LEICESTER (UK)- Made famous by the 2018 blockbuster The Meg, the largest predatory shark ever discovered, the megalodon, is a bit of a mystery. We know it lived between 15 and 3.6 million years ago and it reached at least 14 metres in length, more than double the size ofContinue Reading
NASSAU (BAHAMAS)- Over the last hundred years, human activity has caused a large increase in metals and metalloids entering the marine environment, posing potential risks to biodiversity and food security. Beneath the Waves evaluated muscle tissues of 36 individual sharks from six species. The research team provides the first accountContinue Reading
EXETER (UK)- Bans on shark fishing are only partially effective in protecting sharks, new research suggests. Scientists from the University of Exeter, international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and Sri Lankan NGO Oceanswell examined the effects of a blanket ban on landing thresher sharks, brought in by the SriContinue Reading
ABERDEEN (SCOTLAND)- Picture the scene. Swimming off Scotland’s west coast during a summer holiday you notice a large dark shark nearly 10 metres long headed towards you. A prominent triangular dorsal fin cuts the surface, the powerful rhythmically beating tail driving it silently through the cloudy green depths. You’re transfixedContinue Reading
NOSY BE (MADAGASCAR)- Could the island of Nosy Be, off western Madagascar be a new global hotspot for endangered whale sharks? Recent satellite tag-data from research suggests this as possibility. That the whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) live in these waters is no secret. They are routinely sighted off the northwest coastContinue Reading
They may have been around for hundreds of millions of years — long before trees — but today sharks and rays are are among the most threatened animals in the world, largely because of overfishing and habitat loss. By Culum Brown, Macquarie University and Connor Gervais Climate change adds anotherContinue Reading
FORT LAUDERDALE (USA)- Most of the 10 species of Hammerhead sharks are severely overfished worldwide for their fins and in need of urgent protection to prevent their extinction. To learn more about a declining hammerhead species that is data poor but in need of conservation efforts, a team of researchers from NovaContinue Reading