Sharks are excellent indicators of environmental health because they are top predators and are locally abundant. Combining rod and reel fishing and longlining, researcher Michelle Evans of Coastal Carolina University caught and tagged sharks in Port Royal Sound in 2006-07. A majority of the sharks caught were Atlantic sharpnose sharks, but there were also blacktip, blacknose, finetooth, sandbar, bonnethead, scalloped hammerhead and tiger sharks, in addition to Atlantic and Southern stingrays. Many of the individuals were young or juveniles, although only adult blacknose were caught suggesting PRS could be a breeding location for that species.

On September 19, 2014, Captain Chip Kelly and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources marine biologist Bryan Frazier caught and tagged a 12 foot 2 inch, 800 pound female tiger shark in Port Royal Sound as part of an ongoing shark research study being conducted in our waters. The study is a partnership between SCDNR and OCEARCH, a nonprofit organization that conducts global research on white sharks, tiger sharks, and other large apex predators. Their efforts enable researchers and institutions to obtain data on the movement, biology and health of sharks while enhancing public safety and education. LCI sponsored the tagging of this particular tiger shark. She was named Bailey after our very own Spring Island resident Bailey Symington because of her ongoing support of LCI and other conservation organizations.

LCI supported this project because learning about large sharks is an excellent way to get the public’s attention about water quality issues and the protection of Port Royal Sound. SCDNR shark biologist Bryan Frazier says that Bailey helped reveal new information about the behavior of tiger sharks in our region – they seem to stay relatively localized rather than making larger migrations as previously studied Caribbean tiger sharks have done.