The research, documented by cable television network Discovery and featured on its popular “Shark Week” program, began in February with observation and monitoring off Cuba’s northern and southern shores, the official Prensa Latina news agency said.

Cooperation between Florida’s Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and Cuban institutions such as the Center for Research of Coastal Ecosystems permitted the attachment to sharks of satellite tracking devices and advances in the first experimental transplant of coral on Cuban reefs.

During sessions of the 10th Congress of Sea Sciences in Havana, Robert Hueter, the director of Mote’s Center for Shark Research, said that all of the roughly 100 types of shark present in the Caribbean play “an important role in the ecological balance.”

Hueter also praised Cuba’s “leadership” in the creation of a system to protect coastal areas and facilitate this kind of research.

On Aug. 7, the Florida Aquarium in Tampa announced an agreement with the Havana National Aquarium for cooperation in the protection of coral reefs.