Dr. Tori then went on give us a background of what most of her research is in, biomechanics, the study of movement. Most of Dr. Tori’s research deals with the biomechanics of fish, specifically in the physiology of fish appendages and the ecological morphology in sharks. Dr. Tori is especially interested in how sharks use their dorsal fins: do they use them to steer, stabilize, or as thrusters? The goal of her research is to deduce the evolution of locomotion mechanics in fish, specifically sharks.
The research project that she presented was her study of how both the spiny dogfish shark and the bamboo shark use their dorsal fins. Her studies use techniques that allow her analyze a three-dimensional aspect of shark movements.
In her study with the spiny dogfish shark, the shark is placed in water with anesthetics in order to perform a surgery on the shark. The surgery is done to put tiny wires into the muscles of the shark’s dorsal fins that record muscle contraction. This allows her to study the muscle actions of the shark on a computer. The shark is then placed into a flow tank, similar to a treadmill for fish, and the shark’s movements are analyzed. The flow tank is placed at two speeds, and at the higher speed, the shark reported more movement in its two dorsal fins. After analyzation, Dr. Tori was able to determine that the spiny dogfish shark uses its dorsal fins as a stabilizer.
In her study with the bamboo shark, the shark is placed in a tank with obstacles in it. The obstacles are placed in the tank in hopes that the shark will maneuver around them. When the shark makes a maneuver, Dr. Tori takes high-speed photos of the shark’s movements and analyzes them frame by frame to determine the function of the dorsal fin. While studying the shark’s movements, the shark started to swim backwards, a rare occurrence in a fish. After analyzing all of these movements, Dr. Tori was able to determine that the bamboo shark uses its dorsal fins as thruster.
Overall, I thought Dr. Tori gave a very interesting presentation of her research. What I enjoyed most about her presentation was that I was given very helpful advice with real-life situations that apply to me and also information that sparked my interest and want to gain a better understanding of her research topic. I would also admit that Dr. Tori’s presentation made me excited to start doing research with professors, especially marine biology because I aspire to a marine biologist specializing in coral reef microbiology.