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A slow-moving filter-feeder, the gentle whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea.
A slow-moving filter-feeder, the gentle whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea.

Shipping poses substantial threat to whale sharks

As whale sharks assemble in coastal regions to spend substantial time in surface waters, experts theorised collisions with ships could be causing substantial whale shark deaths. Previously, there was no way of monitoring this threat.

Scientists from 50 international research institutions and universities tracked both whale shark and ship movements across the globe to pinpoint areas of risk and potential collisions. Satellite-tracked data from nearly 350 whale sharks was submitted to the Global Shark Movement Project, conducted by MBA researchers.

Giant manta ray. Photo by Scott Bennett
Giant manta ray

How big is it? Drones assisting in manta ray research

A global breakthrough in recording manta ray information has been made by an Auckland University doctoral candidate. In a study entitled “How Big Is That Manta Ray?” published in Drones, Edy Setyawan outlined how a drone camera, with the addition of a PVC pipe in the ocean, can be utilised to accurately measure the world’s largest ray species. “I could see that from the drone there was some size variation, some mantas, they are bigger than the others,” said Setyawan. “It’s quite cheap using a small drone, but it can give us a big impact on manta ray conservation.”

Breaching humpback whale
Breaching humpback whale (pixabay license)

Southern Hemisphere whale-call research highlights need for MPA network

The “whup” and “grumble” sounds recorded by hydrophones moored in the Vema Seamount in the Atlantic Ocean, 1,000km northwest of Cape Town in South Africa, suggest this location could be an important stop on the whales’ migration route to polar feeding grounds.

Most of the calls were recorded over a period of three nights in the spring of 2019, with low “whups” being heard most frequently. This is an important discovery as the “whup” is a contact call used by mother-calf pairs to help them locate each other. Furthermore, humpbacks also “whup” while feeding.

Newly-hatched deepwater ghost shark (Hydrolagus sp). Photo by Brit Finucci
Newly-hatched deepwater ghost shark (Hydrolagus sp). Photo by Brit Finucci

Rare, newly hatched ghost shark found in trawling survey

A neonate (newly hatched) ghost shark was found in the net during a trawling survey at about 1,200 metres below sea level. The survey had been conducted by NIWA to estimate the population of blue grenadier (hoki fish) at the Chatham Rise, off New Zealand’s South Island.

Its body was translucent and gelatinous, and it had two giant eyes on its pointed head—with a belly full of egg yolk. "You can tell this ghost shark recently hatched because it has a full belly of egg yolk," said Brit Finucci, a fisheries scientist from National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).

Eugenie Clark Stamp
Eugenie Clark Stamp

Eugenie Clark Stamp

By Larry Cohen & Olga Torrey

Eugenie Clark received many honors, including the Explorers Club Medal, Franklin L. Burr Award from the National Geographic Society, and the Medal of Excellence from the American Society of Oceanographers. In addition, in 2018, a newly discovered species of dogfish shark was named Squalus clarkae in her honor.

Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) Launches a Comprehensive Project Diver Program in 2022

Global Underwater Explorers
Global Underwater Explorers

GUE diver training programs are now reaching new heights with an exploration-grade level of diver training, designed to support the globally significant diving projects for which the organization is well known. GUE’s new Project Diver program distills the agency’s decades of project experience into a program that will support the elevation of community-led, project dives to an entirely new level of sophistication.