When life gives you lemon sharks..

At ilili, we are often surprised at the unlikely places we have forged some of the most amazing friendships and partnerships. In 2020, as the world stopped, our Executive Director was browsing through facebook and ran into a livestream of lemon sharks on a dock in the Island of Utila. She reached out to owners, Paul and Chrisna Avenant, who had decided to install cameras under and around their dock to see what cool critters they could see. To their surprise, they started seeing lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) hanging around. This was very interesting, as dive shops rarely ever see lemon sharks on any dives. 

In 2021, ilili went and tagged some juvenile lemon sharks and nurse sharks with some conventional tags at Utopia. Since then, these same individuals have been spotted in and around the docks. Our friends at Utopia Village have now 10 live cameras which are livestreaming through the Explore platform online.  During the nighttime, its very common to spot both species from the dock, but where are they when they aren’t on camera? This is what Executive Director Gabriela Ochoa wondered, and so, for her birthday, she started a fundraiser online to answer this questions through acoustic telemetry. To our surprise, the Explore organization decided to fund the project!

But what is acoustic telemetry? Essentially, individuals are tagged with a special tag that emits a small sonar signal that is picked up by the receivers when they are within range. This method has been used worldwide in both terrestrial and marine ecology and is very well suited to tracking megafauna like sharks and rays. By tracking when and where an individual is picked up by a receiver, you can see the journeys the sharks make on a daily basis, and their favourite spots to hang out. 

Using this information, ilili will gain insight into where the key sites for lemon sharks are around Utila, what kind of habitats they prefer, and how their habitat preference might change throughout the day and also over time. This will in turn help us to protect these beautiful creatures more efficiently and keep sharks on Utila’s reefs for years to come.