Image of the Day: Shark Fitbits

To track the behavior of blacktip sharks, researchers are equipping them with radios and satellite sensors.

Written byCarolyn Wilke
| 1 min read

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lacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) in the Atlantic migrate south to Florida for the cold winter months and swim north as far as New York when the weather warms. Shark researcher Stephen Kajiura at Florida Atlantic University has tracked the animals’ migratory patterns for years through images captured from boats, drones, and aircraft. Now, he and colleagues are outfitting sharks with instruments that let the scientists keep tabs on their every move.

The team has attached radios and satellite sensors to two sharks’ dorsal fins. The instruments reveal more about their behavior by recording the swishing of their tails and depths at which they swim, according to a news release.

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