{"id":115908,"date":"2020-04-27T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T19:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=115908"},"modified":"2020-08-07T11:21:44","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T21:21:44","slug":"tiger-sharks-mobile-oceanographers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/27\/tiger-sharks-mobile-oceanographers\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiger sharks serve as mobile oceanographers in <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> research"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_15810\"  width=\"676\" height=\"676\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y8MfH5vPBBs?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Tiger sharks serve as mobile oceanographers in Â鶹´«Ã½research\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>Researchers have been tagging sharks for decades to learn about their habits and migration patterns. In recent years, University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M&#257;noa researchers have tapped tiger sharks to help capture other data critical to measuring changes in the ocean and weather, all while they continue to swim out their normal lives.<\/p>\n<p>Research Professor <strong>Kim Holland<\/strong> at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.himb.hawaii.edu\/\"><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute of Marine Biology<\/a> has been studying sharks for 30 years. Holland and his team have been attaching tags to tiger sharks off of <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> and Maui to collect data that will help feed into oceanographic and meteorological models.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Sharks play an extremely important role in the world\u2019s ecosystems,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;So it\u2019s really important for us to know what habitats they choose, how far they go, what their behavior is.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0 15px;\"><figure id=\"attachment_116742\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-116742\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-oceanographer-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"shark beside researchers boat\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-116742\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-oceanographer-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-oceanographer-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-oceanographer.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-116742\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researchers pull the shark close to the boat and flip it over, putting it into a temporary state of tonic immobility.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<div style=\"float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0 15px;\"><figure id=\"attachment_116706\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-116706\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-tag.jpg\" alt=\"satellite tag\" width=\"250\" height=\"350\" class=\"size-full wp-image-116706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-tag.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-tag-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-tag-93x130.jpg 93w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-116706\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The newest generation of tags measure ocean depth, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and light levels. Photo credit: Kim Holland<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<p><abbr>UH<\/abbr> researchers travel by boat and lay out lines with bait and hooks. When a tiger shark takes the bait, researchers pull the shark close to secure it front and back to the boat and flip it over, putting the tiger shark into a temporary state of inactivity called tonic immobility. During this time, researchers measure the tiger shark, and when it\u2019s flipped back over, they have a few minutes to attach a tag to its dorsal fin before it wakes up and swims away.<\/p>\n<p>The tags work as very small, sophisticated computers measuring ocean depth, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and light levels. When a tagged tiger shark comes to the water\u2019s surface, the tag\u2019s antenna will transmit the data collected via satellite and land-based stations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So we\u2019re trying to increase the amount of science that we can get out of these tracking projects, by employing this new generation of tags,&rdquo; said Holland. &ldquo;Which tells us not only where the shark is going and how deep it is, but also is telling us about its environment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacioos.hawaii.edu\/\">Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System<\/a> based at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M&#257;noa, and the Integrated Ocean Observing System are supporting this project and are in the process of making the oceanographic data available through the Animal Telemetry Network.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We can provide data on a much denser more frequent basis than traditional oceanography can,&rdquo; said Holland. &ldquo;This will improve our understanding of how the ocean is rapidly changing and this in turn can improve weather forecasting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><abbr>UH<\/abbr> researchers choose  to work with tiger sharks because they can study their behavior and impact on human safety, as tiger sharks are the species most involved in attacks on humans. Tiger sharks have a significant role in the environment as a top-level predator and are easier for researchers to work with because of their susceptibility to tonic immobility. However, Holland hopes the research will expand to other species including blue sharks and hammerhead sharks, which travel to other parts of the ocean and have different diving patterns.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8212;By Sarah Hendrix<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_116705\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-116705\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark.jpg\" alt=\"tiger shark\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-116705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/manoa-himb-shark-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-116705\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tiger shark in the Hawaiian Islands with the latest generation of satellite tags. Photo Credit: Mark Royer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers attach tags to collect oceanographic data, follow movement patterns and discover their preferred habitat in Hawaiian waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,12],"tags":[53,1363,175,238,92,9,56],"class_list":["post-115908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","category-video","tag-hawaii-institute-of-marine-biology","tag-manoa-research","tag-marine-biology","tag-pacific-islands-ocean-observing-system","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115908"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124405,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115908\/revisions\/124405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}