Ocean News

The new Eugenie Clark Award will ensure that the legacy of the ‘Shark Lady’ lives on and that future female scientists continue to contribute to it. Launched last week by the American Elasmobranch Society (AES), with the support of the Save Our Sea Foundation and the Mote Marine Laboratory, the…

It’s a standard Monday morning when I walk into the lab for the first time since starting my PhD on the genetics of manta and mobula rays. Machines are whirring away around me and all the other PhD…

The word ‘contaminant’ brings to mind different ideas depending on who you’re talking to: dirty, dangerous, disaster. My work focuses on measuring what are called ‘legacy organic contaminants’ in elasmobranchs (sharks, rays and chimaeras). Many of the compounds…

As the olive-brownish shape of a Chilean devil ray emerges from the depths next to our boat, the familiar excitement I get when seeing my study animals – whether great white sharks or devil rays – invades me…

Words by: Firdous Hendricks Firdous has a passion for anything to do with nature and hopes to help change people’s negative perceptions of sharks. She thrives on creative writing and enjoys exploring nature’s wonders in her free time.…

It was a routine dive, but it had a surprise in store for us. Last night, as we usually do on a warm and clear summer evening in the Canary Islands, we went to our favourite dive spot…

Marine Conservation Society Fishing with explosives, although illegal, remains a very significant threat to coral reefs in certain parts of the world. In Sabah, East Malaysia (Borneo), the weapon of choice is the ‘bottle bomb’, a home-made device…

Words by: Ryan and Clare Daly The end of the summer season is an exciting time for us as we download information from our underwater acoustic receivers. The receivers record the presence (and absence) of tagged tiger sharks…

As a shark geneticist at the Save Our Seas Shark Research Center (SOSSRC) in Florida, USA, I don’t get into the field very often. So when an opportunity comes my way to shed my lab coat and head…

Words by: Emily Moxham Back home in South Africa, I can only attempt to sum up the ‘D’Arros experience’. A whole host of cliché synonyms come to mind; self-help facts and pocket guide advice seem to be all…

When I was first developing a potential project for monitoring deep-water sharks in Belize, implementing an arm workout wasn’t in my plan. Having now completed 43 hand-deployed deep-drop sets ranging in depth from 300 to 550 metres, I…

A deep-sea gulper shark captured on camera by Sealord Corporation’s underwater surveying gear. This equipment was developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to increase selectivity in fishing and thereby minimise by-catch. Photo by CSIRO.…