{"id":22484,"date":"2026-11-12T11:59:40","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T16:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/?p=22484"},"modified":"2026-11-12T12:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:05:08","slug":"the-crew-behind-the-catch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/news\/the-crew-behind-the-catch\/","title":{"rendered":"The Crew Behind the Catch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a small research vessel, scientists double as crew. On the R\/V Warfish, that teamwork produced a first in common thresher shark research.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Nov. 12, 2026 \u2013 The first trip lasted more than 15 hours and ended without a shark. Ten hours into the second, a ten-foot common thresher surfaced on a longline, and everyone aboard the R\/V Warfish<\/em> went to work to tag it.

That shark<\/a> gave researchers what is likely the world\u2019s first fine-scale depth profile for the species: a detailed record of how it moved through the water column over 24 hours.

The work is part of University of Rhode Island graduate student Owen Fleischer\u2019s research. Working in Dr. Kathleen Carroll\u2019s Quest Lab in URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences<\/a>, he is chasing a deceptively simple question: What do sharks actually do all day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satellite data can show where sharks go, but not what they do moment by moment as they move through the ocean. Fleischer’s tag, provided by the Guy Harvey Foundation, is built to fill that gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a good research question and the right technology can only get you so far. Getting the tag onto an actual shark took Brian Caccioppoli, who captains the Warfish <\/em>for URI\u2019s Graduate School of Oceanography <\/a>and began running university small boats in 2013, and a team of students and scientists each willing to put in the work.

Hitting the waypoint<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScientists aboard small research vessels often double as crew,\u201d Caccioppoli says. So before the Warfish<\/em> leaves the dock, everyone aboard checks in as a group to agree on their roles and assess the mission\u2019s risks.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Owen Fleischer, left, and Captain Brian Caccioppoli go over the day\u2019s fishing locations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Once underway, the division of labor is clear. \u201cOwen is the science expert and I defer to him on all big picture planning such as location, fishing methods, and timing,\u201d Caccioppoli says. \u201cMy role is to make sure that the vessel does exactly what is needed to safely conduct the science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fleischer used years of catch records to select fishing locations around Narragansett Bay and gave Caccioppoli precise GPS coordinates, or waypoints, to target. Before each trip, Caccioppoli checked the weather and tides. At each location, he read the wind and current and positioned the Warfish<\/em> upwind so it would drift over Fleischer\u2019s mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn ideal drift would bring us right over that waypoint,\u201d he says, \u201cand bonus points if that drift is stable and comfortable along the way.\u201d Aside from occasional detours around crab pots, the boat\u2019s movements were \u201ccompletely dictated by the science,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patience and persistence

<\/strong>Even a perfect drift can\u2019t make a shark take the bait, and on the first trip, in August, none did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makenzie Denzler spent much of that day baiting longlines and drop lines. A marine biology<\/a> major who joined URI\u2019s Shark Research Lab as a freshman, she has worked on projects ranging from underwater video systems to whale shark movement. Out on the Warfish<\/em>, she learned what fieldwork at sea demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is something totally out of our control, but something that we have to prepare for out in the field,\u201d Denzler says. \u201cIt\u2019s not always successful on the first try, and patience is key.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She watched Fleischer model that patience. \u201cI\u2019m so impressed with how he led with composure and stayed positive the entire time,\u201d she says.

Shark on the line<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the second trip, in September, the patience\u2014and hard work\u2014paid off. \u201cSeeing our thresher come up with one of the long lines was surreal,\u201d Denzler recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Team
Team members hold a ten-foot common thresher steady and measure it <\/em>before it\u2019s tagged and released.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The team brought the shark aboard. Fleischer and Denzler worked with Carroll, assistant professor of applied quantitative ecology, undergraduate Luke Johnson, and Ph.D. students Christopher Hickling and Kayla Austin. While Fleischer and Johnson fitted the tag, Denzler kept water flowing through the shark\u2019s gills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking with a shark sounds really intense, but everyone was so prepared and ready that I felt comfortable doing this for the first time,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a shark that big so close before.\u201d The common thresher happens to be her favorite species.

In the pilothouse, Caccioppoli kept the boat steady, pointing its bow into the wind and waves to reduce rolling. Two Seakeeper gyroscopic stabilizers helped keep the Warfish <\/em>level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, equipment can only do so much. \u201cThe most important thing as captain is to remain situationally aware and clearly communicate with the scientists,\u201d he says, \u201cas their attention needs to be dedicated to tagging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fleischer\u2019s focus was singular. \u201cAs soon as the shark\u2019s on board, all I\u2019m thinking about is how fast we can get it back in the water,\u201d he says. When the shark was released, he slipped into the water beside it in a mask and flippers, ready to help if it needed support. It swam off steadily.

A needle in a sea of haystacks
<\/strong>
The job wasn\u2019t finished when the shark swam away, though. The tag recorded data 100 times per second for 24 hours before releasing from the shark and floating to the surface. The team returned the next day to recover it near Martha\u2019s Vineyard.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
“Owen and Dr. Carroll did so much to get us out on the water, Denzler says. “It was an incredible opportunity, and I’m so grateful to have been a part of this amazing team!” (Left to right: Graham Forrester, Brian Caccioppoli, Kayla Austin, Makenzie Denzler, Christopher Hickling, Anna Gray, Kathleen Carroll, Luke Johnson, and Steven Sission. Owen Fleischer is in front.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cEven with a GPS location provided by the tag, it would be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack, in a sea of haystacks,\u201d Caccioppoli says. \u201cThankfully, the tag was equipped with a radio frequency transmitter making the search process significantly easier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fleischer called out the bearing from the tag\u2019s radio signal, Caccioppoli steered, and lookouts scanned the water from the pilothouse roof. They spotted the tag in about 10 to 15 minutes.

The shark was the headline, but asked what stuck with him from the trip, Caccioppoli pointed to the people. \u201cOwen\u2019s team was incredibly prepared,\u201d he says. \u201cAll equipment was functioning and at the ready, and everyone had defined roles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Caccioppoli, that\u2019s part of the reward. \u201cI am just so thankful for the privilege to work alongside such talented and dedicated scientists, students and communicators of science,\u201d he says. \u201cTheir work inspires me and keeps me eager to learn!\u201d
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a small research vessel, scientists double as crew. On the R\/V Warfish, that teamwork produced a first in common thresher shark research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1089,"featured_media":22485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1089"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22484"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22502,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22484\/revisions\/22502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}