This video shows laser ablation of shark vertebrae. Laser ablation is the same method used when analyzing trace elements in otoliths. However, since sharks don't have otoliths (they have a similar structure called a statolith), the vertebrae is often used for aging and I'm guessing elemental analysis of a vertebrae would yield the same type of data that can be obtained from an otolith. The video is kind of long and monotonous, but I was interested because it is a relatively new concept to me, and I have a few shark obsessed colleagues.
Clearly that shark swam up the Chowan river to spawn.
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