Eat, prey, love: Nurse shark mating and Northeast angler conflicts offer conservation insights
Now, two new studies led by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst peer into these important aspects of shark biology to help guide real-world conservation strategies.
Now, two new studies led by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst peer into these important aspects of shark biology to help guide real-world conservation strategies.
The short version
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- Together, the papers will help efforts to protect critical breeding grounds and better educate anglers to sustain recovering marine populations.
- Which is why, when lead author Grace Casselberry, a postdoctoral researcher at UMass Amherst, got a tip that nurse sharks were mating in the shallow waters off Windlass Bight in the Virgin Islands' Anegada, she was excited.
What happened
"The only other place in the world where similar numbers of mating nurse sharks have been recorded is in the Dry Tortugas," she says. "There's something quite special about this particular location." It turns out that nurse sharks prefer to mate in the shallows near shore.
Why it matters
"Knee-deep is the sweet spot," says Casselberry, "and it's all happening in an area about 150 meters (490 feet) long, which means that the spot is sensitive to human disruption.
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