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Nature Foundation study found a potential shark nursery in Sint Maarten waters
A 2024 Nature Foundation pilot project tagged 10 sharks, including juvenile tiger and Caribbean reef sharks, and identified what may be the first multi-species shark nursery area found in the northeastern Caribbean, DCNA reported in May 2025.
By SXM Daily ยท
Reported 20 May 2025.
Waters off the Dutch side of Sint Maarten may serve as a nursery for both tiger sharks and Caribbean reef sharks, according to results of a Nature Foundation Sint Maarten pilot project published by the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) on 20 May 2025. DCNA said it was the first potential multi-species shark nursery area identified in the northeastern Caribbean.
Illustrative: a tiger shark in the Bahamas. Photo: Albert kok / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
What the researchers did
The Shark Nursery Pilot Project was led by oceanographer Estela Grau. According to DCNA, the team ran two expeditions in 2024, on 6 to 8 April and on 7 and 9 May, and tagged 10 sharks, including juvenile tiger sharks and Caribbean reef sharks. Some measured as little as 97 cm and 105 cm, which supported the idea that young sharks were using the area.
Five acoustic tags were surgically implanted so that the sharks' movements could be tracked over the long term. The study combined citizen science, telemetry data and local ecological knowledge, and found that established nursery criteria were met for both species.
Who was involved
The project was funded by the Shark Foundation and carried out under the Nature Foundation as part of Grau's master's thesis in marine biological resources, supervised by Dr. Erwin Winter, in collaboration with DCNA.
Why it mattered
Nursery areas are where young sharks grow before moving into open water, so identifying one gives conservation managers a specific area to watch. DCNA said the findings were a stepping stone toward stronger protection that reflects the area's ecological importance.