A Closer Look At Nurse Sharks

We have recently been working with shark organisations around the South Florida area to see what they do to help spread a positive message about shark conservation. Whether it's shark diving, educational projects, photography, we have seen what they do first hand. This post is focused on one of the projects we really thought was a great initiative to help educate the public about sharks and further diminish the misunderstanding and horrible reputation that sharks have.

22nd February 2014, we visited the marine park Theater Of The Sea. Since early 2013 they have been offering a close up encounter with the beautiful Nurse Sharks that are local to the Florida area. The chance to see sharks up close, touch them (respectfully) and swim with them, we thought was a great idea, albeit it is in captivity, but this is not an aquarium. Theater Of The Sea's shark programme is definitely a good idea/tool to help educate the public about sharks!

Our liaison for the day way Lacey Russell, she has been working with these sharks for 2 years. We started off with a talk about the handling of the sharks, their management within the park and how the programme has been going since it started. We were pleased to hear that the sharks are very popular and people have shown keen interest and want to be in the water with them and see them up close.

Dentricles (Skin) of a Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)

So once orienteering was over, it was time to get in the water!

The water is brought in straight from the Atlantic ocean, with a pump system that circulates the water. There are also natural surroundings such as mangroves and other plant life so the sharks are in an environment, built based on their natural habitat. They have been trained to learn certain things, feeding, recall, but apart from this, their behaviour was similar to the way they are in the wild. The were very shy and hesitant at first, but as the day went on, they became more and more confident.

Susana (left) & Alex (right) carefully holding Mabel & Coco

We gently walked into the water, careful not to distress the sharks and sat down on a submerged bench, where the feeding takes place. We were introduced to the 5 sharks they have here and one by one, got to meet them individually. We held them correctly, had them swimming around us and fed them some of their favourite diet. Squid.

Coco, the largest male has definitely made it known he is the dominant shark there. He was the most confident and energetic and put himself first in line to be fed. Each shark is specifically fed with their individual requirements and favourite foods. Maintaining the natural amount they would consume daily to keep them in the best health possible.

It was very clear the sharks are well looked after and it was a pleasure to see the sharks behaving so closely to how they would in the wild. If they didn't want to be held, fed or handled they can swim away and move around as they want, with no intervention.

We would never condone touching a shark in the wild, but in this well formed and controlled environment, with the passionate shark team they have, we definitely left feeling that they are doing something worthwhile for sharks at Theater Of The Sea. Children and adults can really learn about nurse sharks and through them, realise sharks are not mindless killing machines. They are incredibly complex, instinctive animals that given the opportunity can show you the truth, each species is so different from each other and they are all incredible, placid and misunderstood animals that deserve a positive reputation and continued protection.

Why Sharks? (Part 3 of 3)

Now, after my recent posts I feel I need to persuade (some of..) you somewhat. There is a reason people make such a fuss about sharks, because they serve an important role in the ecosystem, and actually, in all of our lives. Let me at least try to explain :)

Sharks are known as ‘keystone species’ because if they are removed, this can cause an ecosystem collapse with very damaging consequences. This applies to all species. Many predatory sharks sit at the top of the food chain, effectively managing ecosystems by helping to maintain the population numbers of species they feed on, in particular secondary predators, such as tuna. This is because unlike sharks, they have the potential to repopulate quickly. In the absence of shark predation, there are more animals that need food, and prey species populations decline quickly. In effect, these secondary predators then starve, leaving the ocean relatively empty.

Filter feeding sharks such as the basking shark, feed on small organisms called plankton. These can be either animal (zooplankton) or plant (phytoplankton). Swimming with their mouths agape, they filter small organisms from the water through their gills.  Detrivores such as the cookie cutter shark feed exclusively on dead matter and waste that sinks to the ocean floor, and play a vital role in recycling nutrients so nothing is wasted. For more information about their roles, please visit our ‘Roles in Ecosystems’ Shark File. Again, all animals fill a certain niche within an ecosystem, but as keystone species within the most vital ecosystem on this planet, it must be said, we NEED sharks.

Copyright Rob Allen Photography: A whale shark, one of the filter feeding sharks, also a good choice for eco-tourism dives (keep reading!)

Now if you think about it we might rely on the same fish that live in the sharks environment, and so we rely on them to maintain populations, that is if we haven’t already over-exploited them ourselves already. Particularly in coastal communities, if the fish disappear, fishermen lose their jobs, people begin to starve, recreational divers don’t want to pay to go see an empty ocean, tour companies then lose out etc., you get the picture..

And tourism is an important factor worth highlighting. It is believed that because of what has been dubbed ‘eco tourism’, so for example snorkeling with whale sharks or cage diving with great whites (as long as it actually aims to benefit the conservation efforts for the species in question, which sadly, it often doesn't), sharks can be worth more alive than dead! This incentive could potentially be used to turn the whole shark finning industry around, if done properly.

Back to our dependence on the ocean.. You may not realize especially if you live inland, that you rely on the ocean so much, but even if you eat farmed animals they are mainly fed on fish. Ice cream is made with a type of seaweed and probably most of the toiletries you use in everyday life have ingredients derived from the ocean. We are more dependent on it than we can probably ever imagine.. And sharks are essential to the oceans health. Sorry to have to go all hippie-fied, but we are still part of the ‘web of life’ and our actions can quite easily tear large, unnecessary holes in it.

The sad fact is we are currently a sharks worst enemy, but they NEED us too. On a brighter note it is possible for us to turn the tables and become their best friends! If we concentrate on what we could gain from having sharks around; without causing them harm, ruining the oceans and inevitably putting our own livelihoods at risk; then we could save them. For the benefit of us all!