All posts tagged: shark week 2017

Working with Sharks

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Ever wondered what it would be like to be a shark researcher for a day? Today’s feature is a Q&A with Johanna Kohler, Shark Project Research Officer at the Cayman Islands Department of Environment.  Johanna Kohler is an accomplished Marine Biologist, specializing in shark behavior and ecology, currently based in the Cayman Islands. She has gained valuable experience from both, working and traveling, all over the world, giving her an impressive portfolio in the field. As an advocate for ocean conservation, Johanna Kohler is passionate about protecting and preserving sharks. Her respect and love for sharks is evident through her commitment to study sharks in order to gain valuable insight for the betterment of shark conservation. Sharks are majestic creatures that have unfortunately been misunderstood. As a result sharks are mostly portrayed in a negative light, resulting in them being wrongly feared. In actuality what we should be afraid of is an ocean without sharks, not an ocean with sharks. Sharks play a vital role in regulating the health of the ocean and keeping marine …

10 things you didn’t know about Cayman’s sharks

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Today’s feature is a guest post by Johanna Kohler. 1. Little Cayman and Brac escape. Some individuals of our Caribbean reef shark population travel between Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.  A female Caribbean reef shark which was tagged in 2013 in Grand Cayman traveled regularly to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac over the next 3 years before its tag died in 2015. 2. What’s your name? • Bash Brothers and Little Basher – Bro action The Bash Brothers are two male sharks in East End of Grand Cayman. They like to swim together, one behind the other on the edge of the wall. Recently a smaller male shark has joined the team – hence “Little Basher”. One of the Bash Brothers has a distinctive scar on its gills. Some days they may be inquisitive on other days they may ignore you. When you go diving within their home range they may show up. • Scarlet/Smudge – the friendly Caribbean reef shark Scarlet, also known as Smudge, is an old local at East End …

Spotted: Shark Conservation in Action

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In 2009, the Cayman Islands Department of Environment (DOE), in partnership with Marine Conservation International (MCI), began studying Cayman’s sharks.  This initiative was originally sponsored by a UK Darwin Plus grant and by CayBrew’s, Whitetip Fund.  The Darwin Plus project has recently concluded and subsequently, since the beginning of the year, the project is now fully supported locally by CayBrew’s Whitetip Fund and continues to focus on improving shark research and conservation efforts in Cayman. In recent developments and in part due to the hard work and efforts of both DOE and MCI, sharks and rays were included as totally protected species in the December 2013, National Conservation Law the provisions of that law effectively make the waters of the Cayman Islands a shark and ray sanctuary, since April 2015.  Shark research continues in order to monitor Cayman’s shark populations.  The research helps to better understand our sharks and the threats they face which results in better informed management decisions and ultimately more effective protection and conservation.  Providing a safe haven is key to effective …