Gross and slimy: How salmon shark barf can teach us about their foraging ecology

If someone asked you to describe a shark, I imagine most folks would report a ten-foot long body, rows and rows of razor sharp teeth, and the ruthless nature of a (literal) cold-blooded killer. If you asked Master’s student Reilly Boyt to describe a shark, she would likely describe a salmon shark. Before you look at the photo below, I urge you to close your eyes and picture a shark that looks a little shy and vaguely embarrassed. Okay now open, is this what you pictured or is it even better?

Credit: Shane Gross

Pictured: Reilly Boyt helping conduct an ultrasound on a shark, all photos taken during permitted research

Reilly (she/her) is a second year Master’s student in the Big Fish Lab in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, studying the diet and habitat use of salmon sharks using multi-chemical tracers (e.g. eDNA metabarcoding and fatty acid analysis) across size classes and sex). Not only are salmon sharks adorable, but they are also one of the many fascinating shark species that are located right off the Oregon coast. Although salmon sharks are fish, they are actually warm-blooded or endothermic, meaning they can regulate their body temperature like mammals. Salmon sharks are apex predators, and they therefore impact the ecosystem from the top-down and have an incredibly important role throughout the entire food web. Despite this, scientists are still unsure of exactly what they are eating and where. That’s where Reilly comes in!

Reilly’s work aims to combine multiple methods that look for feeding signatures within fatty acids, isotopes, and DNA. These techniques can provide an understanding of both short- and long-term diet choices. In order to get these types of data, Reilly gets the simultaneously awesome and disgusting job of sorting through shark stomachs and vomit. I think true science nerds understand how cool that is!

Pictured: Reilly Boyt examining the contents of a shark stomach.

Pictured: Reilly Boyt working in the lab.

From conducting diet analysis on coyote stomachs in high school to working for NOAA on shark diet studies, Reilly really has done it all. She is the founder and CEO of Disabilities Within Ocean Sciences (DWOS), an organization dedicated to “building a network and resource hub for disabled marine scientists at every career stage.” She has done prolific advocacy work that focuses on promoting inclusivity and equitable access within the field of marine science.

To learn more about DWOS and the adorably awkward salmon shark, you can check out the interview wherever you get your podcasts, including on our KBVR page, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else!

Written by Taylor Azizeh