Since 1972, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium has made significant investments in regional fisheries research. This funding has advanced our understanding of fish and fisheries across the Gulf.
However, as any researcher would tell you, good research projects often raise as many new questions as they answer. Unfortunately, traditional funding agencies are typically unable to fund all the high-quality proposals they receive.
Increasingly, researchers are turning to local businesses for assistance. These innovative, community-based partnerships have helped MASGC researchers better understand the movements and migrations of some of the Gulf’s most iconic shark species.
Aquariums like Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas, and Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport, Mississippi, have purchased satellite tags that have been used to track tiger sharks, scalloped hammerheads and great hammerheads. In addition, Chandeleur Island Brewing Company has developed and released “Shark Tracker” in support of the MASGC great hammerhead tagging project.
Preliminary findings from these partnerships have revealed new insights. Tags applied to 56 tiger sharks have helped identify core areas of habitat use, such as shelf-edge banks. Tracks from 33 scalloped hammerheads indicate that females are using deeper waters near the continental shelf compared to males. Our tagging efforts for great hammerheads are ongoing, but early data suggest these animals primarily rely on shallow water habitats.
Much has changed along the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama since 1972, including the public’s perception of sharks. In general, a pervasive sense of fear has been replaced by an understanding of the importance of these species to a healthy coastal ecosystem.
This shift in perception can be attributed in part to the community-based partnerships that support these studies. We thank the environmental stewards at the Moody Gardens Aquarium, Mississippi Aquarium and the Chandeleur Island Brewing Company for their continued investment in this research!
Meet the author
(J.) Marcus Drymon, Ph.D.
Marine Fisheries Extension Lead
Marcus is a marine fisheries ecologist, and his research interests are in applied fisheries ecology. The bulk of his research has focused on coastal sharks. He works on many commercially and... Read more
Phone: 228-546-1028
Email: marcus.drymon@msstate.edu