We Welcome Your Support. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A RESEARCHER TO BECOME PART OF AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE FOR NATURE Email guardians@nova.edu to find out how you can direct your support and become one of NSU’s Guardians of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape. Become a Guard•i•an Gärdeən/ noun 1. a defender, protector, or keeper 8 SATELLITE TELEMETRY Studying the movements and migration of various fish species form the backbone of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape project. Scientists track animals to gain a detailed understanding of the timing of their movements, where they go, and why they often move enormous distances. The invention of small satellite communicating tracking instruments, essentially waterproof computers that can be attached to fish—including large migratory species such as marlins, sailfish, and sharks—is allowing an unprecedented look into their previously hidden lives. These rapidly declining species don’t belong to any one country— they move across national boundaries. Illuminating their movements and seasonal migratory patterns is essential for developing collaborative, international efforts to help their populations recover. FITNESS TRACKING FOR FISH Speaking of recovery, the team most recently studied how long it takes for blue marlin and sailfish DOWNIN THE TROPICS to recover after being caught and released by sport fishermen. As Ryan Logan, an NSU research associate and the lead author of the study, noted for Outdoor Life, “For the angler, a billfish fight consists of a fast-paced, high-energy battle of wills that hopefully culminates with a leader grab and a safe release of the fish, some high fives, rehydration, and resetting the spread for the next one. For the fish, on the other hand, this is a fight for its life using a tremendous amount of energy. It was those high-speed runs and aerial acrobatics that made me wonder: How long does it take them to physically recover from that fight after being released?” Newly designed tags equipped with an acceleration data logger provided an answer. The sailfish that were caught, tagged, and released recovered in about five hours, while the larger blue marlins required about nine hours. You can read the entire Outdoor Life article here. o CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Satellite tag tracking of 40 silky sharks shows long-distance migrations well outside protected zones; two sharks captured as of August 2022.
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