Well, the mission is now over! Today, Jeremy and Johann removed the camera poles and took detailed data on the sites where they had been deployed. It was a memorable last dive with sicklefin lemon sharks!
During the last two weeks, Jeremy and Johann continued collecting shark samples from the lagoon (including at the shark and ray feeding sites), along the forereef and in nurseries. In addition, a diversity of potential prey samples (including spotted eagle and sting rays) for stable isotope analyses were collected. In total, we collected 250 shark and prey samples in just a few weeks!
We now have a total of 15 days of stationary camera deployments (60 total cameras), totaling about 350 hours of recordings. Johann and Jeremy also finished off the transects using the drone that will help us estimate total numbers of sharks and rays in the shallow habitats of the reef. Now the lab work begins - including going through all of that video! We should have fantastic data! Of course there is more fieldwork that needs to be done too. We can't wait to be back...
We will post updates of the results as they come in!
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