The Use of Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) to Noninvasively Characterize a White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Nursery Area off Eastern Long Island, New York

Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding if a discrete region fits three key criteria for shark nursery area designation is of utmost importance. Such a designation within United States territorial waters could result in the implementation of an Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) classification, a determination facilitating species protection. In this study, baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) were used to determine if they could effectively confirm a previously identified white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) nursery area south of Montauk, New York, so that the technique may be applied in other potential nursery areas. During experimentation, 1,348.32 h of video data were collected between Region A (Block Island Sound; 674.16 h), outside of the previously identified nursery area, and Region B (Atlantic Ocean; 674.16 h), within the identified nursery area. From the video data, 35 sightings of C. carcharias were recorded, with 31 unique individuals identified. Data associated with Region B fit all three nursery area criteria: (a) young-of-the-year (YOY) and juvenile sharks were more commonly found in this region over Region A (p < 0.001), (b) several YOY and juvenile sharks (n = 4) were resighted in this region within a given year (e.g., average resighting duration: 10.5 days), and (c) YOY and juvenile sharks exhibited repeated use of this region over multiple years. We conclude that BRUVS can be used for fine-scale analyses to help designate a discrete area(s) as a shark nursery, even in turbid New York waters. Therefore, using BRUVS to identify shark nursery areas is a viable and noninvasive approach that can contribute to species conservation.