Shark Week: Bimini Shark Tales

It’s Shark Week, which means people around the world are thinking about, talking about and watching shows featuring, you guessed it; sharks. Although Shark Week is notorious for sensationalism and “mockumentaries,” there arises a great opportunity to have a real conversation about sharks, shark conservation and the problems they are facing around the world. Here in Bimini pretty much every week is Shark Week. This tiny island chain in the northern Bahamas is home to the first Shark Free Marina in the world and is part of the Bahamas Shark Sanctuary. Some of the best shark research in the world has also happened right here at the Bimini Biological Field Station(Sharklab). Despite being small in size, Bimini is truly a world force in shark science and shark conservation.

My husband and I are both Sharklab alumni and have absolutely fallen in love with the island. We spend as much time here as possible and there is rarely a day we do not see sharks. Different species are here seasonally, along with a few regulars we see year round. We spend a lot of our time filming and photographing these amazing animals and occasionally get to assist the lab with research projects.  People travel from around the world to see these sharks, study them and dive with them and for us; we travel to our “backyard.”

Shark Selfie with a Bull Shark Off South Bimini!

My blog has been heavily neglected because all of my time has been devoted to our newest endeavor, Sharks4Kids. We created this non-profit as a means of spreading shark education to kids around the world through curriculum, activities, videos and classroom visits. Please check out the page and feel free to message me for more information. Okay, now back to the sharks.  Over the next few months I will be sharing information, images and videos highlight the sharks we see here in Bimini. I will include our adventures, facts about these animals and notes on shark research and conservation happening on the island. Sharks that will be featured include great hammerheads, nurse, lemons, bulls, Caribbean reef, smalltooth sawfish and the elusive pitbull shark!

The Rare and Elusive PITBULLSHARK!

I hope you enjoy these shark tales each week of the year, because sharks deserve more than a week of global attention! Please feel free to email me any questions you have!  You can also find me on twitter and Instagram @BiminiSharkGirl

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Living the Shark Life