Shark Research
Shark Research
As a shark sanctuary, The Bahamas offers a unique setting to study shark conservation beyond the impacts of commercial fishing. In the absence of fishing-related stressors and unnatural mortality, this environment provides an opportunity to better understand other anthropogenic and environmental stressors, potentially establishing baseline data that could inform mitigation strategies in The Bahamas and serve as a comparative framework for other regions.
Currently, our research focuses on how provisioning—commonly known as food- or feeding-based activities for ecotourism—influences shark behavior while expanding to a new focus on shark reproductive ecology. Because shark tourism is a significant economic driver in The Bahamas, and effective conservation requires a detailed understanding of how these animals reproduce, this work aims to provide empirical data to inform best practices that balance conservation, safety, and sustainable tourism.
Local Feed Trials with Caribbean Reef Sharks
Local feed trials with Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) are continuing in the data-collection phase and are now about 70% complete. These trials focus on a species frequently encountered by recreational divers and snorkelers throughout the Bahamian archipelago. In a local context, this component allows our researchers to examine shark responses under conditions more representative of community-based tourism operations. These trials evaluate how bait attraction methods shape shark behavior, building a dataset to guide best practices in a continually growing tourism sector.
Shark Reproductive Ecology
The program’s second major focus is shark reproductive ecology. Important questions remain about when sharks mate, how frequently females reproduce, and which habitats support mating, pregnancy, and pupping. To address these gaps, our research team is developing reproductive profiles for nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi). To date, the team has analyzed data from 36 nurse sharks and 18 Caribbean reef sharks. The team analyzes blood samples for testosterone, progesterone, and estradiol, hormones associated with reproductive development and activity.
Caribbean reef sharks are slow-growing and late-maturing, with small litters and long reproductive intervals. These characteristics limit how quickly populations can recover from disturbance, yet relatively little is known about their reproductive cycle in The Bahamas. Standardized drumline surveys allow the team to sample large, potentially mature sharks that would otherwise be difficult to assess. The team quickly measures, examines, tags (when appropriate), and samples each shark before releasing it. Repeated surveys throughout the year will help determine whether changes in hormone concentrations correspond with mating evidence, pregnancy, and other stages of the reproductive cycle.
Nurse sharks provide a complementary opportunity to study reproduction. During summer, adults gather in shallow creeks and coastal habitats around South Eleuthera. In 2026, the program resumed surveys of these mating aggregations using drones, direct observations, and targeted captures. Drone footage allows researchers to document shark abundance, distribution, interactions, and mating behavior with minimal disturbance. The team also uses specialized shallow-water capture techniques designed to reduce stress and protect animal welfare. Together, drones, hormone analysis, ultrasound, and tagging help determine when mating occurs, whether females are pregnant, and whether the same individuals return to particular creeks over time.
Although The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary protects nurse and Caribbean reef sharks from targeted fishing, species protection does not automatically safeguard every habitat they utilize. Development, vessel activity, declining water quality, and other disturbances may still affect mating and nursery areas, like shallow coastal creeks. Documenting repeated use of these sites provides evidence to guide continued monitoring and future habitat protection. Donor and partner support sustains this seasonal sampling, laboratory analysis, student training, and long-term monitoring, helping ensure that shark conservation, research, and tourism in The Bahamas remain guided by strong science, high standards of animal welfare, and a lasting commitment to the country’s marine resources.
Future Research
The mangrove-lined tidal creeks of South Eleuthera, which are important for nurse shark reproduction, also serve as nursery habitats for juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris). Because juvenile lemon sharks depend on these shallow coastal environments, they can be especially sensitive to habitat loss, declining water quality, and nearby development. Understanding which nurseries support healthy young sharks, and why, can help guide the protection and restoration of these critical habitats. In partnership with Sharks4Kids, Project Lemon Aid 242 will focus on these young sharks during a particularly vulnerable stage of their lives, examining their kinship, growth, survival, movement, health, and use of nursery habitats. The project combines genetic analyses with acoustic telemetry to highlight relatedness between individuals and reconstruct their movement patterns. A key component of this work is engaging students through hands-on experiences that immerse them directly in the science and carry what they are learning in the classroom into these ecosystems.
The program also plans to expand its work on the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus), now listed as Critically Endangered, for which The Bahamas shark sanctuary remains one of the last global refuges. Planned pelagic baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) will assess oceanic whitetip relative abundance throughout their known range in The Bahamas, establishing a fisheries-independent baseline for long-term monitoring. In parallel, opportunistic tagging in the Exuma Sound will use satellite tags to track the movements, depth use, and residency of sharks encountered during fieldwork, building the first local picture of how oceanic whitetips use the Sound.
The Island School Stories
In 2011, The Bahamas became the first nation in the Atlantic Ocean to declare its jurisdictional waters a shark sanctuary. Our work at CEI aims to safeguard this sanctuary by monitoring populations, highlighting essential habitats, and studying highly-threatened species of sharks throughout the Bahamian archipelago.
