The Americas Takes us to Mangrove Forests in the Bahamas, A Neverland for Lemon Sharks
No adults allowed! Lemon sharks learn to live and hunt in Caribbean mangrove forest nurseries and The Americas takes us inside.
It can be easy in our climate controlled houses and offices that there’s a wide and wild world out there, filled with natural stories both dramatic and hopeful. Fortunately, The Americas is showing us the natural beauty and wonder all around us, from the southern tip of Chile to the frozen northern landscape of Alaska and Canada, right from the comfort of the sofa.
On a previous episode, “The Gulf Coast,” viewers visited the Everglades, the widest slow-moving river in the Americas. As you continue southward, the swamps and wetlands give way to mangrove forests where saltwater and freshwater meet. They are home to hundreds of species of birds, alligators, crocodiles, dolphins, panthers, and countless other plant and animal species.
Even farther south and to the east, in the mangrove forests of the Caribbean you can find an unexpected predator honing its skills in the tangled roots and reeds.
Swimming with lemon sharks in the Caribbean
The spectacular shallows of the Caribbean are filled with corals, plants, and thousands of species of fish, reptiles, marine mammals, and invertebrates. Some of the richest and most diverse reefs in the Caribbean are found alongside sprawling mangrove forests in the Bahamian north, where baby lemon sharks make friends and learn to hunt.
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Lemon sharks are notable for their two equally sized dorsal fins and namesake yellow-brown to olive coloring. It helps them to blend in against the sand in the shallows. Adults measure between 8 and 10 feet long and are generally docile toward humans. There have only been 10 recorded lemon shark bites, none of which were life threatening.
Lemon sharks typically hunt at night, using electroreceptors in their skin to find fish and other prey animals in the dark. They begin life near the mangroves and, when it’s time for them to give birth themselves, they return to the same place they were born. These lemon shark nurseries are ancient, with fossil evidence dating back to at least 320 million years ago.
No adult sharks allowed in the nursing grounds of the Caribbean mangroves
Lemon sharks give birth to live pups who have to take care of themselves from the moment they arrive. As soon as they’re born, the adult female returns to the sea while the pups go their own way. To give them the best shot, the pregnant mother gets as close to the mangrove forest as they can.
On their own, the mangroves provide safety. The tangle of roots provides plenty of hiding places for baby sharks and tasty fish while keeping larger predators out. The mangrove forests of the Caribbean are a sort of Neverland for sharks, where no grownups are allowed.
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Inside the mangroves, newborn sharks practice their hunting strategies on leaves, sticks, and anything else they can get their mouths around. They aren’t very skilled hunters at first, but they learn from their older classmates, watching the teenage sharks and copying their tactics.
As they learn and grow, it becomes more difficult to navigate the mangroves and they eventually leave, never to return again. Like Neverland and Trix cereal, the nursing grounds of the mangrove forests are for kids. If they are lucky, they will have been protected and learned enough in their youth to make a go of it in the open ocean. And some of them will swim by for a visit to drop off their own kids when the time is right.
Where to watch The Americas
New episodes of The Americas air weekly Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC, and stream on Peacock the following day!
