Ocean News

You’d be forgiven for not knowing the otherworldly creature called the elephantfish. With the odd, trunk-like appendage on its head that it uses to root around for crabs on the sandy seafloor, this relative of the elasmobranchs (sharks, rays and skates) is aptly, if oddly, named. Also known as a…

Winter in North America is over and blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) aggregations in South Florida (USA) have dispersed. Graduate and undergraduate students from the Florida Atlantic Biomechanics lab are working to process another year’s worth of drone footage.…

The broadnose sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus), more commonly known as a sevengill or cowshark, is a large (up to 3 m) and fairly common coastal predator in temperate seas worldwide. In Southern Africa, the known range of these…

Angel shark populations have received full protection in the Canary Islands. Three species of angel shark: the Angelshark (Squatina squatina), as well as the sawback angelshark (S. aculeata) and smoothback angelshark (S. oculata) have been listed on the Spanish Endangered Species List for Canary Island waters. All three species are…

Who you are, what you eat, and where you swim, matter. At least, that’s the message when it comes to different shark species, and how vulnerable they are to contaminants throughout their lifetime. No risk assessments, or management plans, currently factor in the magnitude of pollutants accumulating in different shark…

What does a sawfish saw represent to you? To some, a saw is seen as a fishing trophy or intriguing decor, while to others it holds a cultural significance; however, to many people, it embodies the exploitation that…

A lot has happened since our last blog post! A big reason for the gap is because it can take a year or more to develop appropriate procedures and protocols for conducting reliable environmental DNA (eDNA) research. Contrary…

To assess how distinct blacktip sharks from different countries in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean are we need to examine their DNA. In recent years, major technological advances have enabled geneticists to examine differences in DNA of…

Due to the charismatic nature of many large shark species such as great whites, tigers, bulls and whale sharks, they have received much attention over the years, and for this reason are relatively well studied. Unfortunately, this trend…

World Oceans Day is celebrated annually on 8 June. On this day, we celebrate what our oceans mean for our survival and wellbeing, and highlight some of the more pressing challenges to their healthy functioning. It’s been unofficially observed since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, but…

A tiny, candy-striped fish gaping goggle-eyed from its hiding place below the overhang on a coral reef is easily overlooked. “Once one knows what to look for and where to look, it is relatively easy to find them”, explains Dr Ryan Daly, former Research Director of the SOSF D’Arros Research…

The South African Minister of Environmental Affairs announced twenty new marine protected areas (MPAs) – a move that increases the oceans protected around the country’s mainland territory from 0.4% to 5%. The MPAs were formally gazetted yesterday and will take effect on 1 August this year. Designed to pack a…