So I asked leading shark ethologist and behaviourist, Professor Samuel 'doc' Gruber to elaborate. After pointing out how much pain women feel when they give birth, making the point that suffering has no effect on reproduction, he reminded me that sharks evolved their mating behaviours and the physical structures involved, separately from other animals.
Their groundbreaking study, published in 2022, marks a significant milestone in understanding and preserving vital marine ecosystems that are crucial for mitigating climate change.
In La Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France, small-scale fishers often use surface longlines targeting tuna and billfish, but this sometimes leads to the accidental capture of sharks.
The EU-funded ASUR project is researching innovative methods to reduce the incidental catch of sharks by these longlines, bringing together scientists and fishermen to tag and release sharks and to test equipment designed to reduce shark mortality.
Recent scientific efforts have begun to unravel the complexities of shark behaviour, challenging age-old perceptions, and revealing a world of intelligence and sophistication hidden beneath the waves. Ila France Porcher reports.
Palaeohypotodus, pronounced pale-ee-oh-hype-oh-toe-duss, translates to "ancient small-eared tooth," a reference to the shark's distinctive small needle-like fangs found on the sides of its teeth. Spearheaded by Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections at McWane Science Center in Birmingham, alongside David Cicimurri, Curator of Natural History at South Carolina State Museum, and T. Lynn Harrell, Jr., Paleontologist and Fossil Collections Curator at the Geological Survey of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the team named the new species in honour of the late Dr.
(TOP BANNER IMAGE: Carlos Gauna/The Malibu Artist)
The remarkable sighting occurred on 9 July 2023, approximately 400m (1,300ft) off the shores of Carpinteria, California. Wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and Phillip Sternes, a doctoral student in the Department of Biology at the University of California Riverside, stumbled upon the extraordinary sight while filming aerial footage.
It was seven in the morning and my coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. The dive guide was giving me a slightly more thorough dive briefing than normal. I wasn’t supposed to wear anything colorful or shiny, and black gloves and a hood were required. Also covered in black neoprene, he was putting on chainmail gloves and told me he’d have a pole with him. He said it was more for the potato cods though, not the sharks.
The ancient group of marine predators, which first appeared in the fossil record 440 million years ago, are facing a critical juncture in their existence. Though they have been resilient to other mass extinctions, the current one is caused by decades of industrial overfishing along with the growing demands of the shark fin trade. It has put those shark and ray species accessible to fisheries at risk of extinction, with far-reaching consequences for ocean ecosystems.
Over the past two decades, sharks have become emblematic of the world's threatened wildlife, leading to heightened scientific, regulatory and public scrutiny. However, a recent study challenges the effectiveness of these protective measures, revealing that global shark mortality has not only persisted but increased, despite increased regulations and finning bans.
Researchers conducted trials using SMART drumlines in New South Wales, Australia, to catch and release sharks, particularly White Sharks. The study aimed to quantify the short-term post-release movements and the longer-term fate of these sharks.
Sharks were caught using SMART drumlines deployed about 500 meters from shore. Once captured, they were quickly secured to a research vessel, minimising potential injuries. The sharks were tagged with satellite-linked radio transmitting tags and acoustic transmitters to monitor their movements post-release.
Elasmobranchs have become lucrative targets with the depletion of traditional fish stocks and the surge in the shark fin trade. Although, in recent decades, much scientific evidence has challenged traditional misconceptions, stereotyped media portrayals persist, and they hinder conservation efforts. So, this special issue was created to highlight the complex behaviour and cognition of sharks and rays.
