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Status Updates from Sharks

Camrin Braun, a student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, tracks the behavior of blue and mako sharks, apex predators that maintain oceanic diversity. First, he attaches satellite tags to sharks from a boat with help from fellow scientists and crewmembers. He then tracks the sharks’ movements – recent names include Buzz, Vader, and Triton – through OCEARCH’s Global Shark Tracker as they travel up to 10,000 miles from the initial location, often diving more than 3,000 feet to the ocean’s mesopelagic region before surfacing. “I’m using sharks to explore parts of the ocean that are difficult to access,” Braun says, “including the deep ocean.”(Photo by Tane Sinclair-Taylor)