip at Cat Island.

efforts to develop similar legislation in other countries in the region.

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Publication plan Results gathered during The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary cruise will be disseminated in peerreviewed scientific papers, accompanied by media releases. Key papers are listed below: Migrations and breeding areas for oceanic whitetip sharks in the Western Atlantic (projected date of submission June 2014). This paper will be based on all PSAT deployments made from 2011-2013 and will delineate the movement patterns and infer the location of mating and pupping areas inside and outside The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary. Diving behavior of oceanic whitetip sharks (projected date of submission December 2013). This paper will use the combined PSAT and accelerometer data to elucidate the vertical migrations, depth range and infer hunting behavior in oceanic whitetips. Local population structure of lemon sharks based on genomic analysis (projected submission date March 2014). This paper will use genetic information collected during the cruise and an existing database that belongs to the Chapman laboratory to resolve the population structure of lemon sharks in the western Atlantic ocean. Our main question is whether or not The Bahamas and perhaps each of its islands harbors a distinct lemon shark population. We will also use genetic data to estimate the relative sizes of the breeding population at each of the islands we visited. Collaborators: In conjunction with The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University and the Moore Charitable Foundation, The Cape Eleuthera Institute and Microwave Telemetry also provided technical and logistical support throughout the cruise. References
1

Castro, JI. 2011. The Sharks of North American Waters. Oxford University Press, New York, USA.
2

Baum JK, Myers RA. 2004. Shifting baselines and the decline of pelagic sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. Ecology Letters 7: 135145.
3

Walsh WA, Clarke SC. 2011. Analyses of Catch Data for Oceanic Whitetip and Silky Sharks reported by Fishery Observers in the Hawaii-based Longline Fishery in 19952010. WCPFCSC7-2011/EB-WP-03.
4

Clarke SC, et al. 2006. Identification of shark species composition and proportion in the Hong Kong shark fin market using molecular genetics and trade records. Conservation Biology 20: 201-211.
5

Bonfil R, et al. 2005. Transoceanic migration, spatial dynamics, and population linkages of white sharks. Science 310 (5745): 100-103.
6

Chapman DD, et al. 2007. Deep-diving and diel changes in vertical habitat use by Caribbean reef sharks, Carcharhinus perezi. Marine Ecology Progress Series 344: 271275.

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Howey-Jordan L, et al. 2013Complex movements, philopatry and expanded depth range of a severely threatened pelagic shark, the oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) in the western North Atlantic. PloS one, 8(2), e56588.

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