Worst Day Ever

November 14, 2010

Like yesterday, we too had a first for RJD. Unfortunately, it was for all the wrong reasons. Let’s start at the beginning. We started off the day heading to the outer reef; the weather was beautiful; sunny, warm, and not much wind. Sounds nice right? However, there was a bit of a swell, which caused some of our interns and guests from Hebrew Academy to…add a little more chum to the water. Sadly, despite the extra ‘chum’ and later relocation from our outer reef spot to the inner reef, we caught ZERO sharks.

BSA 46 ft Newton a.k.a. our research vessel. Click to enlarge.

Not a single one (the first time in RJD history this has happened). The only thing we did catch was a large mutton snapper, which wasn’t exactly tag-worthy. The highlight of the day was our swim break after we re-baited our hooks for a final attempt at catching anything.

Not too happy students and intern, Austin Gallagher.

Although today was depressing for the crew and our guests, today’s results were a somber reminder that shark populations are steadily declining all over the world and that what we are doing with the RJD program is vital research that can really make a difference to these apex predators.

Wishing I had more to say,

Josh, RJD Intern