MIGRATORY BEHAVIOR AND HABITAT USE OF THE BULL SHARK IN THE SUB-TROPICAL WESTERN ATLANTIC

Assessing the movement of highly mobile apex predatory elasmobranchs can highlight potential regions, as well as major habitats important for supporting specific life-history characteristics unique to these taxa. The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is a large bodied requiem shark found across most ocean basins. Although often associated with coastal habitats e.g. coral reefs, bull sharks are euryhaline, and therefore tolerate a broad range of salinities. Individuals utilise their resilience to freshwater as females use river mouths, estuaries and lagoons to pup, however have been recorded as far inland 4000 km in the Amazon River. Despite its cosmopolitan nature little information exists describing both fine and broad scale movement patterns of bull sharks, especially across the subtropical western Atlantic. Cape Eleuthera houses a transient sub-population of bull sharks, which arrive during late autumn, and leave during the spring. Yet, there is little information pertaining to the origin, or destination of these animals during warmer periods. Furthermore, information on how individuals use the waters of Cape Eleuthera during this short-term residency has yet to be described. This project therefore aims to assess fine- and broadscale habitat use of bull sharks using both acoustic (fine scale movement) and satellite telemetry (broad scale movement). Results are likely to indicate the distal extent of which bull sharks migrate annually, as well outline their interactions with habitats in The Bahamas, thus providing a novel ecological insight important for the future management and conservation of this species.