The Sandbar Shark Summer Nursery within Bays and Lagoons of the Eastern Shore of Virginia

Abstract

AbstractWe sought to examine the spatial use of coastal bays and lagoons associated with the Eastern Shore of Virginia (i.e., the Atlantic shoreline north of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay) as nursery habitat for sandbar sharks Carcharhinus plumbeus. Generalized linear mixed models were used to examine the relationship between physical factors and the abundance of neonate and juvenile sandbar sharks within the study area. Neonates, small juveniles, and large juveniles were present throughout the sampling area in relatively high abundance throughout the months of June‐September. Abundances of neonates and small juveniles were correlated with sampling distance from the inlet; larger fractions of these groups were captured as distance from the inlet increased. Large‐juvenile abundance was not significantly correlated with any physical factor. The catch rates of neonate and juvenile sandbar sharks within this area were comparable with those observed in nearby Chesapeake Bay, although a larger number of juveniles greater than 100 cm total length were caught within the Eastern Shore lagoons. The bays and lagoons we examined function as an important primary and secondary nursery ground for this species and fit the criteria to be included in future management measures as a habitat area of particular concern.