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Maggie Winchester ’16, a marine sciences student, completed a two-month internship at Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas this past summer, working as a member of the Shark Research and Conservation team.

Winchester divided her time among three projects during her time at the institute. The first, an examination of the metabolic rates of juvenile lemon sharks, led by a graduate student, involved capturing the sharks, attaching accelerometers to them and then later retrieving the same sharks for data collection. Some sharks were brought to the laboratory for further study.

The second project explored the ecology and habitat distribution of local stingrays. Winchester participated in corralling the stingrays and collecting data on their size and location. Since the start of the project, she said, two new species of stingray previously unknown to be in the area were discovered.

The final project examined deep sea isopods, found 1500 meters below the surface of the ocean. Winchester helped set and retrieve traps and aided in specimen dissection. She also watched footage taken by the deep sea camera, known as the medusa. 

“It was an amazing time and I got lots of experience,” said Winchester.  “It was a ton of work; we worked with visiting groups of kids and sometimes worked from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., but every minute was worth it.”