Our Experts
Harold Pratt
Adjunct Scientist
Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies Program, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean LifeEducation
BS, Marine Fisheries Biology, U. Mass, Amherst 1968
About
Harold “Wes” Pratt is a retired NOAA scientist with a 50-year professional career studying the biology of sharks. While at NOAA, Wes first collaborated with New England Aquarium in the late 1970’s, collecting repeated measurements and studying feeding habits in two of the Aquarium’s sandbar sharks as part of a larger study on age and growth in this species that was published in 1985.
More recently, work with his colleagues Nick Whitney, Jeff Carrier, and Theo Pratt in the Florida Keys since 1991 has resulted in cutting-edge research into the reproduction and mating behavior of the nurse shark. Their efforts have revealed previously unknown and unexpected facets of complex behavior in these fascinating but poorly understood reef predators.
Affiliations
Featured Research
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Interspecific foraging association of a nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) with bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
Aquarium Affiliate Author(s): Harold Pratt, Nick Whitney, PhD
Published November 22, 2022 -
Long-term use of a shark breeding ground: three decades of mating site fidelity in the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum
Aquarium Affiliate Author(s): Nick Whitney, PhD, Ryan Knotek, PhD, Harold Pratt
Published October 17, 2022
Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life
Through pioneering conservation research and strategic partnerships, our team of 40 scientists works to combat the unprecedented impacts on the ocean from climate change and other human activities.
