| Shark Recaptured 11 Years after Being Tagged by Mote Marine |
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March 4, 2008 A shark tagged by Mote Marine Laboratory scientists off Pensacola, Fla., spent nearly 11 years at liberty before being caught last May by a fisherman who returned the tag to Mote. The tag return marks the longest period of time between tagging and recapture in the 17-year history of Mote’s shark-tagging program. The male Atlantic sharpnose shark was tagged by Mote scientists while aboard a National Marine Fisheries Service research cruise in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 1996. The shark was caught again 11 years later by charter boat Capt. Kenny Bellais off Ship Island Miss., about 103 nautical miles from the area where it was originally tagged.
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