Scientific Papers

Seasonal occurrence and sexual segregation of great white sharks in Mossel Bay

Seasonal occurrence and sexual segregation of great white sharks in Mossel Bay

Seasonal occurrence and sexual segregation of great white sharks Carcharodon carcharias in Mossel Bay, South Africa Hannah R. Milankovic, Nicholas D. Ray, Louise K. Gentle, Christo Kruger, Esther Jacobs, Craig J. Ferreira ABSTRACT: The seasonal occurrence and temporal sexual segregation of great white sharks Carcharodon carcharias have been widely documented in various temperate and sub-tropical

Long-term investment in shark sanctuaries

Long-term investment in shark sanctuaries

Long-term investment in shark sanctuaries Demian D Chapman, Khadeeja Ali, M Aaron MacNeil, Michelle R Heupel, Mark Meekan, Euan S Harvey, Colin A Simpfendorfer, Michael R Heithaus ABSTRACT: No abstract available Science. 2021 Apr 30;372(6541):473. DOI: 10.1126/science.abj0147 SOURCE

First detection of critically endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks in Guam in five decades

First detection of critically endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks in Guam in five decades

First detection of critically endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) in Guam, Micronesia, in five decades using environmental DNA Alyssa M. Budd, Madalyn K. Cooper, Agnès Le Port, Tom Schils, Matthew S. Mill, Mari E. Deinhart, Roger Huerlimann, Jan M. Strugnell ABSTRACT: Among the hammerhead sharks, scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) have undergone the steepest population

Reproductive biology of the swell shark

Reproductive biology of the swell shark

Reproductive biology of the swell shark Cephaloscyllium ventriosum (Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae) Stephanie Bernal‐Pérez, Rosa Isabel Ochoa‐Báez, Felipe Galván‐Magaña, Katherin Soto‐López ABSTRACT: The Cephaloscyllium ventriosum shark is present in the artisanal fisheries of elasmobranchs on the western coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico. The main characteristics of the sexual maturation of this species based on individuals captured

Drivers of Spatial Distributions of Basking Shark in the Southwest Pacific

Drivers of Spatial Distributions of Basking Shark in the Southwest Pacific

Drivers of Spatial Distributions of Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) in the Southwest Pacific Finucci Brittany, Duffy Clinton A. J., Brough Tom, Francis Malcolm P., Milardi Marco, Pinkerton Matthew H., Petersen Grady, Stephenson Fabrice ABSTRACT: Basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) were widely reported throughout New Zealand waters. Once commonly observed, and sometimes in large numbers, basking sharks

Improved detection sensitivity using an optimal eDNA preservation and extraction workflow and its application to threatened sawfishes

Improved detection sensitivity using an optimal eDNA preservation and extraction workflow and its application to threatened sawfishes

Improved detection sensitivity using an optimal eDNA preservation and extraction workflow and its application to threatened sawfishes Madalyn K. Cooper, Roger Huerlimann, Richard C. Edmunds, Alyssa M. Budd, Agnès Le Port, Peter M. Kyne, Dean R. Jerry, Colin A. Simpfendorfer ABSTRACT: Pressures on coastal ecosystems are increasing and aquatic species that are restricted to these

Large sharks exhibit varying behavioral responses to major hurricanes

Large sharks exhibit varying behavioral responses to major hurricanes

Large sharks exhibit varying behavioral responses to major hurricanes L.F.G. Gutowsky, James Rider, R.P.Roemer, A.J. Gallagher, M.R. Heithause, S.J. Cooke, N. Hammerschlag ABSTRACT: Under global climate change, storm events are predicted to increase in strength and frequency. Although aquatic animals can be affected by acute natural disturbances, information on the immediate consequences of these weather

Significant differences in trophic niches of smooth hammerhead

Significant differences in trophic niches of smooth hammerhead

Stable isotope and fatty acid analyses reveal significant differences in trophic niches of smooth hammerhead Sphyrna zygaena (Carcharhiniformes) among three nursery areas in northern Humboldt Current System Eduardo Segura-Cobeña​​, Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto, Jeffrey Mangel, Angel Urzua, Konrad Górski​​ ABSTRACT: Fishery pressure on nursery areas of smooth hammerhead in northern Peruvian coast have become a serious threat

Annual abundance and population growth rates of white sharks off central California

Annual abundance and population growth rates of white sharks off central California

Estimates of regional annual abundance and population growth rates of white sharks off central California Paul E. Kanive, Jay J. Rotella, Taylor K. Chapple, Scot D. Anderson, Timothy D. White, Barbara A. Block, Salvador J. Jorgensen ABSTRACT: Determining population trends is critical for evaluating management actions and prioritizing species protections. In this study, we used

Sightings trends and behaviour of manta rays in Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil

Sightings trends and behaviour of manta rays in Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil

Sightings trends and behaviour of manta rays in Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil Nayara Bucair, Stephanie K. Venables, Ana Paula Balboni, Andrea D. Marshall ABSTRACT: Despite substantial progress in mobulid research over the past decade, knowledge gaps in manta ray ecology and behaviour remain, particularly in the South Atlantic Ocean. Opportunistic photographic and video records

Shark conservation and blanket bans in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Shark conservation and blanket bans in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Shark conservation and blanket bans in the eastern Pacific Ocean Gustavo A. Castellanos‐Galindo, Pilar Herrón, Andrés F. Navia, Hollie Booth ABSTRACT: Sharks are one of the most threatened marine animals, with fishing identified as the prime human activity responsible for population declines. The tropical eastern Pacific, a biogeographic region spanning the coastal areas from Mexico

Association behavior between sand tiger sharks and round scad is driven by mesopredators

Association behavior between sand tiger sharks and round scad is driven by mesopredators

Association behavior between sand tiger sharks and round scad is driven by mesopredators Nicholas C. Coleman​, Erin J. Burge​​ ABSTRACT: In marine systems, behaviorally-mediated indirect interactions between prey, mesopredators, and higher trophic-level, large predators are less commonly investigated than other ecologic interactions, likely because of inherent difficulties associated with making observations. Underwater videos (n = 216) from

Effects of food provisioning on the daily ration and dive site use of great hammerhead sharks

Effects of food provisioning on the daily ration and dive site use of great hammerhead sharks

Effects of food provisioning on the daily ration and dive site use of great hammerhead sharks, Sphyrna mokarran Vital Heim, Félicie Dhellemmes, Matthew J. Smukall, Samuel H. Gruber, Tristan L. Guttridge ABSTRACT: Wildlife provisioning is popular, economically valuable and a rapidly growing part of marine tourism, with great potential to benefit conservation. However, it remains

Telomere Length in the Deep-Sea Shark, Etmopterus granulosus

Telomere Length in the Deep-Sea Shark, Etmopterus granulosus

An Exploratory Study of Telomere Length in the Deep-Sea Shark, Etmopterus granulosus Melissa C. Nehmens, Rebecca M. Varney, Alexis M. Janosik, David A. Ebert ABSTRACT: The history of elasmobranch ageing highlights the difficulty of age estimation in animals lacking ossified structures. Ageing techniques are numerous, yet all are limited by difficulties of validation and verification

Foraging depth depicts resource partitioning and contamination level in a pelagic shark assemblage

Foraging depth depicts resource partitioning and contamination level in a pelagic shark assemblage

Foraging depth depicts resource partitioning and contamination level in a pelagic shark assemblage: Insights from mercury stable isotopes Lucien Besnard, Gaël Le Croizier, Felipe Galván-Magaña, David Point, Edouard Kraffe, James Ketchum, Raul Octavio Martinez Rincon, Gauthier Schaal ABSTRACT: The decline of shark populations in the world ocean is affecting ecosystem structure and function in an