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Sliced layer of shark vertebrae.

Sliced layer of shark vertebrae.
Sliced layer of shark vertebrae.
Sliced layer of shark vertebrae.
Sliced layer of shark vertebrae.
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197414
Hamady, Li Ling
Sliced layer of shark vertebrae.
Still Image
12/29/2011
IMG_2474.JPG
Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 49, No. 1 page 13:
Using vertebrae of stranded sharks, graduate student Li Ling Hamady cuts a thin section showing distinct alternating light and dark layers of tissue, laid down sequentially over a shark's lifetime. Similar to tree rings, the layers (shown here) may preserve a chemical record of environmental conditions sharks are exposed to and reveal their habits and habitats.
Image of The Day caption:
To help devise effective strategies that protect endangered sharks, scientists need basic information about where elusive species live, mate, and give birth. MIT/WHOI Joint Program graduate student Li Ling Hamady from the WHOI Fish Ecology Lab is discovering clues to sharks' behavior by studying vertebrae from sharks that have stranded and died. A thin section cut from one vertebra shows alternating light and dark layers of tissue, laid down sequentially over a sharks lifetime. Similar to tree rings, these layers may preserve a chemical record of environmental conditions the shark was exposed to and reveal its habits and habitats.
Photo by Li Ling Hamady
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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