Pressroom – Archives

In a world first, scientists have decoded the genome – the complete set of genes – of the white shark Carcharodon carcharias. Researchers from Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU), Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center (SOSF-SRC) and Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI), Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Monterey Bay Aquarium, found that the white shark genome is large – one and half times bigger, in fact, than our human genome! Most importantly, the researchers found that sharks have evolved to be more resilient than we are to cancers, and to several other age-related diseases that typically affect humans.

This report provides an overview of the conservation status of chondrichthyans (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) in the Arabian Seas Region (ASR) and describes the results of a regional Red List workshop held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in February 2017. It identifies those species that are threatened with extinction at the regional level, so that appropriate conservation action can be taken to improve their status. A regional overview of chondrichthyan fisheries, management and conservation is also presented.

Jane Hosegood is studying for a PhD at the University and is developing genetic tools to identify devil rays and their parts, along with their sister-group, the manta rays. The team are working towards tools which will be able to identify a manta ray or devil ray to species level from small samples, and will also be able to identify which specific population, and therefore location, the ray came from.

Fishermen plying European Union waters don’t encounter signposts declaring the number of sharks in the sea, the health of deep-sea ecosystems, or the overall state of the fisheries. But thanks to reforms in fisheries management in the EU over the past decade, fishing crews and scientists are seeing welcome signs that the health of the ocean is improving—a trend that should continue if European governments honor their commitments to better manage the marine environment.

Angel sharks were once widespread throughout Europe’s seas, but are now extinct from much of their former range. In particular, the Angel Shark (Squatina squatina) historically ranged from Scandinavia down to north-western Africa, including the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the Canary Islands. Over the past several decades, overfishing and high bycatch of this species has severely depleted and fragmented these populations, leading to this species being listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2006. Today, the Canary Islands is the only place where the Critically Endangered Angel Shark is regularly sighted. However, here too they are under threat and urgent action is required to protect them in their last remaining stronghold. Two other species of angel shark, the Sawback Angelshark (S. aculeata) and the Smoothback Angelshark (S. oculata), are also found in European waters and are also listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. We have reached a critical point for angel shark conservation in Europe and urgently need to secure the future of angel sharks across their natural range.

El Angelote (Squatina squatina) ha desaparecido de gran parte de su área de distribución histórica durante el siglo pasado y está clasificado como en Peligro Crítico en la Lista Roja de Especies
Amenazadas de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN) (Ferretti et al. 2015). Sin embargo el Angelote todavía puede encontrarse frecuentemente en el archipiélago de las Islas Canarias, lo cual da esperanzas de poder salvar a esta especie de la extinción. Por este motivo la protección de esta especie en su último bastión conocido es de extrema importancia.

Bimini was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway’s famous novels The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream. When he lived here in the late 1930s, the islands were the domain of big game fishermen and other adventurous souls who wanted to be close to nature. Seventy years on, Bimini is moving in a very different direction.

As an impenetrable swampland, South Florida was one of the final frontiers for modern development in the Unites States. As such, it had an incredibly productive natural environment that supported a profusion of wildlife. In more recent times, a rapidly increasing human population has turned the region into an urban jungle, but it seems that its marine inhabitants are finding ways to survive, often with the help of local researchers and conservationists.

We don’t know much about what Greenland sharks do, but we do know that whatever they do, they do it painfully slowly – and this results in an astonishingly long lifespan. Peter Bushnell and his colleagues recently published a landmark study in Science that reveals just how long these enigmatic sharks live.

Have I failed in my bid to save sharks? I’ve been involved in ocean conservation for 16 years and it seems the situation is only getting worse!

Having attended the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) of CITES as a technical adviser to some of the countries proposing listings for sharks and rays, Sarah Fowler reports on outstanding successes for some sharks and rays.

Fisheries come in a number of different guises, but tagging along with virtually all of them is a simple word with portentous significance: by-catch. Dr Dean Grubbs weighs up the world’s fisheries and explains why some are better for elasmobranchs than others.

Portuguese marine biologist Ana Sobral has been working in the Azores, in an attempt to clarify which mobulid species (manta and devil rays) occur in the remote archipelago.

Dr Dean Grubbs, the current president of the American Elasmobranch Society and scientific adviser to the Save Our Seas Foundation, has spent two decades working with sharks and rays. Philippa Ehrlich asked him for his thoughts on the future of elasmobranchs.

Danny Copeland describes how the Manta Trust used virtual reality to transport CITES delegates to the Azores, where they were immersed in the world of mini mantas.

The Save Our Seas Shark Education Centre’s newest exhibit is live and enables visitors to experience the marine realm from a shark’s point of view. Eleanor Yeld Hutchings explains what went into the creation of the world’s first Shark Senses VR exhibit.

Clare Keating Daly explains how a recent study has provided critical information about setting up a marine reserve to protect sharks and why in the long term that is good for people as well.

Paul Cowley reflects on the progress of the Acoustic Tracking Array Platform that tracks animal movements between Cape Town’s False Bay and Ponta do Oura in Mozambique.

Studying whales in the remoteness of the Great Bear Rainforest is extremely challenging, even after many years, but Janie Wray has days in the field that make it all worthwhile.

‘Be Shark Smart’ is an important mantra during the summer months in Cape Town, South Africa. Alison Kock describes how a new Shark Spotters app will help beach-goers to stay safe and informed.

Félicie Dhellemmes is studying the behaviour of juvenile lemon sharks to understand what might be called ‘shark psychology’.

On Assignment | SOSF Marine Conservation Photography Grant 2016
Justin Gilligan and Sirachai (Shin) Arunrugstichai, the two winners of the second Save Our Seas Foundation Photography Grant, were assigned the tasks of documenting the interface between urban and marine life in South Florida (Justin) and recording changes to the Bimini ecosystem when commercial development moves in (Shin). Conservation Media Unit staffer Jade Schultz describes their experiences.
Jade Schultz describes the trials and tribulations of chasing urban wildlife in the concrete jungle of South Florida with Marine Conservation Photography grantee Justin Gilligan.

On Assignment | SOSF Marine Conservation Photography Grant 2016
Justin Gilligan and Sirachai (Shin) Arunrugstichai, the two winners of the second Save Our Seas Foundation Photography Grant, were assigned the tasks of documenting the interface between urban and marine life in South Florida (Justin) and recording changes to the Bimini ecosystem when commercial development moves in (Shin). Conservation Media Unit staffer Jade Schultz describes their experiences.
Jade Schultz reflects on her experience at Bimini and the Shark Lab while in the field with Marine Conservation Photography grantee ‘Shin’ Arunrugstichai.

It’s not a bad idea – to set aside areas of ocean, big or small, where human exploitative activities are limited or banned and in which marine life in all its diversity can be protected. It’s also a very large idea, one that has pros and cons, offers many opportunities and potential pitfalls, and sparks animated debate. We have invited scientists who know most about marine protected areas to present what is known about them and how they can – and do – work.

Elusive and enigmatic, the African manatee faces threats that can only be mitigated when more is known about it. And therein lies the problem: resources for biologists in Africa are rudimentary, to say the least. Lucy Keith Diagne has set up a network to overcome the challenges they face.

Drones get their share of negative press relating to privacy issues and military usage, but there’s far more to them than that. Drone Adventures, an association of volunteers, was founded three years ago to demonstrate that drones are perfect for humanitarian and nature conservation purposes too. To prove the point, the Save Our Seas Foundation recruited Drone Adventures to help its researchers at D’Arros Island and St Joseph Atoll in the Seychelles.

Ruth Leeney speaks to Nigel Downing about his in-depth research on live sawfishes in West Africa in 1974 and 1975. Nigel’s project came to an abrupt end after only 18 months when funding was withdrawn and he subsequently switched to laboratory-based research to complete his PhD. Forty years later he and Ruth worked together to resurrect some of the data he had so painstakingly collected in the Gambia and Senegal. No stranger to the region, Ruth herself had spent much time there searching for the now-elusive ‘river monsters’. Nigel’s data brought to life a West Africa unknown to her, where rivers teemed with juvenile sawfishes. His stories give an inkling of what has been lost: thriving populations of these unique fishes that were probably observed year in, year out by communities along coasts and rivers at that time.

The recent CITES listing for manta rays and CMS listing for both manta and mobula rays were a substantial boost for the conservation of these species, but a major challenge remains: manta and mobula rays are notoriously difficult to identify. An ID guide produced by The Manta Trust will help to make accurate identification possible – and the listings, in conjunction with other conservation measures, effective. Daniel Fernando explains how.

Giant devil rays are not a popular target for Gaza’s fishers, yet when hundreds of the mobulids mysteriously appeared within the limited range of their nets, they rushed to land them. The strange phenomenon of the rays’ sudden arrival puzzled marine researcher Mohammed Abudaya and he set out to discover what was behind it – and learn more about the political background to the fishermen’s response.

Ocean acidification, caused by the addition of huge amounts of carbon dioxide to the marine environment, is a problem that has come to the fore relatively recently. Jason Hall-Spencer, Professor of Marine Biology at Plymouth University, places it within the context of the myriad other threats that face the world’s oceans.

Ruth H. Leeney is the founder and director of Protect Africa’s Sawfishes and the Sawfish Conservation Officer for the IUCN Shark Specialist Group.

As part of a project called Baseline Caribbean, Erin Dillon is pioneering a new method of shark palaeontology that uses fossilised scales (dermal denticles) to discover what pristine shark communities looked like in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Philippa Ehrlich spoke to her about her study.

The Save Our Seas Foundation Youth Ocean Ambassadorship Programme was developed and rolled out in 2015. Its purpose is to mentor future leaders in ocean conservation through a residential one-month survey of careers in marine science.

Coral can tell us a lot about the environment it is found in, particularly if that environment is changing for the worse. Based at D’Arros Island and St Joseph Atoll in the Amirantes Islands of the Seychelles, Kerryn Bullock describes some of the ways in which researchers are monitoring local reefs.

Historically sidelined compared to manta rays, mobula rays are no less threatened than their larger relatives, notably by the unregulated trade in their gill plates. Fiji is the first country to take up their cause.

Unravelling the mysteries of enigmatic predators

Hermann puts on headphones to isolate the sounds while we step out onto the observation deck and peer into the darkness. Seconds later we hear the quick blows and tail-slapping of the transient orca pod right in front of us. Even when they’re out of sight, you can feel the presence of a whale.

The story – and implications – of new research led by Jill Brooks that extends the age of lemon sharks using genetic information from 25 years of research.

Devil and Manta Rays (Mobulidae) are a family of species that are highly mobile, broadly distributed and routinely cross international boundaries. They are globally threatened by directed and non-directed fisheries that retain these fishes for their gill plates, which are highly valued in Asian markets. Over the past five years, restrictions on fishing and trade have been increasing for both devil and manta rays. However, the implementation of effective protections depends entirely upon the availability and communication of relevant scientific knowledge, to those people best placed to take action. In 2014, the IUCN Shark Specialist Group (SSG) convened a workshop aimed at developing a global strategy for the conservation of devil and manta rays.

Where forest meets sea on Canada’s Pacific coastline, First Nations have sustainably used an incredible natural bounty for thousands of years. Ian McAllister of Pacific Wild wants to continue their traditions of protection.

More than a decade of surveying the whale populations of British Columbia’s northern coast has given Janie Wray a deep appreciation of the Great Whale Sea – and brought not a few surprises!

As creatures of the open ocean, whale sharks give biologists little opportunity for research. They do aggregate at certain coastal locations, though, and at Australia’s Ningaloo Reef Lara Marcus Zamora is helping to solve some of the mysteries surrounding them.

A small group of rocky islets in the middle of the ocean seems an unlikely location for human habitation, but when those humans are marine scientists the logic becomes clearer – and even more so when, as Ramón Bonfil describes, the islets are a seasonal home to little-known devil rays.

Yes, there are sharks in the downtown waterways of Miami, Florida – and their presence provides researchers from the University of Miami with a golden opportunity to study how they are affected by urbanised coastlines.

Recent technological advances have opened a window on shark movements, including those of tiger sharks, and are helping researchers like Ryan Daly to understand how the sharks use their environment – and how best they can be protected.

What is a ‘typical’ shark? A large, toothy, familiar predator or a small, dark creature of the deep? Dean Grubbs and Charles Cotton reveal some surprises about sharks that are little known, poorly researched and increasingly overfished.

Are jellyfish taking over the world? Recent reports of havoc caused by proliferations of these gooey, brainless creatures indicate that the suggestion is not as unlikely as it sounds. Lisa-ann Gershwin explains why jellyfish are thriving.

A number of things make whales fascinating: their size, their mammoth migrations, their inscrutability… South Africa’s south-western coast is a good place to catch up with them – and with Katja Vinding Petersen as she studies them. Philippa Ehrlich spoke to Katja about the fascination southern right whales hold for her.

Most people working in marine conservation say that they have always had a passion for the sea and its inhabitants since as far back as they can remember. My background is no different, and learning to scuba dive and seeing marine creatures up close confirmed that this environment would define the rest of my life.

Tides exert a strong force on life at St Joseph Atoll, driving the movements and behaviour of its marine and terrestrial creatures. Ornella Weideli tells us how she’s exploring the effect of the tides on the atoll’s sharks.

Zanele Mayiya believes she has one of the best jobs in the world, and it’s one that she earned with hard work, dedication and passion.

Enthusiasm for sharks and interest in their biology transcend international boundaries and cultures, as Cassandra Ruck discovers when she welcomes Igbal Elhassan to the Shark Research Center in Florida.

Abi March is helping to bring Lost World to classrooms across the Seychelles and in the process she’s introducing children to an underwater realm they have rarely seen before.

There are plenty of memorable experiences to be had at the Shark Lab, but for Tristan Guttridge one tops them all.

Lamakera, a remote community in Indonesia, could have the world’s largest manta ray fishery. Here Sarah Lewis is applying a philosophy for manta conservation that goes beyond simple enforcement and engages communities in tackling the challenge.

The deceptively ordinary name ‘The Wall’ belies the wonder and diversity it represents: a highway for orcas, humpbacks and fin whales. Janie Wray writes about this special place.

The third Southern African Shark and Ray Symposium brought together scientists, students, government and the public to learn about and celebrate sharks and rays. Alison Kock and Sarah Waries tell us of the highlights.

The Save Our Seas Foundation believes that photography is a powerful tool for marine conservation. We seek emerging conservation and wildlife photographers with a passion for marine subjects to apply for our 2016 grant.

A cluster of shark incidents and some outside-the-box thinking sparked a unique programme that is beneficial on so many levels. Lisa Boonzaier describes how it works.

In False Bay, South Africa, Philippa Ehrlich learns that protecting the area’s critically endangered reef fish species is going to require people – often with different needs and agendas – to collaborate.

James Lea and his team are learning about the significance of D’Arros and St Joseph for local shark populations – and how best to protect this critical habitat.

Chris Lowe takes a close look at the relationship between science, the media and the public and asks whether ‘the-sky-is-falling’ science is really the only solution for elasmobranch conservation.

The Sudanese coastline has a rare treasure – one of the few remaining communities of healthy shark populations. Igbal Elhassan is on a mission to keep it that way.

William Winram, holder of two free-diving world records, enjoys diving on a single breath and unencumbered by scuba gear. Here he explains why.

Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch outlines the history of the Bimini Biological Field Station, the brainchild of Dr Samuel Gruber that has been operating in the Bahamas for 25 years.

Philippa Ehrlich joined Dipani Sutaria for some of her market surveys in Mumbai, India, and spoke to her about her new research interest in India’s shark fishery.

Physiological changes in marine animals are known to be caused by ocean acidification but, explains Sue-Ann Watson, it’s only recently that scientists have become aware of behavioural changes too.

CMS COP11, held in Quito, Ecuador, towards the end of 2014, listed a record number of migratory sharks and rays for global protection. But, asks Andrea Pauly, what comes next?

It was at the age of nine that I first heard a recording of a family of orcas; instantly I was both captivated and extremely curious. This was my first emotional response to sound, and the inspiration it gave me led to a life-long commitment to understanding the behaviour of whales. After I graduated, my dream was to build a research station in an area where whales thrive and the presence and impact of people are minimal. I was fortunate enough to meet Hermann Meuter, who shares the same passion.

For Mahmood Shivji and his team at the SOSF Shark Research Center, exploring the genomes of sharks has turned up many exciting surprises – discoveries that could lead to medical advances for humankind.

When you’re collecting data about a species, the first thing to do is identify it – and that’s difficult when it comes to mobulids. Daniel Fernando and colleagues are compiling an ID guide, in itself no easy task.

Janie Wray was surprised to see a young whale apparently enjoying a kelp massage – and then it clicked. Is this why whales so easily become entangled in rope fishing gear?

Personality in animals is actually similar to personality in humans. Essentially we look for differences in behaviour between individuals of the same species, in this case the lemon shark.

Take 24 young students and show them the amazing life in the ocean around them, says Abi March, and before you know it you have 24 marine ambassadors.

If you’re a stingray – or a stingray researcher – St Joseph Atoll in the Seychelles is a good place to be. Chantel Elston tells of inroads being made into the vast unknown of stingray biology.

Getting kids involved in learning about the sea is as much fun for educator Paul Millar as it is for the youngsters themselves.

On Assignment: SOSF Marine Conservation Photography Grant 2014

On Assignment: SOSF Marine Conservation Photography Grant 2014

Thomas P. Peschak sheds light on the three distinct marine realms that wash the shores of the Arabian Peninsula.

Arabian Shark and Ray Fisheries: Protecting and managing shark and ray populations in the Arabian Sea is a huge challenge, explains Dr Rima Jabado, primarily because so little is known about them.

It’s been a long battle, but gradually Dr Nicolas Pilcher is persuading the shrimp fishers, and government, of Malaysia that a simple device can protect turtles without detriment to their catch.

Philippa Ehrlich spoke to Dr Rolph Payet, former Seychelles’ Minister of Environment and Energy, about the country’s proposed marine protected area at D’Arros Island and St Joseph Atoll, and the processes that will be undertaken to ensure its success.

It seemed like a good idea at the time – and 10 years on, it’s proven its value. From mountain vantage points, Shark Spotters watch the waters around Cape Town and warn surfers when sharks are present.

Demian Chapman, assistant professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, paints an emerging portrait of the oceanic whitetip shark Carcharhinus longimanus.

Sea Turtles in the Seychelles: Called to the Seychelles more than three decades ago to help ‘fix’ the problem of declining sea turtle populations, Dr Jeanne A. Mortimer is still there – and well satisfied with the nation’s proud conservation record.

Manager of the SOSF Shark Education Centre Eleanor Yeld Hutchings tells us about her colourful South African upbringing and why she chose to pursue a career dedicated to communicating marine science to the public.

While public opinion appears to be turning in favour of sharks, Sonja Fordham thinks it’s time to draw attention to their lesser-known but equally threatened fellow chondrichthyans: the skates, rays and sawfishes of the oceans.

In this age of digital communication, do conferences still play an important role in research and conservation? SOSF principal scientist Sarah Fowler thinks so, and she explains why.

I’m a sea turtle guy through and through. I grew up snorkelling all on my own as a kid, and as the years went by and the kilos piled on I got hooked on sea turtles – it was hard not to, really. One thing led to another and I found myself in charge of a turtle project in Saudi Arabia back in 1989. I came over to Malaysia in ’93, and from there the whole Indo-Pacific opened up to me. I have roamed the seas and oceans ever since, doing my turtle thing.

The longest tagging study of a single species – conducted by the Bimini Biological Field Station team and led by Dr Samuel Gruber – has produced invaluable information about the biology of the lemon shark.

We had four days in Durban, South Africa. A room full of experts and one goal: to draft a global strategy for the conservation of manta and devil rays. What a challenge, yet what an amazing opportunity too!

If you had arrived on the small island of D’Arros in the Seychelles two centuries ago, you would have landed on bright white beaches fringed with coconut palms and casuarina trees. In the interior you would have found patches of broad-leaf forest interspersed with scrub vegetation. Extensive deposits of ancient guano would have indicated that the island supported very large populations of nesting and roosting seabirds. It was also home to healthy numbers of giant tortoises, land crabs and indigenous birds.

According to a very wise, and long-dead, Greek philosopher, ‘Wisdom begins in wonder.’ It’s not easy to describe what it feels like to be on a tiny crumb of earth in the middle of the Western Indian Ocean, but wonder is a good place to start – especially when your head is jammed in among a tangle of mangrove roots and you are surrounded by a group of Seychellois teenagers who are just as in awe as you are.

Ideally situated at the edge of False Bay in Cape Town, South Africa, the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Centre overlooks the ocean and the distant Hottentots Holland Mountains. It was established in 2008 in a beautiful heritage-status building in Kalk Bay, right on the doorstep of the incredible Dalebrook Marine Protected Area – an apt location for a marine-focused centre, as Dalebrook is a sanctuary zone within the greater Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area.

Studying the DNA of sharks and rays is a key aspect of the work undertaken at the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center (SOSSRC) in the United States. But why, you might ask, would one research DNA? How does that help us to understand and conserve sharks and rays? The broad answer is that the DNA of an organism, in its beautiful simplicity and yet intricate pathways inside cells, is fundamentally responsible for the form and function of all living things, from bacteria to sharks to humans. If we really want to understand how a species works and evolves at its most basic level, we’ll find the answer mainly in its genes – and when and where those genes are switched on and off.

In June 2014 the Save Our Seas Foundation announced the winners of the inaugural Marine Conservation Photography Grant. The foundation received 90 entries from emerging photographers around the world and the judging panel met in the Seychelles to choose the winners.

Sawfishes are arguably the most threatened family of marine fishes in the world. The global populations of all five sawfish species have experienced historic declines greater than 90% due to fisheries overexploitation (directed and bycatch) and habitat loss. Consequently, three species are listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, and two species are listed as Endangered. There is a very real risk that these unique species will be lost without urgent conservation action.
The IUCN Shark Specialist Group developed a Global Sawfish Conservation Strategy in 2014 that provides an update on the status of sawfishes. It also details global-scale prioritized recommendations for meaningful research, education and conservation action and a roadmap for the development of regional conservation programmes to improve the global status of sawfishes.

Sawfishes are arguably the most threatened family of marine fishes in the world. The global populations of all five sawfish species have experienced historic declines greater than 90% due to fisheries overexploitation (directed and bycatch) and habitat loss. Consequently, three species are listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, and two species are listed as Endangered. There is a very real risk that these unique species will be lost without urgent conservation action.
The IUCN Shark Specialist Group developed a Global Sawfish Conservation Strategy in 2014 that provides an update on the status of sawfishes. It also details global-scale prioritized recommendations for meaningful research, education and conservation action and a roadmap for the development of regional conservation programmes to improve the global status of sawfishes.

Sawfishes are arguably the most threatened family of marine fishes in the world. The global populations of all five sawfish species have experienced historic declines greater than 90% due to fisheries overexploitation (directed and bycatch) and habitat loss. Consequently, three species are listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, and two species are listed as Endangered. There is a very real risk that these unique species will be lost without urgent conservation action.
The IUCN Shark Specialist Group developed a Global Sawfish Conservation Strategy in 2014 that provides an update on the status of sawfishes. It also details global-scale prioritized recommendations for meaningful research, education and conservation action and a roadmap for the development of regional conservation programmes to improve the global status of sawfishes.

Shark Specialists Prioritize Recovery of World’s Largest, Most Threatened Rays