The scientific benefits of promoting your research

Recently, two colleagues of mine, James Nifong and Russ Lowers, published a really interesting paper about alligators and sharks eating each other. This was a previously undescribed behavior for both predators because it appears to be a rare event. Nifong and Lowers presented information about the seven confirmed instances when alligators consumed or attempted to consume sharks or stingrays, and three instances when sharks are thought to have consumed or attempted to consume alligators (based on newspaper accounts from the late 1800s).

Now this is a fascinating finding in terms of natural history and animal behavior, and Nifong and Lowers could have stopped with the publication of their paper in a scientific journal and called it a day. Instead, Nifong worked with Kansas State University, where he is currently a postdoctoral researcher, to put together a press release to help the paper get some coverage from any curious general media outlets.

Well, the press release certainly caught some people’s attention! According to Nifong, as of October 19, 2017 the work has been covered by more than 150 media platforms with a total potential viewership north of 450 million people. The internet fame heaped upon Nifong and Lowers by all this media attention must be satisfying in and of itself; after all, how often does your scientific research get broadcast to 6% of the world’s population? But there have been actual scientific benefits to all the publicity as well.

As a fellow alligator researcher, I was contacted by one of the media outlets who covered the paper (National Geographic) to comment on the work. I happily provided my two cents and one smooth soundbite (“Nature is a wild and crazy place”), and then forgot about the story for a while.

Then, two weeks after the story was published online, Chris Cox from Hilton Head, South Carolina emailed me out of the blue and said he had read the National Geographic article and had pictures and video of an alligator eating a shark in his home state. He wanted to know: would I like to see them?

Hell yes I want to see pictures and video of an alligator eating a shark! This is such a rare event that it’s only been documented with pictures three times before, and never on video (as far as I know). In addition, Mr. Cox’s account would add to our knowledge of where alligators and sharks are known to come into contact, which shark species alligators are able to catch and consume, and how large of a shark an alligator can handle.

So here I present to you (with Mr. Cox’s consent) the photos and video of an alligator chomping down on a bonnethead shark on September 16, 2016 in Skull Creek, South Carolina. I hope you enjoy them, and remember to promote your research beyond scientific journals. If you’re lucky, it can lead to the collection of new data!