Coastal Georgia Shark Longline Survey
I am in the process of establishing a long term monitoring program to survey sharks in coastal Georgia. An area full of estuaries and prime habitat for juvenile species, I am seeking to understand how coastal Georgia supports nursery habitat for juvenile sharks and rays. This work will also collect samples to look at population genetics, diet, and determine the effect of anthropogenic noise on coastal sharks.
Tracking Sharks in Georgia
I am deploying both acoustic and satellite tags on sharks in Georgia. To track our acoustically tagged sharks, I am maintaining an acoustic receiver array off the coast of Georgia that also benefits other researchers tracking acoustically tagged animals in the Atlantic. The goal of this work is to build a collaborative array that benefits a wide range of research projects, while simultaneously tracking my own study animals. Little is known about shark movements throughout Georgia waters, so this project will give us some of the first insights into how they interact with our estuaries and Artificial Reefs.
Chelsea Black, PhD 