No, they didn't need a bigger boat.
The 55-foot custom dive vessel would do just fine. After all, the group of University of Miami marine science students had not ventured into the waters of Biscayne Bay on an early Tuesday in late June to battle sharks but to study them.
"We've got drumlines deployed, targeting larger sharks. And we've got about 20 high school students onboard to learn about shark research and how it works," said Catherine Macdonald, a research associate professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and director of the Shark Research and Conservation Program.
The drumlines to which Macdonald referred are baited fishing hooks attached to a weight on the seabed with large plastic floats on the surface. Once the sharks are safely captured, they are tagged, measured, and released, allowing researchers to learn more about their biology and ecology.
"Any day that I see a shark is a good day," Macdonald said. "We're most likely going to see blacktip and blacknose sharks at the site we're at today."
The work she spearheads will lead to a better understanding of how urban habitats impact marine life. "It's common, especially in places like Miami, to feel like there isn't any nature left or that what is left is an unimportant remnant. But our data shows that Biscayne Bay is an important reproductive habitat to at least 10 species of sharks and rays. This is a valuable and unusual ecosystem that deserves our attention and protection, and it's right in our backyard."
But 50 years ago, when the movie "Jaws" debuted in theaters across the nation, shark research didn't approach the level at which it is now being conducted by marine biologists like Macdonald.
And while director Steven Spielberg's summer blockbuster about a bloodthirsty great white that terrorizes a fictional New England town unfairly vilified sharks as voracious monsters, the movie also ushered in a new era of shark research, inspiring a generation of scientists who wanted to learn more about the creatures.
Today, researchers have identified more than 540 species of sharks and have studied everything from their behavior to their critical role in marine ecosystems.
How many species of sharks are there? How long do they live? Where do they reproduce? Do they migrate? Those were among the questions they wanted to answer.
"They're older than trees. They're older than the rings of Saturn," Macdonald said of sharks. "They transport nutrients across ecosystems as they move. They eat something in one system, they poop in a different system, and those nutrients and the energy associated with them are moving across seascapes.
"On average," she continued, "science has discovered a new species of shark about every two and a half weeks for the last 10 years. So we are constantly expanding our knowledge of marine environments and of sharks."
Researchers specifically want to learn more about their breeding behavior and where they reproduce. And in that regard, Rosenstiel School Ph.D. student John Hlavin recently accomplished a scientific breakthrough, discovering that juvenile great hammerhead sharks rely heavily on the resources of Biscayne Bay as a nursery habitat during their earliest and most vulnerable years.
"We analyzed the feeding and habitat use patterns of 62 great hammerheads sampled between 2018 and 2025," said Hlavin, the lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy. "Our team employed a research technique called multi-tissue stable isotope analysis to track both short and long-term resource use, allowing us to gain new insights into the species' dietary habits across different life stages."
Still, even after a half century since "Jaws," the veil over sharks hasn't been completely lifted.
What is known is that sharks are in trouble, with some species on the brink of extinction due to unsustainable fishing practices.
"There has been a lot of progress in shark conservation over the last 50 years including better data and more management, including catch limits, shark sanctuaries, and bans on fishing for some of the more at-risk species," said Elizabeth Babcock, a professor of marine biology and ecology at the Rosenstiel School who is an expert on fish population dynamics. "Populations have stabilized and even recovered a bit in the U.S. and other countries with good shark fishery management. But globally, most shark populations have continued to decline, so that sharks are one of the most threated groups of marine animals."
Hlavin, who has never seen "Jaws" but one day hopes to watch it, acknowledges that the motion picture has inspired future generations of shark scientists.
"It's interesting. If I have a conversation about sharks with someone from my parents' generation, I often find that the movie left a negative impact on their perception of sharks," he said. "But when I talk to my peers and other people my age who grew up in this age of shark research post-"Jaws," they know that sharks are not our enemy but that humans are actually the greatest threat to sharks."
