Shark Research Lab at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology

 The laboratory of Dr. Kim Holland, also known as the Shark Lab, is part of the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). HIMB is a research institute of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, which is located on Moku o Lo’e (Coconut Island) in Kane’ohe Bay, O’ahu.

 

Our research group specializes in organismic and supraorganismic biology of marine organisms. The predominant research approach is to take advantage of the laboratory’s unique physical setting by blending rigorous laboratory work with well-focused field experiments to investigate the behavior, physiology, and ecology of sharks and other fish.

 

To learn more about our group and the research we do, please select from the links provided above.

 

Check out our Hawai’i Tiger Shark Tracking website provided by the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS).

https://www.pacioos.hawaii.edu/projects/sharks/

Tagged Tiger Sharks to Collect Behavioral and Oceanographic Data

2016 – present

This map shows the movements of Hawaiʻi tiger sharks fitted with the latest generation of satellite tags. These tags are attached to the shark’s dorsal fin and send a signal every time the fin breaks the surface. Pick a shark from the slider to watch tracks from recently tagged sharks. Placing your cursor over a location spot gives you the date and time of the event. The square pink symbol indicates the original tagging location and the bright yellow dot shows the last reported detection. Note that the accuracy of these “fixes” varies from within several yards to up to a mile from the shark’s actual location.

 

The goal of this project is two-fold. First, the Shark Research Group from the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology expects to gain valuable insights about shark behavior and habitat selection. Second, the project is testing two new technologies; a new type of satellite tag and a new way of detecting transmissions from those tags.