MATOS - Mid-Atlantic Acoustic Telemetry Observation System

Project Title: Investigating Sandbar Shark habitat use and activity around Nantucket Island and Nantucket Sound, MA

MATOS Project Code: NEAQACK

Data Type: Tracker

Project Duration: June 2021 - on-going

Project Description: With the use of acoustic telemetry around Nantucket, we can collect non-fishery biased data to start to understand Sandbar shark presence and habitat use around Nantucket Island and Sound. This past year specifically, the shark activity around island has been increasing with more shark sightings, active shark fishermen, and shark predation events on seals and fish. Fishermen are frequently catching Sandbar sharks, Carcharhinus plumbeus, from the shore of local Nantucket beaches. In the past couple decades Sandbar shark populations have drastically declined due to overfishing and habitat loss, and they are currently listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Redlist. Due to this drastic population decline, it is crucial to identify important habitats for Sandbar sharks and protect these areas in order to help Sandbar sharks populations rebound.

Principal Investigator:	Caroline Collatos (New England Aquarium)
Email:	ccollatos3@gmail.com

Point of Contact:	Caroline Collatos
Email:	ccollatos3@gmail.com

Collaborators:

Greg Skomal
Nick Whitney
Jeff Kneebone

NEAQ: Nantucket Shark Tagging