Ashley Longo, an environmental educator working for New York State Parks’ Long Island Regional Environmental Education Office was awarded a scholarship opportunity to attend a Teacher and Educator’s Course at the Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation in South Bimini, Bahamas. Through her participation, NY State Parks was represented along with 13 other educators out of nearly 200 applicants. More commonly known as the Bimini Shark Lab, this world-renowned research facility was established in 1990 by Dr. Samuel Gruber and has contributed to advancing the world’s knowledge on elasmobranchs (sharks, rays, skates, and sawfish) through several research projects as well as providing educational opportunities for future scientists and the public.

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When you hear the word, “Shark” what comes to mind? Does it evoke a sense of fear in you? Does it stimulate your curiosity? Is your immediate first thought about how they are so negatively portrayed in the media and how unjust it is?

Sharks are some of the most talked about animals on the planet, often portrayed in a very negative light. With increasing sightings of them off Long Island in the past couple of years, misinformation and public fear can spread, something first started by the movie Jaws. It should be made clear, however, that increased shark sightings are actually a sign of a healthier ecosystem!

Sharks (rays & chimaeras too), the elasmobranchs, are one of the most advanced groups of animals in the world, with specialized sensory adaptations, reproductive methods, and migration patterns not seen in other living creatures. More than half the species of sharks in the world don’t grow bigger than three feet (one meter) and most live in the waters of the deep sea, never seeing the ocean’s surface or a human being. There’s a lot more to sharks than many people realize, including myself, and I am excited to be bringing that knowledge back to the beaches of Long Island after being at the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas.

Life at the Bimini Shark Lab

South Bimini, Bahamas is located alongside the Gulf Stream some 46 miles from Miami, Florida. The level of biodiversity is high surrounding Bimini and because of this many shark species can be found around Bimini and the rest of the Bahamas. Many shark species will migrate between Bimini and the United States. In 2011, the Bahamas declared their waters as a shark sanctuary, becoming the 4th country in the world to do so at the time. The value of a shark alive is worth far more than a dead shark in the Bahamas, with the diving industry there being among the highest earning in the world. As the Shark Lab has so cleverly coined, the Bimini is not infested with sharks, but INVESTED!

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