Explore SharkCam

What is the broad research goal of the team?

To use live-streaming underwater SharkCam to describe marine fish community structure associated with hard bottom habitats of the subtropical western Atlantic Ocean.

What skills and experience will team members gain?

• Application of the scientific method
• Experimental design
• Standardized data collection
• Fish species identification
• Applied content in ecology

Team-member expectations:

Students will use archived and live-streaming footage from an underwater webcam installed off the coast of North Carolina to examine the fish assemblage associated with subtropical, western Atlantic hard bottom habitat. These habitats are important centers of high productivity and complex ecological communities. Involved students will use video analysis to record species occurrences, relative population size, and species associations from the video feeds. Students are expected to spend ≥50 hours of work experience for each credit hour and earn an A grade.

Fish ID training and an in-person examination must be completed before data collection hours can be earned. Student researchers who re-enroll for subsequent semesters will be involved in training new project participants in fish identification skills and data entry procedures. Multi-semester participants may develop independent projects associated with video analyses including behavioral analyses, examinations of species associations, and temporal trends in populations.

The following majors and degree programs are a good fit:

• Marine Science
• Marine Coastal Environmental Science
• Biology

Course information:

• Team lead contact: Dr. Erin Burge (eburge@coastal.edu); Douglas Hall (SCI2) 102E
• Contact the professor in charge to register
• MSCI 399Q Fish Community Monitoring