Groups of college students are learning marine science out in the Gulf. They're getting hands-on experience researching sharks and rays.
The Anclote Marina fades into the distance as the Miss Daisy speeds up through Anclote Anchorage, just off Tarpon Springs.
A group of students is on board.
The founder of Coastal Marine Education and Research Academy, Alan Moore, is the boat captain. He says more studies need to be done of much of the Gulf's marine life.
"There's a huge need for it because no matter what you do in marine biology, everything from seagrass and algae on up to, you know, megafauna, the sharks and the whales and everything, you need to spend time out on the water," he said during a recent trip. "And getting that time out on the water is very difficult."
ALSO READ: Bringing marine life back to South Florida's 'forgotten edge'
On this trip, students from Moore Marine College in Clearwater got up close and personal with Southern Stingrays. Three of the flat, diamond-shaped animals were caught in a net, measured, tagged and released.
Paige Cram is one of them. The 24-year-old was recently with a handful of fellow students gathering information on the rays that swam into their net.
"These animals definitely — especially the sharks — are misunderstood and feared in a way," Cram said. "Even the rays, sometimes everyone thinks of Steve Irwin or they think like, oh these guys are going to hurt me, and it's a very rare occurrence for that to happen."
The Michigan native says she loves the salt water, She came here for one week to study, and is now here to stay.
Cram spend four weeks out here on the water last summer. It was enough to convince her she wants to conduct rescue missions for injured animals.
Students who want to take part in the tagging expeditions can visit the academy's web page.
