Me and 'Bob' the Barracuda/Florida 2004/Photo Courtesy: Barbara Lloyd

Everyone in the Caribbean knows the barracuda, a big, tough predator that watches curiously from a short distance away when humans snorkel or dive around coral reefs.

Yet the big fish is a mystery. Does it swim long distances or stay at home? Where does it spawn? If you catch and release one, does it survive?

Carleton University student Amanda O’Toole of Ottawa found almost no one had studied the barracuda except for one guy from Miami in the 1960s. That’s unusual for a top predator in any ecosystem. People study lions, tigers, grizzlies. Why not barracudas?

So off she went to study the fish for her master’s thesis in biology.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Secrets%20barracudas%20revealed%20thesis/3556919/story.html#ixzz10HGbKtaG