GENEVA (Switzerland)- Scientists have sequenced the genomes of two endangered sharks. Low genetic diversity and signs of inbreeding ring alarm bells for great hammerheads, but there may be hope for shortfin makos that showed higher genetic diversity and limited inbreeding. The first chromosome level genome sequences for great hammerhead andContinue Reading
How do sharks and tuna react to being caught by hook-and-line and then released? Well, they swim twice as fast as their normal cruising speed, according tot researchers at The Royal Society. Sharks and tuna normally swim at elevated speeds relative to cruising speeds only during strenuous activity, such asContinue Reading
GENEVA (Switzerland)- Tracking silky sharks has revealed them to be swift swimmers. But they’re also one of the most heavily fished sharks globally. Will expanded marine protection in the Tropical Eastern Pacific go far enough to protect these long-distance swimmers? Smooth, slender and swift. Enter the silky shark, one ofContinue Reading
GENEVA (SWITZERLAND)- The Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) is dedicated to the conservation our oceans, with a particular focus on securing a sustainable future for sharks and rays. Predators like sharks play a crucial role in healthy marine ecosystems, and the oceans are our life support – we rely onContinue Reading
ADELAIDE (Australia)- If all Australians that go into the ocean were to use electronic deterrents, over a thousand people could avoid being bitten by a shark across Australia in the next 45 years. Research funded by the Flinders University Marine and Coastal Research Consortium has used data of the AustralianContinue Reading
VIENNA (Austria)- Modern tiger sharks are older than previously thought and in the past several tiger shark species existed compared to the single species living today. That’s what an international team of researchers, led by Julia Türtscher from the University of Vienna, found out by examining the fossil record ofContinue Reading
WASHINGTON DC (USA)- The giant prehistoric Carcharocles megalodon (or Otodus megalodon for some researchers) was the largest predatory shark to ever swim in Earth’s seas. Scientific evidence points to megalodon having lived between 16 million and 2.6 million years ago, going extinct at the end of the Pliocene Epoch whenContinue Reading