Lemon Shark in black and white

Sharks

Shark fins still attached to their rightful owners

President Biden signs the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act

The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act represents a multiyear effort by lawmakers, under pressure from animal-rights and ecological organizations such as the Animal Welfare Institute and Oceana, to ban the trade of shark fins. 

Seventeen states and three U.S. territories have banned or restricted the intrastate sale of shark fins, but instituting a federal framework is critical as fins imported and sold in the U.S. can come from endangered or threatened shark species, or from sharks that were finned.

Hooked shark
Bycatch is a term used to refer to any species caught accidentally while fishing for other species. According to the FAO, there are few fisheries that don't catch sharks as bycatch, and some fisheries actually catch more sharks than their targeted species.

Small device can reduce shark bycatch by 90%

Marine scientists have invented a small device that can reduce shark bycatch numbers by emitting short electrical pulses as a deterrent.

When clipped on the fishing line next to a baited hook, the battery-operated SharkGuard works by emitting a short localised pulse every two seconds. This causes the shark’s ampullae of Lorenzini (electrical sensors around its nose and mouth) to be overstimulated, thus prompting it to swim away.

Tiger beach, Bahamas
Tiger beach, Bahamas. Are sharks getting bigger because of tourists or is it the bigger sharks which are interacting with tourists?

Tiger sharks that interact with tourists are larger, study shows

That feeding or attracting wildlife with food to enable better viewing opportunities by ecotourists (i.e. provisioning tourism) has the potential to alter the natural behaviour and physiology of animals has long been well established.

But how the physiological state of wildlife might be related to the nature and magnitude of these effects remains poorly understood.

More than half of surfers surveyed are not bothered by sharks in the water.
More than half of surfers surveyed are not bothered by sharks in the water.

Shark in the waters? No sweat, said more than half of surfers in survey

Imagine you are riding the waters on your trusty surfboard, savouring the rush of emotions and feeling totally alive, when you glance down into the waters and you spot a shark swimming by. 

Does your heart skip a beat and you immediately look for the fastest way to get back to dry land?

Or do you continue what you are doing, feeling more at one with the elements?

Well, if you are like more than 50 percent of surfers, you would simply continue surfing, according to a survey of 391 surfers, conducted by the University of South Australia.

Got an itch that needs scratching?

Scientists have observed instances in which tuna rub themselves against the side of sharks. Apparently, they do this to dislodge painful parasites that cling to their head, eyes and gills.

“Shark skin is really smooth in one direction and it’s like sandpaper in the other,” said Chris Thompson, a Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia.

Thompson and his colleagues observed this behaviour after studying the footage of floating, baited underwater cameras which they had deployed in 36 regions in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans in 2012 to 2019.

Basking shark
The basking shark is a globally threatened species which faces a high risk of extinction

Basking shark gains special protected status in Ireland

In Ireland, new regulations giving the basking shark the "protected wild animal" status under the Wildlife Act came into effect on 9 October. The order was signed by Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan, and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue. This legislation was heavily supported by the Irish Basking Shark Group (ISBG), an international network of researchers, educators, and community representatives founded in 2009.

Orcas hunt Great White Sharks

For several years, scientists have suspected that orcas have been killing and eating parts of great white sharks. Now, they have video evidence to prove it.

New drone and helicopter footage show a pod of orcas ruthlessly pursuing a great white shark in Mossel Bay, South Africa for more than an hour before going in for the kill. The video culminates with one of the killer whales gobbling up a large chunk of the shark's liver.

Macroalgae such as Sargassum weed are an important dietary component for whale sharks
Macroalgae such as Sargassum weed are an important dietary component for whale sharks

Whale sharks also eat veggies

Australian marine scientists have discovered that the massive whale shark also eats plants, making it officially the largest omnivore on Earth. 

As the evolution of a very large body size requires a ubiquitous and abundant source of food, the consumption of plants could present an energetic challenge for these animals unless some components can be digested.

Fuvahmulah's Sharks

Tiger shark
Tiger shark on shark dive at Fuvahmulah in the deep south of the Maldives

Over the last few years, Fuvahmulah has become a world-famous pristine destination for close encounters with large tiger sharks. The green island is located at the deep south of the Maldives archipelago. Michel Braunstein reports.