Shark research vessel stops here

Remember the most famous line from “Jaws”: “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
Ocearch has a bigger boat.
The nonprofit organization’s ship, which bears the name M/V Ocearch, has been at Louisiana Machinery this week. Part of its mission is to study sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. Part was to give a presentation Monday at Holy Cross Elementary. And part is to have maintenance performed on the Ocearch, which has a platform that can lift up to 7,500 pounds out of the water.
Louisiana Machinery is also Louisiana Cat, a local dealer in Caterpillar heavy equipment. Caterpillar partners with Ocearch in its educational mission.
The Ocearch travels the world’s oceans, trying to learn more about sharks and find a way for humans and sharks to live together, said Fernanda Ubatuba, Ocearch’s chief operating officer.
“We need to study them,” Ubatuba said. “They are the apex predators, and they keep the whole ecosystem in balance.”
To add to humankind’s knowledge, Ocearch specialists hoist their sharks just out of the water on the heavy-duty platform. Getting them to the platform involves smaller vessels, ropes, floats and maybe a handy beach to cut off escape routes.
Once the shark is on the platform, the Ocearch team takes blood, DNA and muscle samples, and tags the shark with devices that allow researchers to track sharks via satellite and acoustic as they move through the oceans.
The sharks aren’t sedated. Ubatuba said a black towel over the shark’s eyes will keep it calm.
Once the samples are collected, the shark is returned to the ocean. You can follow the tracks of the Ocearch sharks at ocearch.org. The website also collects information about each of the subject sharks.
In a news release, Ocearch said it’s bringing its ship to the Gulf for a multispecies study “to generate previously unattainable scientific data critical to ocean conservation — specifically for hammerhead, tiger and mako sharks.
The nonprofit noted that the Gulf is shared by the United States, Mexico and Cuba, each with its own regulations.
“Research on shark migration will provide scientists with data necessary to understand the rates of exchange within this tri-national water body, in order to affect policy and conserve these sharks,” the release said.
Greg Stunz, professor of marine biology at the HRI at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, is handling the role of lead scientist