Favourite papers?
de Sousa Rangel, B., Hammerschlag, N., & Moreira, R. G. (2021). Urban living influences the nutritional quality of a juvenile shark species. Science of The Total Environment, 776, 146025.
Talwar, B. S., Bond, M. E., Williams, S., Brooks, E. J., Chapman, D. D., Howey, L. A., ... & Gelsleichter, J. (2023). Reproductive timing and putative mating behavior of the oceanic whitetip shark Carcharhinus longimanus in the eastern Bahamas. Endangered Species Research, 50, 181-194.
Favourite species?
Oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus)
Dylan Baker
Masters student | James Cook University
BSc - Integrative Biology | University of California, Berkeley
Dylan is a Master of Marine Biology student who grew up in Southern California. Growing up, Dylan’s life revolved around the ocean, whether through surfing, diving, or spearfishing. Although he had this love and passion for the ocean and its inhabitants, he initially decided to keep these as hobbies and embarked on the journey towards becoming a doctor, starting with his undergraduate degree. Upon graduating, he continued this path while working as an EMT, but was then given an opportunity to be a volunteer at the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas in 2021. During his time there, he was able to concretely visualize a path that would allow him to make his hobbies and passions for the ocean into a career and decided to alter his trajectory towards marine biology and began applying to master’s programs. While applying, he was fortunate enough to be asked to return to Bimini as a full-time staff member, which he did until the end of 2022. Following his time in the Bahamas, he started his degree at JCU where he is currently studying.
Current projects:
The current project Dylan is working on pertains to the shark control program which operates throughout Queensland and in the GBRMP. Specifically, the project aims to assess how servicing the drum lines twice daily, as opposed to once, impacts the catch, as well as how it aids in reducing the mortality of non-target species. Additionally, if time and funding permits, pSAT tags may be utilized to track movement and survivability of released individuals.
