The Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University has recently returned from an expedition to Isla Mujeres, Mexico to tag and track Shortfin mako sharks. The team tagged 12 mako sharks with satellite tags that allow researchers to follow these animals in near-real time, making this the most successful expedition in the six year history of the study!
Known for their acrobatic fights and with meat considered table fare, captured mako sharks are kept by both commercial and recreational fishermen. It is estimated that upwards of 100 million sharks of different species are killed every year, an unsustainable rate for the long lived, slow to reproduce animals. The information learned from these tagging studies provide crucial information about the migration patterns of these wide-ranging animals. Determining where these sharks live is vital to proper management of this species.
Videographers were also able to get into the water with these apex predators to get some incredible underwater footage of free swimming makos. This footage will be used in Guy’s upcoming educational documentary “Mako Shark Evolutions”.