Evaluating Biodiversity and Abundance of Top Predators on Bahamian Reefs

February 11, 2022

Student: Briana Davis, MS student in Conservation Sciences
Principal Investigators: Lynn Waterhouse and Steve Kessel (John G. Shedd Aquarium)
Funding: John G. Shedd Aquarium
Collaborators: University of Minnesota Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology; John G. Shedd Aquarium; The Bahamas Department of Marine Resources; and Global FinPrint Project.

picture of bait arm and sharks
Bait arm from Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) survey done by John G. Shedd Aquarium deployed in The Bahamas. Species shown in the photo include 2 nurse sharks, 1 reef shark, and a variety of yellowtail snapper.

Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) surveys were used to capture survey video data from locations in The Bahamas, following protocols established by the Global FinPrint project, by researchers from John G. Shedd Aquarium in 2017 to 2020. A series of BRUVS were deployed in 2017 and again in 2019 throughout The Berry Islands, The Bahamas. The deployments in 2019, utilize a stereo-video BRUV setup which will enable length composition data to also be collected. Each BRUV survey records 60 minutes of video and there is over 200 hours of video from the Berry Islands to analyze. Data from the videos will be used to investigate changes from 2017 to 2019 as well as identifying critical habitats.