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Grubbs Laboratory in the News

10 Years of Post-Oil Spill Science


Dr. Sandra Brooke, Dr. Josh Breithaupt, and Dr. Dean Grubbs were among the many scientists who contributed to the "Results and Impacts of the First Decade of the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program" report. This report covers a variety of fields and projects within Florida in the aftermath of the BP Horizon Oil Spill.

Number of dead, dying sawfish in Lower Keys continue to mount


"There are five species of sawfish in the world. That's it. And they're all listed as endangered or critically endangered,” said Dean Grubbs, a Florida State University fish ecologist and a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s sawfish recovery team. “So an occurrence like this, where all of a sudden quite a few large animals are dying inexplicably, is of great concern.”

Grubbs Lab in the FL Keys


Last month, members of the Grubbs lab traveled to the Florida Keys to look for smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), in collaboration with Bimini Biological Field Station. This trip was one of many routine sampling trips made by Grubbs lab members multiple times per year to monitor the presence of one of Florida’s Critically Endangered species in the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park.

Watch the Hammerhead Shark get its Hammer


So in the new study, developmental biologists tagged along with scientists studying bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo), a small hammerhead species with a relatively giant noggin. As the team scooped the sharks from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and off the U.S. east coast, the biologists retrieved live embryos of all ages. The biologists preserved the embryos for further study using different staining and imaging techniques, piecing together the video above from different specimens.

Sawfish Tagged in Cedar Key for the First Time in Decades


In 2003, smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) had the unenviable distinction of being the first native marine fish listed under the Endangered Species Act. The classification followed decades of declining populations due to habitat loss, overharvesting and mortality as fisheries bycatch. Now, 20 years later, a 13-foot adult female captured off the coast of Cedar Key, FL suggests the species may be making a slow but spirited comeback.

Endangered 13-foot sawfish caught off Florida coast. Why that’s good news for species


By Irene Wright Growing up on the Gulf coast of Florida, shark researcher Dean Grubbs has always been fascinated by nature’s ancient animals. “I caught a little sharpnose shark when I was 7 years old, and I thought it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, and (I) told my parents I was going to be Jacques Cousteau,” he told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “That fascination never changed.”

Sawfish Tagged in Cedar Key for the First Time in Decades


In 2003, smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) had the unenviable distinction of being the first native marine fish listed under the Endangered Species Act. The classification followed decades of declining populations due to habitat loss, overharvesting and mortality as fisheries bycatch. Now, 20 years later, a 13-foot adult female captured off the coast of Cedar Key, FL suggests the species may be making a slow but spirited comeback.