Brett Sweezey

This summer I leaned how to pilot an ROV! It was as simple as playing a video game with Xbox controller (in addition to a couple nuances).

Shark Movements, Food Webs and Flower Gardens with Brett Sweezey

Come listen to me talk about my research project!

open.spotify.com/episode/05SW...

I haven’t posted much on here lately because the typically format doesn’t really seem to be receptive of the type of posts I usually make for Instagram. Does anyone else feel that way?

My crash course on species ID for sharks in the Gulf of Mexico! Of course there was a lot more nuance in identifying this species, but that all wouldn’t fit within this video!

Did you guess correctly? Hope you enjoy!

I’m excited to share the finished product of a short film I have been working on! This video summarizes the benefits of dried blood spot analysis to estimate the trophic level of multiple shark species at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary!

Go check out the video on my Instagram!

So a couple of shark species swim into a marine sanctuary….but I haven’t thought of the punchline yet. I’m still working on figuring out why, where, or when.

This is the entire purpose of my PhD research project 🦈

293 - The sharks of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary with Brett Sweezey The Fisheries Podcast · Episode

Sitting down for the first time to discuss my background and current research on #TheFisheriesPodcast!!

I have never been on a podcast before so I was a little nervous and probably talked too much 😆

open.spotify.com/episode/6b5Y...

Some INCREDIBLE photos taken by Mountain and Wave Films documenting a trip to the Flower Garden Banks in an attempt to capture some sharks for a trophic ecology study. This project would not have been possible without the funding provided by the @saveourseasfoundation

Dang that’s a intense burn! I feel like you never really notice until after you start the clean up after the release.

ohhh lookie here it’s our paper!! 🧪🌎🌐🐠👩🏻‍🔬🐡🎨

sturgeon are more thermally plastic than other fish (they can increase their thermal tolerance per acclimation degree) !! but warm temperatures seem to have negative impacts on growth and survival in early life stages.

We need WAY more data on older fish

Let’s be honest. Science blogs, while fun and informative, generally don’t appeal to a non-scientific audience (even if they’re the target demographic).

What if we use pretty pictures and I just tell you everything you would like to know about my topic of research?

#GARWEEK IS HERE!!!

We’re excited to celebrate this “most-loathed,” misunderstood, and amazing group of living fossil fishes with you all!

Enjoy this Intro to Gars @ologies.bsky.social from #Garology!

Feel free to share YOUR #GarPuns, photos, #GARtwork and any other GARish posts!

Who has heard about the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary? It’s one of only 15 national marine sanctuaries in US waters and the only one in the Gulf of Mexico!!

This species rich hotspot is home to many tropical and marine fishes which attracts large predators such as tunas and sharks

This is the face of a shark! I've stained the mineralised tissues to show that their teeth and scales are both made of the same enamel-like material 🦈 🦷 🧪

I don’t usually keep track since it’s normally a quick catch-and-release, but last trip we had about 15 individuals made up of blacktips, spinners, and blacknose sharks!

I just put together a small reel that summarized my personal CPUE (catch per unit effort) for shark tagging this year. I have over 500 hours of boat time and only caught 35 individuals from my target species!!

You would think trying to catch sharks on a coral reef would be easy 🤣

It’s always great to see evidence of effective management strategies that are slowly rebuilding elasmobranch populations in the states 🦈

Scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) IUCN Critically Endangered © Masayuki Agawa_Ocean Image Bank

New #GlobalSharkTrends study published in @science.org reveals #overfishing has more than halved shark & ray populations over the past 50-years causing widespread erosion of ecological function and exceptionally high extinction risk
👉Full article bit.ly/GlobalSharkTrends
🧵1/20

Is that freshly lab prepared paprika and onion powder?

Sometimes when sitting in a the lab crushing muscle tissue and blood samples for a long time the intrusive thoughts start to seep in 😂

Reposting this because I had significantly more engagement on Threads and already connected with some enthusiastic people!

I’m looking for opportunities to work with others to build my science communication skills!

Only seven of these spade-toothed whales have ever been spotted!!

Of course! If there’s a way to make it work I’m willing to try it out!!

Although I must admit, asking for an interview instead of being approached for an interview about my research does feel kind of weird. I still think it would be a good learning experience and opportunity to develop this skill while I am still in graduate school! (3/3)

to challenge how I think about and explain my research to the general public. Ironically, what initially started as a side hobby (Instagram posts) has become one the most reliable ways of reinforcing and teaching my findings from my personal research. (2/3)

Hello science communicators! I'm trying to find anyone who would be willing to sit down and talk with me about my research. It can be for any type of science communication or electronic media (reel, podcast, article)

As I slowly dive into education and outreach I am trying to find ways (1/3)

Quick Update: The scalloped hammerhead we tagged over a month ago is very much still hanging around north of the Flower Gardens!!

This individual has been already given us a decent number of detections and hopefully continues to do so for the next year!

I’m always doing some fun geometry in my head by watching the spin direction and the angle of the blade to make sure the air is going up or down for the appropriate season.

You only change the blades for one month in Texas

Orcas always fascinate me. Now we have documented a group hunting a whale shark (wild!)

One of my least favorite things about ID’ing large adult blacktips is that the majority of the “black tips” disappear making them look the part of a stereotypical “grey shark”.

Spinner sharks at the same size usually have more distinct black fin tips, but I bet the name was already taken 😆

Sometimes I try to ID the grey blobs from depth as we're bringing a shark to the boat. Most of the sharks from the Carcharhinid family that have similar physical appearances which makes this fun 🦈

Small: silky, finetooth, blacknose
Larger: sandbar, blacktip, spinner
REALLY big : dusky!