See a Shark Tagging Expedition with the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

While it is impossible to tell from Long Island’s sandy beaches, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean are home to a wide variety of shark species, which makes it the perfect place to study and research these amazing creatures.

Stony Brook University Visual Storyteller Dennis Murray accompanied PhD candidates and researchers from the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) as they located and tagged several different sharks in the New York Bight off the coast of Fire Island. The work was part of ongoing research done by the laboratories of Professor Michael Frisk and Assistant Professor Oliver Shipley.

“We’re trying to really understand all of the species that we’re researching and understand, why are they here, why are they utilizing this habitat,” said Michael Fogg, research technician in the Frisk Laboratory. “We actually really don’t know that much about sharks here in Long Island.”

The team takes samples from sharks and places acoustic tags that track the sharks’ location and activity. They also perform analysis of their diet and habitat use.

“We’re just learning a lot about them, which is important for their management as a species and keeping their populations healthy,” said PhD student Ashley Wechsler.

For more information about the research being done at SoMAS, visit the school’s website.