Shark Identification Services features the shark identification skills and
abilities of Eric Sander. Eric gained his expertise in sharks during his
career as an owner and captain of two commercial shark longline
vessels, the JAWSOME and the MARSEA, which he fished out of
Ponce Inlet, FL.

As a fisherman, Eric collaborated with and collected shark specimens for a number of shark researchers. He has tagged over 1000 sharks for the NMFS Apex Predator Shark Tagging Program including the first white shark to be tagged and released in Florida waters. He was featured in the Discovery Channel documentary The Great Shark Hunt and in the August 1991 Life Magazine article “Hunting the Hunter”.
Eric began developing his unique methods of shark identification while still commercial fishing. He became known for being able to translate the scientific jargon found in most shark identification keys into visual presentations that a layman can see and understand. This lead to the development of a set of shark identification training lectures and materials from which he has trained hundreds of state and federal law enforcement officers. Eric is now recognized as an Expert in shark identification by NOAA / NMFS Office of Law Enforcement. Genetic testing has proven him to be 100% accurate in identifying the fins from prohibited shark species.

Eric is currently a marine fisheries reseach biologist with Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI). He is responsible for the collection of East Central Florida’s Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS) data. He has taken a lead role in training FWRI’s field staff in shark and fish identification.

Eric has a passion for sharing his wealth of knowledge about sharks. He believes that providing anglers with information such as that found in Sander’s Shark Identification Guide will help them develop a better appreciation for the many species of shark found in our coastal waters.