Dive Into Your Imagination

Dr. Chris Lowe grew up in a family of fishermen, and instead of continuing this family tradition, he decided to study marine biology to protect fish populations. Today, he runs the SharkLab at CSU Long Beach, and his favorite shark pastime is accidentally discovering that sharks, like humans, suntan!

When did you know you wanted to study sharks?

I grew up on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, where I spent most of my time fishing and diving in the local waters. Having come from a long line of seamen, fishers, and whalers, I was the first to pursue a career in marine biology. I first became interested in sharks when I was 10 years old and the fascination hasn’t ended!

So you really “broke the family mold,” in order to follow your dreams! What is your favorite species of shark?

I have too many favorites, but a few include the cookie cutter shark, the tiger sharks, and hammerheads.

Should people be afraid of sharks?

Although I can understand why some people are afraid of sharks, I think sharks have a lot more reason to be afraid of us than we are of them! The reality of it is that you have a much better chance of being hit by a bus than being bitten by a shark, yet we cross streets every day.

You work at the California State University at Long Beach SharkLab. How did you come to direct it?

Dr. Donald Nelson, a pioneer in the study of shark behavior, founded the CSULB SharkLab in 1969. I was fortunate enough to train under Don as a Master’s student. Unfortunately, Don passed away in 1997 after a long battle with skin cancer. I was hired as his replacement in 1998 and am now the director of the SharkLab. Our mission is to advance our understanding of marine fishes, train future marine scientists at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and provide information to resource managers and the general public to improve conservation of marine fishes.

Wonderful mentors, like Don, are very important to students and scientists at any level. What do you love about teaching?

I love the feeling of seeing a student suddenly “get it.” I am so proud of my students. I push them to work hard and go beyond their boundaries, and it always makes me smile to see that light go on. And I love it when they teach me new things!

What research are you currently working on?

One project we’re working on is studying the feeding behavior and movement of blacktip reef sharks at Palmyra Atoll. Palmyra is a remote, uninhabited atoll located 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. Surprisingly, there are still great numbers of sharks swimming around this atoll, and it provides a great laboratory to see how sharks and their prey live together. To study their movement patterns, we have been catching and tagging the sharks with acoustic transmitters, which has enabled us to study how they use the lagoons within the atoll. This information will be really important in determining how to protect overfished populations of sharks in different places. Unfortunately, places like Palmyra are hard to find now since shark populations have dropped so severely.

What do you think is the biggest threat sharks, and our oceans, are facing?

People. We have invaded every environment on the planet and have out-competed everything. We now know that we, alone, have the ability to change the earth’s climate, and dramatically shape communities and environments. We need to start working harder as a species to reduce our “global footprint.”

What do you think about the cage diving tourist industry?

I think it can be good and bad. As we have all heard, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” On one hand, the industry is giving people an opportunity to see how magnificent sharks are, and then maybe the public will come to appreciate sharks more. But, on the other hand, large-scale operations are probably influencing the behavior of sharks – they become attracted to the cages due to the use of “chum” or bait. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know what the affects of these behavioral changes are to these shark populations.

If someone wants to help protect sharks, our ocean, and our planet, what do you think is the single most important thing they can do?

Think! We, as individuals, need to really think about where our food comes from, where our wastes go, and find solutions to reducing our impacts on the environment. This is especially true for those who live along coastlines.

What has been your favorite memory working with sharks?

Probably the coolest thing I ever discovered was that some sharks can suntan! My wife, Dr. Gwen Goodmanlowe, and I, made an accidental discovery that hammerhead sharks can actually suntan when exposed to clear water and higher ultraviolet (UV) light. It turns out sharks may suntan for the same reasons we do – to protect their cells and DNA from the damaging effects of UV light! So it turns out we have a lot more in common with sharks than people may think!

Wow – think about that the next time you put on sunscreen! It are these similarities that remind us that all species are living on this planet, together. We need to think, learn, and act to protect our neighbors! Thank you so much, Chris! Keep up your wonderful work!

Biography:

Dr. Chris Lowe grew up on Martha’s Vineyard, where he spent his childhood fishing and diving. Coming from a long line of commercial fishermen, rather than fish for a living, he chose to cross over to “the dark side,” and go to school for marine biology. He received his B.A. in Marine Biology at Barrington College, his M.S. in Biology at CSU Long Beach, and his Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Hawaii. In 1998, he was hired as a professor of Marine Biology at CSU Long Beach, where he now runs the CSULB SharkLab. Over the last 20 years, he has used and developed acoustic tagging techniques to study the movements, behavior, and physiology of sharks, stingrays and gamefishes. Much of his recent research has focused on gathering data on the ecological importance of offshore oil platforms, and the effects of catch and release practices on gamefishes. He loves to teach, and has published over 50 scientific papers in a wide range of journals, and several book chapters!

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed