Volitional Swimming Kinematics of the Black Tip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)

Quantifying swimming kinematics of fishes often occurs in a lab setting using flumes, water treadmills, to examine movement. These methods rely on researchers to pick the animals swimming speed. We have been focusing on volitional kinematics in the lab where we quantify swimming as determined by the fish. However, our volitional swimming experiments are still limited to the space available in a lab setting. In this study, we examine swimming kinematics of black tip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) during their annual winter aggregations in South Florida. Using an aerial drone, video of sharks can be obtained through noninvasive methods in the wild, and examined frame-by-frame using the Loggerpro software. We track points along the shark’s midline to examine body curvature, tailbeat frequency, tailbeat amplitude, and whole-body swimming velocity. These data represent the first time we have been able to quantify kinematics in a free-swimming shark in the wild.