The Atlantic Shark Institute

The Atlantic Shark Institute Atlantic Shark Institute - RI based non-profit 501(c)(3). Conducts critical shark research.

08/30/2026

Meet the elusive Nessorhamphus ingolfianus. Its name comes from the Greek “nessa/netta” (duck) and “rhamphos” (bill) for its, well, bird-like mouth. This one had us stumped for a while. Its elongated body pointed to it being an eel. But the lobed tail shape pointed elsewhere. Finally, we found the oceanic duckbill eel and its unique caudal fin shape. Even though it looks like a separate fin, like other eels, its dorsal, caudal, and a**l fins are all connected. The more you know!

Luckily, the crabs weren’t hard to identify - red crabs, Chaceon quinquedens, are seen all along the deepwater slopes of our canyon systems. They love stealing our bait and chasing off other fishes!

This video was taken at an astounding 2625 feet deep, roughly 120 miles off Cape Cod as part of our deep sea BRUVs study collaboration with Christine de Silva. Christine (Christine de Silva) is an ASI Research Fellow grant recipient and a PhD candidate at the University of RI, Graduate School of Oceanography. We believe this may be the first sighting of an oceanic duckbill eel alive in its own habitat!

08/23/2026

If you live in Southern New England or along the South shore of Long Island you have likely heard A LOT about the significant increase in sandbar (aka brown) sharks this summer. Many fisherman have been racing to get their striped bass, sea bass and tuna to the boat before having them stolen by this species of shark. Well, here it is!

This wonderful video was taken recently off of Block Island, RI during our Baited Remote Underwater Video System (BRUVs) research. The sandbar shark has been been protected in the US since 2009 after being severely overfished. They are one of two shark species that evidence suggests can learn from previous interactions with anglers and many have found that to be true this season! The sandbar shark population is currently being assessed with final results expected in early 2027 and we will share that assessment when it become available.

Big thanks to Tom Fetherston, Paul James, Ella Schubert, Seton Smith and Rhea Burmeister and for this great video and for BRUVs a**lysis by Tessa Seebeck. What a team!

Many sharks can be difficult to identify but not this one! The common thresher shark is easily identified by its long ta...
08/16/2026

Many sharks can be difficult to identify but not this one! The common thresher shark is easily identified by its long tail which is often the same length as the rest of its body. And as you can see, they can jump to signficant heights!

The Atlantic Shark Institute (ASI), Dr. Conor McManus (NOAA) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) are collaborating on a multi-year study on the common thresher shark here in the Northwest Atlantic. In fact, so far this season we have added Tilly, Virginia, Debra, Dex, Nicole, Thea and more to this important work. Yes, all ladies!

The need for this research is highlighted by the ICES Working Group of Elasmobranch Fishes (WGEF), which has consistently emphasized a critical lack of information regarding common thresher stock identity in the NWA across its reports from 2009 through 2025. The team is assessing ontogenetic habitat shifts and seasonal movement patterns by sampling these sharks in waters from Virginia through southern New England, including the deployment of 10-year acoustic tags. We look forward to sharing more over the coming months and years!

Photo credit (first photo): Steve Momot

08/09/2026

The ocean can be a wondrous and fantastic place. One minute it can seem placid and quiet and the next you can see something miraculous that you may never see again. That happened recently on an ASI research trip when Seton Smith, a recent Salve Regina University graduate and multi year ASI volunteer, was ready when the opportunity presented itself!

She got this beautiful close-up of two humpback whales on the surface next to the boat that was adjacent to Block Island, RI! They were casually feeding and Seton, Captain and crew got the experience of a lifetime. Big thank you to Joe Harrison (boat captain) and crew of Al Inguilli, Dave Cook and Seton, as well as Tom Fetherston for confirming the species and the activity! What a season this has been thanks to all 50+ members of the ASI team!

08/02/2026

Meet the newest addition to our Block Island, RI - Baited Remote Underwater Video System (BRUVs) research! We recorded this beautiful sand tiger shark as it slowly cruised the waters near BI this past week. The sand tiger shark is one that many of you might be familiar with as it is a popular attraction at aquariums throughout the country. They have been protected in the United States for more than 25 years and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists them as critically endangered worldwide. It’s great to see this shark here in RI waters. Big thank you to our resident BI BRUVs a**lyst and masters candidate Tessa Seebeck for sharing her excitement and video of the gorgeous shark and to the team that got the video on the water, boat owner and operator Chris Blansfield and his crew, Erin Mullen and Richie Flindall! Great job by the team on land for this one as well including Jules Craynock, Tom Fetherston and many others!

07/26/2026

Research season has been red hot at the ASI and this beautiful drone shot of a scalloped hammerhead from just two days ago is a great example of that! This shark was enjoying the warmer temperatures at the top of the water column as it cruised near Block Island, RI when it was spotted and filmed by ASI Resident Filmmaker, Tomas Koeck. The footage will appear in the Ocean State Media series Ocean State: Rhode Island’s Wild Coast.

The day got even more exciting for the research team and we will share that soon! Tomas Koeck

07/19/2026

Meet Oscar! He’s our newest great white shark (we have tagged more than 50) and he was tagged just three days ago here in RI. He’s a very young juvenile and was released in great shape! We tagged him with a 10-year V16 acoustic tag and we will hopefully track him for many years and migrations up and down the East Coast of the United States and Canada. Big thanks to Capt. Carl Granquist and his mate Bryce Briggs for this perfect catch, tag and release! We are having a very good season and couldn’t do all this work without all of our remarkable supporters!

07/12/2026

Our Baited Remote Underwater Video System (BRUVs) research is in full swing and every video gives us a glimpse into the spectacular undersea world here in RI. Here is a big school of very large striped bass that we captured on one of our recent trips to Block Island, RI. We are capturing and a**lyzing video from June through October and have been for years now.

This study is the first and the longest of its kind here in RI and we doubled capacity this year with Roger Williams University! Big thank you to Tessa Seebeck for a**lyzing these videos and sharing this one with everyone. Tessa is getting her Masters of Science in Conservation Technology from Florida Institute of Technology. With partners like the Block Island Maritime Institute (BIMI) and our great team of volunteers, this data and project will only grow in value and importance! Thanks as always to all of our supporters. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 Roger Williams University

07/05/2026

In what just might be a first in RI waters, our Executive Director Jon Dodd was able to get beautiful underwater pictures and video of a great white shark feeding on a 40 foot humpback whale in RI waters last week.

After a search of almost almost 50 square miles and several hours, Jon and Sarah Callan, Manager of Animal Rescue from the Mystic Aquarium found the whale floating several miles SSE east of Block Island, RI. It was a great opportunity for Sarah to take samples from the whale for research and as luck would have it, this great white was found feeding on it. At about 8 feet in length it was healthy, well fed, and had the whale to itself while we visited!

The whale washed up on Crescent Beach - Block Island, RI just a couple of days later with countless shark bites on it and with that, the saga of this whale and the sharks it attracted ended! 🦈

06/26/2026

There are large great white sharks and then there are very large great white sharks! Well, this is the latter. This shark was feeding on a dead whale here in RI this week and our Executive Director and Sarah Callan from Mystic Aquarium got an up-close view yesterday that we will share more on in the coming days. White shark sightings are few and far between until a whale dies and then they seem to appear out of nowhere as this one did.

Big thanks to Ian Shilosky for sharing this awesome video with us and for so many people reaching out about it. We went looking for the whale yesterday and after a 50 square mile search we found it… and another great white looking for a meal! Truly epic! 🦈

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