MATOS - Mid-Atlantic Acoustic Telemetry Observation System

Project Title: Mount Desert Rock Shark Study

MATOS Project Code: MDRSHARK

Data Type: Deployment

Project Duration: June 2022 - August 2022

Project Description: Mount Desert Rock, located roughly 20 miles offshore of Mount Desert Island in the Gulf of Maine, is a highly biologically productive zone that supports a large colony of gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Evidence of predation in the form of shark bites on seals hauled out on the Rock has provided some insight into the presence of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) but much remains to be studied on the population dynamics and behaviors of sharks in the area. This project aims to document the presence and absence of tagged sharks in the waters surrounding Mount Desert Rock as well as shifts in populations in response to changing environmental factors. In collaboration with the College of the Atlantic and Allied Whale, one VEMCO VR2W acoustic receiver was deployed in the waters near Mount Desert Rock.

Principal Investigator:	Kiernan Crough (College of the Atlantic)
Email:	kcrough22@coa.edu

Point of Contact:	Kiernan Crough
Email:	kcrough22@coa.edu

Collaborators:

Sean Todd (COA and Allied Whale)
Dan DenDanto (COA)
Mindy Viechnicki (Allied Whale)

Participating Organizations:

Allied Whale
College of the Atlantic

Funding:

Maine Space Grant Consortium

COA Shark Study