The island of Tristan da Cunha. VictoriaJStokes / iStock / Getty Images Plus
In the South Atlantic Ocean, a tiny island of 250 people has made a significant contribution to global marine conservation by protecting a huge swath of ocean under its control.
<p>To reach Tristan da Cunha, a UK overseas territory, one must make a seven-day boat trip from South Africa, reported <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2020/11/tristan-da-cunha-atlantic-marine-protection-zone/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>. The island chain recently announced that 700,000 square kilometers (270,271 square miles), or 90% of its territorial waters, will be designated as a large marine protected area (MPA) to safeguard the area's rich <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered animals</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/13/tiny-atlantic-island-takes-giant-leap-towards-protecting-worlds-oceans" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. At that size, it will be three times the size of Britain, the largest marine sanctuary in the Atlantic and the fourth largest in the world, providing refuge to sevengill sharks, whales and seals, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tristan-da-cunha-rockhopper-penguins-39c5e5d74120972e871327b04f823114" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP News</a> continued.</p>
<p>The new wildlife refuge will be a "no-take" zone, baning bottom-trawling fishing, deep-sea mining and other harmful and extractive harvesting from its waters, National Geographic reported. This will also protect the foraging grounds of tens of millions of seabirds that roost on the island, such as endangered Tristan and yellow-nosed albatross, Atlantic petrel and rockhopper penguins. Critically, these protections will bolster the small Tristan Rock Lobster commercial fishery outside the sanctuary, which is the territory's most important source of income, AP News reported. This luxury crayfish is sold to the U.S., Europe, Japan and China.</p><p>Experts believe that MPAs are a "silver bullet for conservation," <a href="https://earth.org/tristan-da-cunha-marine-protected-area/" target="_blank">Earth.org</a> noted. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/expanding-marine-protected-areas-mpa-sustainability-conservation/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Economic Forum (WEF)</a> found that MPAs worldwide protect food supplies by leading to larger catch yields through "spillover," where fish from protected areas reproduce and enter fishing hotspots in greater abundance. Expanding the current network of protected areas by just 5% could boost global fish catch by at least 20%, the WEF asserted.</p>
<p>The protected area will join the UK's <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-blue-belt-programme" target="_blank">Blue Belt Programme</a>, which has funded 27 million pounds ($35.5 million) to promote marine conservation in UK overseas territories, AP News reported. The initiative has protected 11.1 million square kilometers (4.3 million square miles) of marine environment, or 1% of the world's oceans, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, the report added.</p><p>The program continues to inch closer to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/un-biodiversity-sixth-mass-extinction-2644807009.html?rebelltitem=1" target="_self">global target of protecting 30% of the world's oceans by 2030</a>. Scientists believe that this is the minimum required percentage of protected habitat to preserve <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> and safeguard ecosystems and their functions. According to National Geographic, roughly 8% of the world's oceans are currently designated as MPAs, but only 2.6% are totally off limits to fishing.</p><p>Johnson said, "We need collective global action if we are to bequeath a world that is every bit as wonderful and magnificent as the one we inherited," reported The Guardian.</p><p>According to Earth.org, the UK holds a duty to protect wildlife found in all its territories and will take charge of monitoring and enforcement within the new MPA. This is especially important because the nearest habitation, Saint Helena, is 2,400 km away. Through the Blue Belt Programme, Tristan da Cunha will receive more resources to patrol for illegal fishing activity. Earth.org reported.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/pew-bertarelli-ocean-legacy" target="_blank">Pew Bertarelli project</a>, which promotes the creation of marine reserves around the world, also committed to help the archipelago protect its waters with technology that uses real-time data to evaluate ocean conditions and human activity such as fishing, AP News reported. The project is a joint venture of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Bertarelli Foundation.</p><p>"This small community is responsible for one of the biggest conservation achievements of 2020," Beccy Speight, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) told AP News. "This will protect one of the most pristine marine environments on the planet."</p><p>James Glass, the territory's chief islander, said in a statement, "Our life on Tristan da Cunha has always been based around our relationship with the sea, and that continues today. That's why we're fully protecting 90% of our waters, and we're proud that we can play a key role in preserving the health of the oceans," reported AP News.</p><p>While the British government lauded the effort and called on other governments to take similar action to meet the ambitious 30%, some critics were not impressed. They noted the hypocrisy of encouraging others to act when the UK allows bottom-trawling in all but two of its domestic offshore MPAs, in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/09/revealed-97-of-uk-offshore-marine-parks-subject-to-destructive-fishing" target="_blank">another Guardian</a> article.</p><p>Jonathan Hall, head of UK overseas territory unit at the RSPB, told Earth.org, "We should also be looking at protecting UK waters. The contrast is stark. We have this small community that is showing leadership in protecting their waters, but there have been lots of examples this year where more effective management of our existing protected areas is needed."</p>
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A woman swims at night with a shark in the Indian Ocean, Maldives on March 23, 2017. Andrey Nekrasov / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Scientists are racing to create a cure for COVID-19, but the toll on sharks might be irreparable. Conservationists estimate that half a million of the predators may be killed to supply the world with a coronavirus vaccine when one is developed.
<p>Shark liver oil is primarily made of squalene, which helps regulate a shark's buoyancy in deep water. The compound is also found in plants, humans and other animals. Used as a moisturizing agent in cosmetics, squalene also creates a stronger immune response in vaccines, making them more effective, reported <a href="https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/27486/20200928/developing-coronavirus-vaccines-harming-shark-species.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Science Times</a>.</p><p>Squalene has been used in flu vaccines since 1997, <a href="https://www.boston25news.com/news/health/advocates-worry-about-covid-19-culling-sharks/D35KAG7H5BHOJAV5KC7RAVWF3A/" target="_blank">Boston 25 News</a> reported, and has an "excellent safety record" according to the CDC, <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article246069130.html" target="_blank">Miami Herald</a> reported. It could also help reduce the amount of vaccine needed per person, the Boston news report said.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sharkallies.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shark Allies</a>, an advocacy group fighting against shark overfishing, claims that five COVID-19 vaccine candidates use shark squalene; the California-based non-profit is <a href="https://www.change.org/p/us-fda-food-and-drug-administration-of-the-united-states-of-america-stop-using-sharks-in-covid-19-vaccine-use-existing-sustainable-options?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=923ecf50-6a7c-0130-2a28-3c764e0455b2" target="_blank">petitioning</a> the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Europe, China and all vaccine developers to omit the compound or find an alternative that doesn't require sharks.</p><p>One British pharmaceutical that currently uses shark squalene in flu vaccines plans to manufacture a billion doses of the compound for potential use in coronavirus vaccines by May 2021, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-half-a-million-sharks-could-be-killed-for-vaccine-experts-warn-12083167" target="_blank">Sky News</a> reported. <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7qdym/half-a-million-sharks-could-be-killed-to-make-a-global-covid-vaccine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VICE</a> reported that roughly 3,000 sharks have to die to extract a single tonne of squalene.</p><p>"It's called harvesting, but really you're not growing it, you're taking it from the wild," Stefanie Brendl, executive director of Shark Allies, told Boston 25 News. "It's a limited resource."</p><p>Shark Allies worries that the development and production of enough vaccines to create worldwide immunization to the novel coronavirus and future coronaviruses that are identified could carry "an immense ecological cost," VICE reported.</p>
<p>"It's something we need to get ahead of ASAP, because we are facing many years of vaccine production, for a global population, for many more coronavirus vaccines to come," Brendl told VICE. "The real danger is in what this can turn into in the future. A reliance on shark oil for a global vaccine — it's truly insane. A wild animal is not a reliable source and cannot sustain ongoing commercial pressure. [And] the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/reef-shark-2646585350.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">overfishing of sharks globally</a> is already at critical levels."</p><p>The conservationists fear that a global vaccine using shark squalene will endanger most shark species and could potentially wipe out some more threatened species, Miami Herald reported. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sharks-imperiled-2646931482.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4" target="_self">Shark populations are vulnerable</a> because they reproduce in low numbers and are slow to mature. According to VICE, great whites, hammerheads and whale sharks are among those most often targeted for their livers. According to Oceana, deep-sea sharks are especially vulnerable because their livers contain more squalene than other species as it helps them adapt to their environment, reported Miami Herald.</p>
<p>"We're not trying to take anything away from humanity and say don't cure yourself, don't create a vaccine," Brendl told Boston 25 News. "What we're saying is the alternative is already there."</p><p>In a popular <a href="https://www.sharkallies.com/shark-free-products/could-squalene-end-up-in-a-covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank">online campaign</a>, Shark Allies outlined the non-shark alternatives for squalene already in existence. Plant-based oils can be harvested from things like yeast, wheat germ, sugarcane and olive oil, VICE and Miami Herald reported. Bacteria-created squalene has also been researched, the petition noted. The problem with these alternatives is that they are about 30% more expensive and harder to extract than shark-based squalene, Miami Herald reported.</p><p>A team of researchers in Poland who were working on a plant-based squalene alternative in 2013 <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23449131/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stressed in their report </a>that "in the interest of protecting biodiversity, raw materials of animal origin must be replaced by alternative sources that respect our environment."</p><p>Shark Allies also noted that there are coronavirus vaccines in development that do not require squalene at all and encouraged the development of those alternatives.</p>
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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Sharks, unlike other large fish, have skeletons made out of cartilage. Ryan Espanto / CC BY 2.0
A recent fossil discovery could overturn the way scientists think about shark evolution.
<p>Sharks are different from other large <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fish" target="_self">fish</a> like salmon or tuna in that they have softer, non-bony skeletons made out of a material called cartilage. It was previously thought that sharks split off from a common ancestor with a cartilage skeleton, before the bony skeletons favored by other fish and all terrestrial vertebrates evolved. But now, researchers have uncovered a fossil that is a common ancestor of both sharks and later fish, and has a bony skull.</p><p>"This fossil is probably the most surprising thing I have ever worked on in my career," study first author and Imperial College London senior lecturer D.r Martin Brazeau told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/07/fossil-upends-theory-of-how-shark-skeletons-evolved-say-scientists" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "I never expected to find this."</p>
<div id="756ca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7a876a771028c20a7ecc044a76c227b0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1303007080723484674" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Sharks' non-bony skeletons were thought to be the template before bony internal skeletons evolved, but a new fossil… https://t.co/xsAJOlL9Kn</div> — Imperial College (@Imperial College)<a href="https://twitter.com/imperialcollege/statuses/1303007080723484674">1599496071.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The fossil, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01290-2" target="_blank">described in Nature Ecology and Evolution Monday</a>, was dug up in western Mongolia in 2012. It is about 410 million years old and belongs to a group of fish called placoderms that are a common ancestor of sharks and all "jawed vertebrates," animals with jaws and backbones, an <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/203413/ancient-bony-fish-forces-rethink-sharks/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=8e281b67-5db5-4163-a492-ed38a45791cd&utm_campaign=news" target="_blank">Imperial College London press release explained</a>.</p><p>Until now, placoderm fossils had turned up with armored outsides but inner skeletons made of cartilage, enforcing the idea that sharks split from these ancient fish before bony fish evolved, according to The Guardian. But the new fossil, which consisted of a partial skull roof and brain case, was "wall-to-wall endochondral," or bone, according to the press release.</p><p>The fossil represents a new species of placoderm, which the researchers dubbed <em>Minjinia turgenensis</em>. Its discovery is part of a shift in where researchers search for the remains of early fish. Initial finds were dug up in Europe, Australia and the U.S., but now scientists are finding specimens in China and South America.</p><p>The bony placoderm was found by a team led by researchers from Imperial College London, London's Natural History Museum and Mongolia. They decided to dig in an area that had rocks of the right age that had never been examined before, and they still have many finds to sort through.</p>
<p>While the researchers cautioned that one fossil does not make a theory, they think it is now possible that sharks evolved bony skeletons and then "lost" them again. But for sharks, that "loss" would have been an evolutionary gain.</p><p>"If sharks had bony skeletons and lost it, it could be an evolutionary adaptation," Brazeau explained in the press release. "Sharks don't have swim bladders, which evolved later in bony fish, but a lighter skeleton would have helped them be more mobile in the water and swim at different depths. This may be what helped sharks to be one of the first global fish species, spreading out into <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a> around the world 400 million years ago."</p><p>The bony placoderm is not the only evidence for this theory, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/shark-evolution-rewrite-bony-fish-fossil-1530111" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Newsweek pointed out</a>. In 2015, scientists announced a 380-million-year-old shark that had a skeleton made of cartilage, but with the remnants of what appeared to be bone cells.</p>
<p>University of Cambridge paleontologist Dr. Daniel Field, who was not involved with the research, told The Guardian that it was an example of the complexities of evolution.</p><p>"Evolutionary biologists were long guided by the assumption that the simplest explanation – the one that minimised the number of inferred evolutionary changes – was most likely to be correct. With more information from the fossil record, we are frequently discovering that evolutionary change has proceeded in more complex directions than we had previously assumed," he said.</p>
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Shark Week may be over for the summer, but the marine predators patrol the world's oceans all year long.
<p>That's what the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard ship discovered when their Pacific Ocean swim break was interrupted by an unexpected intruder.</p><p>"As if right out of a Hollywood movie, a 6-8 foot shark (no exaggeration) surfaced at the Rescue Door and was swimming toward 30-40 people in the water about 30 feet away," the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/USCGCKimball/?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZWIQHyxpjzSBgfS_GQOMrhLljR_ENVdyKtmj-EkjKiCCGlxwg1TFB-A4l83sDBEmQq_K_w4AOapbhFsOIa1xlPHm75J-eMKA7DzXPM-_cf-yVVCAw3njPErjjdyNBWmPCgAS2Bmn8rZHvXH-tTeUvuamOlgKkw1_IHIKiy4qU-41A&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R" target="_blank">U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball</a> (USCGC) wrote in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/USCGCKimball/posts/971803389909724" target="_blank">Tuesday Facebook post</a> describing the incident.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ca688ea4ece927a012c1194c49a67650"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/USCGCKimball/photos/pcb.971803389909724/971797329910330"></div></div>
<p>The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball has been patrolling in the Pacific Ocean for the past several weeks conducting national security, search and rescue and fisheries operations, according to <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/08/26/coast-guard-watch-opens-fire-after-8-foot-shark-crashes-swim-call.html" target="_blank">Military.com</a>. To liven up the monotony of days at sea, the crew decided to take a swim break or "swim call," in official terminology.</p><p>More than 40 crew members, plus an inflatable unicorn, plunged into the water. Luckily, they had certain safety measures in place, such as a rescue swimmer, a smaller boat with extra crew and someone assigned to shark watch.</p>
<p>It is customary for Coast Guard and Navy vessels to set up shark or polar bear watches during breaks in these apex predators' habitats, Military.com explained. This precaution meant that bridge personnel were ready to alert the crew to the shark's presence.</p><p>To protect his crewmates, Maritime Enforcement Specialist 1st Class Samuel Cintron opened fire on the advancing shark to try and scare it away, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/us/shark-coast-guard-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p>
<p>The USCGC described what happened next:</p><blockquote>ME1 Cintron fired a well-aimed burst right at/on top of the shark to protect shipmates just feet away. It turned away for a few seconds then turned back. We kept directing people out of the water while keeping a clear line of sight on the shark. ME1 fired bursts as needed to keep the shark from his shipmates with amazing accuracy. The shark would wave off with each burst but kept coming back toward our shipmates.</blockquote><p>The crew managed to get everyone out of the water safely, including the unicorn. And it appeared that the shark emerged unscathed too, a Coast Guard public affairs spokesperson told Military.com.</p><p>"Our goal was to keep it away from shipmates, not harm it if possible," the USCGC wrote on Facebook. "It was most likely curious and not looking for a meal. We picked our location to try and avoid such an encounter but it is their ocean after all. It later joined a few smaller buddies that showed up and they swam off together. "</p><p>A review of video footage of the incident revealed the shark to be a Long-Fin Mako or Pelagic Thresher Shark.</p><p>"Not something to mess with!" the USCGC wrote.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19a5c62ea30f80faea04d6de865300db"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/USCGCKimball/posts/972546733168723"></div></div>
<p>Mako sharks have been involved in three non-fatal unprovoked shark attacks, according to the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/factors/species-implicated/" target="_blank">Florida Museum's International Shark Attack File</a>.</p><p>The overall risk of shark attacks is extremely low, <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/odds/compare-risk/death/" target="_blank">according to the file</a>. Any given individual has a one in 3,748,067 chance of dying in one.</p><p>In fact, sharks are at much greater risk from humans than we are from sharks, the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/" target="_blank">museum pointed out</a>.</p><p>"Most of the world's shark populations are in decline or exist at greatly reduced levels, as a consequence of overfishing and habitat loss. On average, there are only four fatalities attributable to unprovoked attacks by sharks worldwide each year. By contrast, fisheries remove about 100 million sharks and rays annually," it wrote.</p>
<p>Shark attacks are even rarer in the history of Navy or Coast Guard swim calls. Military.com found reports of one shark that turned up during a swim break off a submarine in Hawaii in 2009, but it did not have to be driven away by gunfire.</p><p>"We have hundreds of years at sea between all of us and no one has seen or heard of a shark actually showing up during a swim call," the USCGC wrote on Facebook. "This goes to show why we prepare for any and everything. We just didn't think it would be a swim call shark attack!"</p>
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Shark Quest: Are the World’s Most Endangered Rays Living in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea?
16 August
Animals
Papua New Guinea. Photo: Ambroise Brenier/WCS
By Jonathan Booth
"We saw two swimming past our canoe the other day as we came to shore!"
"Yes, we saw one over towards the mangroves not so long ago…"
<p>"There was one in our net near the big river…"</p><p>Scientists love having a mystery to solve and gathering clues to find out if something is real or not. Since January 2019 my organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, has been collecting evidence to confirm whether highly endangered sawfish and their relatives — the wedgefish, guitarfish and giant guitarfish (collectively and affectionately known as "<a href="https://therevelator.org/rhino-rays-cites/" target="_blank">rhino rays</a>") — live in the coastal waters of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea.</p>
<p>Sawfish and their rhino ray relatives — all cousins of sharks — are some of the most threatened species on Earth due to their slow growth, vulnerability to capture in fisheries, and high value in international trade. Recent studies indicate that Papua New Guinea is (together with northern Australia and the southeastern United States) one of the last few strongholds for sawfish populations, making the country a global priority for shark and ray conservation.</p><p>Currently sawfish and rhino rays have been well documented along the southern shores and adjacent river systems of Papua New Guinea, and also in the Sepik River, which drains into the Bismarck Sea on the northern coast of the mainland. Sawfish have also been documented in several other provinces in the country, yet no official records exist in New Ireland Province.</p><p>Until now.</p>
A Unique Site
<p>The southwestern Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea is known for its renowned biodiversity, much of which lives nowhere else in the world. But that amazing animal and plant life is often both understudied and under threat.</p><p>This holds true in New Ireland.</p><p>The many islands of New Ireland Province, located in the Bismarck Archipelago, support coral reefs, mangroves, estuaries and tidal lagoons — typical habitats for rhino rays and sawfish. Some 77% of New Ireland's human population also lives in the coastal zone, where they're highly reliant on fish and other marine resources for food, livelihoods and traditional practices. Local communities also own most of this coastal zone through customary tenure systems, which may have been in place for centuries.</p><p>Human pressure, including population growth, could threaten potential sawfish and rhino ray populations unless sufficient management is in place — but local cooperation will be key to such action.</p>Surprising Surveys
<p>Over the past year and a half, WCS has conducted interviews in New Ireland's coastal areas. Part of the interviews involved showing images of each sawfish, wedgefish and guitarfish species, allowing respondents to identify what they saw. To date residents from 49 communities reported that they had seen sawfish and rhino rays in their local waters. There were 144 separate sightings reported by 111 respondents, which comprised 23 sawfish, 85 wedgefish and 36 guitarfish and giant guitarfish. Roughly half the respondents stated they had seen sawfish or rhino rays either often or sometimes.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2MDQ5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTcwMzUwM30.BgezgQtk07pyX9PNe9RwN3G6Rxgrx21A3e-nQLt-dJ4/img.jpg?width=980" id="f1515" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dcc935aceddbc111c38beefaa5ffdbba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Papua New Guinea occupies the western half of New Guinea and is the largest of the South Pacific Island nations. The uplifted reefs, limestone terrain and adjacent islands that form New Ireland Province comprise the north-easterly region of Papua New Guinea. From January 2019 to March 2020, fisher key informant surveys were conducted in coastal communities in western New Ireland Province to determine whether sawfish and rhino rays were observed within the customary waters of each community. A total of 144 sightings were made, including 85 wedgefish (blue), 36 guitarfish and giant guitarfish (green) and 23 sawfish (red) sightings. Source: WCS.
<p>When asked if the animals were targeted by local fishers, more than half the respondents said no: The animals were mostly caught accidentally. Only 9% of the sighted sawfish and rhino rays were reported to have been purposefully caught.</p><p>Respondents also provided information on where, and in what condition, they had seen the animals: 77% were seen alive, 10% at the market and 2% entangled in nets.</p><p>The results suggest that while sawfish and rhino rays are in the region, they are not a key fishery commodity, which is promising news for developing conservation approaches.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2MDUwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDU0Nzc3Nn0.hSu8a9L0KKKm5Uvojkqio5QS4fXkSAcDC2AXUz0B3GY/img.jpg?width=980" id="e01e4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c03a76d710fc7209729c9be244a1dd8e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Large-tooth sawfish (Pristis pristis) rostrum, beside a ruler, which was harvested by local community fishers from the Tigak Islands that lie to the west of mainland New Ireland. This rostrum measured nearly 30 inches in length. Photo: Jonathan Booth/WCS.
Further Evidence Needed
<p>While physical and objective data has been lacking — I'm still waiting to see one of these animals in the water, myself — we have confirmed evidence of two large-tooth sawfish (<em>Pristis pristis</em>) in the region (two sawfish beaks, also known as rostra, have been found in community villages since this study began), and we've received reports of additional sightings.</p><p>WCS also conducted baited remote underwater video surveys (BRUVS) in 14 locations in the region in 2019-20, following a 2017 BURVS deployment by <a href="https://globalfinprint.org/" target="_blank">FinPrint</a> in western New Ireland Province.</p><p>Collectively the BRUVS documented 13 species of sharks and rays, including wedgefish (which have also been photographed by local dive operators), but no sawfish.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2MDUwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjk4ODg0N30._sQ6uMq_FIaegjogafMhaPpUdPwJr1hO753cKIKBKgs/img.jpg?width=980" id="e4ae0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5d9f1a94c5b023fbefb5dad1457b1395" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Wedgefish in New Ireland Province: documented by BRUVS during the FinPrint project (left) and by scuba divers (Dorian Borcherds, Scuba Ventures) (right)
<p>But with that success, we're expanding our search. Over the next 12 months, a further 100 BRUVS will be deployed in areas with a sandy seafloor, where wedgefish and giant guitarfish often rest. Because sawfish typically live in estuaries — where water is often murky — BRUVS will not work due to the poor visibility of the water. In these areas gillnets that have been carefully positioned in river outlets by trained local community members will be monitored for sawfish that may be present. If any sawfish are present in the nets, they will be documented and carefully released.</p>Opportunities for Conservation
<p>Despite the vulnerability of sawfish and rhino rays — with five of the ten documented species in Papua New Guinea classified as critically endangered — there are currently no protection laws in place. However, since 2017, WCS has worked with over 100 communities in New Ireland Province to establish the country's largest network of marine protected areas.</p><p>The MPAs have been developed through a community-first approach, with extensive local outreach, engagement and education. In that way WCS has been actively informing local residents about the biology, threats and management opportunities for sawfish and rhino rays. We anticipate that new laws to protect and manage these endangered animals will be incorporated into the management rules for the new MPAs.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2MDUwMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDI3NDI3MX0.AQsMik9SBPsNr_8IetL2ioL8gWprKv4cM84uoFaHl5E/img.jpg?width=980" id="b09fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="938bc4e399fe8098ed269ef2b2ff55b0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Example of education and outreach materials produced by the WCS team. This poster presents management methods that can be used by community residents to help manage sawfish and rhino ray populations in their customary waters.
<p>While the mystery as to whether sawfish and rhino ray populations are alive and well in PNG has largely been solved, they are still rare and in need of additional conservation efforts. We hope that this work will help bring awareness and conservation action to these highly threatened species — and make sure they don't become mythical creatures of the past.</p><p><em>The opinions expressed above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of </em>The Revelator<em>, the Center for Biological Diversity or their employees.</em></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/jonathanbooth/" target="_blank">Jonathan Booth</a> is a marine conservation advisor with the Papua New Guinea Program at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society).</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/shark-quest-papua-new-guinea/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>. </em><em></em></p>
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A spiny dogfish shark swims in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Washington. NOAA / Wikimedia Commons
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts
There are trillions of microplastics in the ocean — they bob on the surface, float through the water column, and accumulate in clusters on the seafloor. With plastic being so ubiquitous, it's inevitable that marine organisms, such as sharks, will ingest them.
<p>A new study in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68680-1" target="_blank"><em>Scientific Reports</em></a> investigated microplastic ingestion in four species of demersal sharks found in the North Atlantic Ocean, which were captured as bycatch by a local fishery in Penzance, U.K. A team of six researchers, from the University of Exeter and the University of Leeds, examined the stomachs and digestive tracts of 46 sharks, and found that 67% contained microplastics. A total of 379 microplastics — plastic particles or fibers smaller than 5 millimeters, or a fifth of an inch — were found in the sampled sharks.</p><p>Many of the plastic fibers were synthetic cellulose, the material found in polyester clothing and hygiene products such as face masks, which have become increasingly prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>"I think there is definitely some cause for concern," Kristian Parton, lead author of the study and researcher at the University of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation, told Mongabay in an email. "Although many of the particles ingested by these sharks will be excreted eventually, they potentially remain inside the body long enough for inorganic pollutants and chemicals (attached to the particles), to enter into the bodies of these sharks."</p><p>Parton said he found it surprising that sharks living off the coast of Penzance in Cornwall, on the southwestern tip of Britain, would contain so many plastic particles.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU1MzQ1OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzA2MDY3OH0.SlQlPtL4cHm44O168ztiJ2u5lehmndyIh5eeegL6ozk/img.png?width=980" id="35461" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5f385b06f1e066393241e385c1356746" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Polyproylene fibers found in one of the sampled sharks. Kristian Parton
<p>"I actually didn't expect to find as many as we did in these sharks," he said. "The waters around Cornwall are thought to be some of the most beautiful in the U.K., and so I didn't think there would be much pollution."</p><p>Parton's co-author, Tamara Galloway, holds a similar view.</p><p>"We were not expecting to find microfibers from textiles in so many of our native shark species," Galloway, a marine biologist and professor of ecotoxicology at the University of Exeter, said in a statement. "Our study highlights how important it is to think before we throw things away."</p><p>Demersal sharks can be found at depths of 5 to 900 meters (16 to 3,000 feet), although they tend to live and feed in the demersal zone of the ocean, which is near the seafloor. The four species of demersal sharks used in this study included the small-spotted catshark (<em>Scyliorhinus canicula</em>), starry smooth-hound (<em>Mustelus asterias</em>), spiny dogfish (<em>Squalus acanthias</em>) and bull huss (<em>Scyliorhinus stellaris</em>).</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU1MzY3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTc5MTE1OH0.5NXu7626Tvj2QfOU8pqFb0287d2sh1SLRD4_CwlhbIA/img.jpg?width=980" id="08a24" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="00d5d52c34bd112e0f91317709c5c82d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Spiny dogfish. NOAA / Wikimedia Commons
<p>"There appear to be two routes for these particles to end up in the sharks," Parton said. "The first through their food source [such as] crustaceans. Their prey may already contain these fibers, and consequently it's passed to the shark through bioaccumulation up the food chain. The second pathway is direct ingestion from the sediment. As these sharks feed, they'll often suck up sediment into their mouths, some of this is expelled straight away, although some is swallowed, therefore fibers and particles that may have sunk down into the seabed may be directly ingested from the surrounding sediment as these sharks feed."</p><p>Some sharks only contained a few plastic particles, but others contained dozens. The larger the shark, the more plastic was in it, the findings suggested. The highest number of microplastics was found in an individual bull huss, which had 154 polypropylene fibers inside its stomach and intestines.</p><p>"It's perhaps likely this individual shark had swallowed a larger piece of fishing rope/netting and this has broken down during digestive processes within the shark, and also broken down into smaller pieces during our analysis," Parton said.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU1MzQ4NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODY1MDA3MH0.rtDtmMS6OqC1NXKRw_Eu4GTdCs3DFjBQAcLBWc09FXE/img.png?width=980" id="8d923" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="29cf49b2e78f250aafc9f2354aa7c728" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Lesser-spotted dogfish caught as bycatch. Kristian Parton
<p>While this study only examined the stomach and digestive tracts of demersal sharks, Parton says it's possible that plastic would be present in other parts of the sharks' bodies, such as the liver and muscle tissue. However, more research would be needed to prove this.</p><p>At the moment, there is also limited understanding of how microplastic ingestion would impact a shark's health, although microplastics are known to negatively influence feeding behavior, development, reproduction and life span of zooplankton and crustaceans.</p><p>"If we can show that these fibers contain inorganic pollutants attached to them, then that could have real consequences for these shark species at a cellular level, impacting various internal body systems," Parton said.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU1MzQ5Ny9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjkxMjI5MX0.VUAa_0t4_TRDodF5E8V80QF6hdrwvoy8WGbyIxtomqQ/img.png?width=980" id="a6f5c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b8deabdf3be7d576501f0c4f83810289" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/sharks-contaminated-with-plastic-are-cause-for-concern/" target="_blank">Mongabay.</a></em></p>Parton in the lab. Kristian Parton
<p>This new study demonstrates how pervasive and destructive plastic pollution can be in the marine environment, according to Will McCallum, head of oceans for Greenpeace U.K.</p><p>"Our addiction to plastics combined with the lack of mechanisms to protect our oceans is suffocating marine life," McCallum said in a statement. "Sharks sit on top of the marine food web and play a vital role in ocean ecosystems. Yet, they are completely exposed to pollutants and other human impactful activities. We need to stop producing so much plastic and create a network of ocean sanctuaries to give wildlife space to recover. The ocean is not our dump, marine life deserves better than plastic."</p>From Your Site Articles
- Pregnant Sperm Whale Found Dead With Nearly 50 Pounds of ... ›
- Green Turtles Are Mistaking Plastic for the Sea Grass They Normally ... ›
- Microplastics Pose Major Problems for Ocean Giants - EcoWatch ›
- Seafood Study Finds Plastic in 100% of Samples - EcoWatch ›
- Coast Guard Opens Fire as Shark Interrupts Swim Break - EcoWatch ›
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A sand tiger shark swims over the USS Tarpon in Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. Tane Casserley / NOAA
By John R. Platt
Here at The Revelator, we love a good shark story.
The problem is, there aren't all that many good shark stories. According to recent research, sharks and their relatives represent one of the world's most imperiled groups of species. Of the more than 1,250 known species of sharks, skates, rays and chimeras — collectively known as chondrichthyan fishes — at least a quarter are threatened with extinction.
<p>That's just what we know so far. About half of all shark species have a conservation status of "data deficient," meaning we have no idea how well they're doing or whether they're at risk.</p><p>But that's why it's so important to tell stories about sharks. They're our lens into issues like conservation, ocean protection, overfishing, coastal development, wildlife trafficking and so much more. And as frequently maligned species — <em>Jaws</em>, anyone? — sharks also help us to understand our relationship with predators that may seem scary but don't really pose much of a threat.</p><p>Sharks also give us an opportunity to talk about <em>people</em> — the people living near them, the people harming them, the people who rely on them, and most importantly the experts working to understand and conserve them.</p><p>And honestly, sharks are just fascinating. They come in all manner of shapes and sizes; often boast amazing behaviors; serve important roles in their ecosystems; and have wide and varied reproductive strategies — some of which make them more vulnerable to exploitation. Oh, and most of them look pretty cool (although there are a few oddities in the bunch — we're talking about you, <a href="https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/goblin-shark" target="_blank">goblin sharks</a>).</p>
<p>So let's keep talking about sharks — whether it's during Shark Week or the other 51 weeks of the year.</p><p>With that in mind, we've collected our best essays and articles about sharks and related conservation issues (and we'll add to this list as we go along). Check them out below:</p>
Speaking of Shark Week:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/film-fakery-shark-week-conservation/" target="_blank">Film Fakery: Does Shark Week Harm Conservation Efforts?</a></p>Big Questions:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/shark-conservation-success/" target="_blank">Are We Ready for Shark Conservation to Succeed?</a></p>Sharks and Fisheries:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/protect-sharks-overfishing/" target="_blank">How to Protect Sharks From Overfishing</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/florida-anglers-endangered-sharks/" target="_blank">Florida Anglers Are Targeting Endangered Sharks</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/recreational-fishing-environmental-impact/" target="_blank">Fishing for Fun? It Has a Bigger Environmental Impact Than We Thought</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/fins-protected-sharks-traded/" target="_blank">Fins from Protected Shark Species Still Heavily Traded</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/essential-unprotected-fish-habitats/" target="_blank">'Essential' But Unprotected: How the United States Fails Its Most Important Fish Habitats</a></p>Sharks and the Extinction Crisis:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/lost-shark/" target="_blank">Found But Lost: Newly Discovered Shark May Be Extinct</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/rhino-rays-cites/" target="_blank">A Chance to Save the 'Rhinos of the Sea'</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/one-million-extinctions/" target="_blank">What Losing 1 Million Species Means for the Planet — and Humanity</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/extinction-crisis-keep-feeling-overwhelmed/" target="_blank">The Extinction Crisis is Here. How do We Keep from Feeling Overwhelmed?</a></p>Broader Ocean and Conservation Issues:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/ocean-biodiversity-mpa/" target="_blank">The Top 10 Ocean Biodiversity Hotspots to Protect</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/protect-species-environmental-dna/" target="_blank">How Do You Protect a Species You Can't See?</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/global-ocean-treaty/" target="_blank">Here's Our Best Opportunity to Save the Oceans — and Ourselves</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/coral-reef-replanting/" target="_blank">Coral in Crisis: Can Replanting Efforts Halt Reefs' Death Spiral?</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/oceans-challenges/" target="_blank">What Are the Biggest Challenges for Saving the Oceans?</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/empowering-communities-save-ocean/" target="_blank">Empowering Communities to Save the Ocean</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/toxic-plastic-pollution-food-chain/" target="_blank">Something Fishy: Toxic Plastic Pollution Is Traveling Up the Food Chain</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/trump-offshore-oil-wildlife/" target="_blank">Trump's Offshore Oil Plan: Like Nothing the Country Has Ever Seen</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/john/" target="_blank">John R. Platt</a> <em>is the editor of <em>The Revelator</em>. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in <em>Scientific American</em>, <em>Audubon</em>, <em>Motherboard</em>, and numerous other magazines and publications. His "Extinction Countdown" column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Ore., where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/sharks-imperiled/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>
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A whale shark swims in the Egyptian Red Sea. Derek Keats / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Gavin Naylor
Sharks elicit outsized fear, even though the risk of a shark bite is infinitesimally small. As a marine biologist and director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, I oversee the International Shark Attack File – a global record of reported shark bites that has been maintained continuously since 1958.
<p>We are careful to emphasize how rare shark bites are: You are 30 times more likely to be struck by lightning than be bitten by a shark. You are more likely to die while <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-risk-their-lives-for-the-perfect-selfie-55937" target="_blank">taking a selfie</a>, or be <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/odds/compare-risk/nyc-biting-injuries/" target="_blank">bitten by a New Yorker</a>. In anticipation of the anxiety that's typically generated by the Discovery Channel's <a href="https://www.discovery.com/shark-week/2019/s/shark-week-announcement-2019" target="_blank">Shark Week programming</a>, here are a few things about sharks that are often overlooked.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_foeEj4D0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_foeEj4D0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_foeEj4D0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Dr. Greg Skomal, of @massmarinefisheries, working with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, tagged 4 sharks today off Wellfleet and Truro, bringing the total tagged this season to 12.</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/a_whiteshark/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Atlantic White Shark Cons.</a> (@a_whiteshark) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-07-16T21:05:54+00:00">Jul 16, 2019 at 2:05pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
A Big, Diverse Family
<p>Not all sharks are the same. Only a dozen or so of the roughly 520 shark species pose any risk to people. Even the three species that account for almost all shark bite fatalities – the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/carcharodon-carcharias/" target="_blank">white shark</a> (<em>Carcharodon carcharias</em>), <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/galeocerdo-cuvier/" target="_blank">tiger shark</a> (<em>Galeocerdo cuvier</em>) and <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/carcharhinus-leucas/" target="_blank">bull shark</a> (<em>Carcharhinus leucas</em>) – are behaviorally and evolutionarily very different from one another.</p><p>The tiger shark and bull shark are genetically as different from each other as a dog is from a rabbit. And both of these species are about as different from a white shark as a dog is from a kangaroo. The evolutionary lineages leading to the two groups split 170 million years ago, during the age of dinosaurs and before the origin of birds, and <a href="https://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Human-Biology/section/7.2/" target="_blank">110 million years before the origin of primates</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMzc3OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTA0NjYyMX0.CGw2QD-PB_OK1hjp_qZxj-XUZxGCxY99hXS1IOdhoK4/img.png?width=980" id="2694f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48367745897fee27f4750d3fc43cc6d8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
White, tiger and bull sharks are distinct species that diverged genetically tens of millions of years ago. Gavin Naylor / CC BY-ND
<p>Yet many people assume all sharks are alike and equally likely to bite humans. Consider the term "shark attack," which is scientifically equivalent to "mammal attack." Nobody would equate dog bites with hamster bites, but this is exactly what we do when it comes to sharks.</p><p>So, when a reporter calls me about a fatality caused by a white shark off Cape Cod and asks my advice for beachgoers in North Carolina, it's essentially like asking, "A man was killed by a dog on Cape Cod. What precautions should people take when dealing with kangaroos in North Carolina?"</p>Know Your Species
<p>Understanding local species' behavior and life habits is one of the best ways to stay safe. For example, almost all shark bites that occur off Cape Cod are by white sharks, which are a large, primarily cold-water species that spend most of their time in isolation feeding on fishes. But they also aggregate near seal colonies that provide a reliable food source at certain times of the year.</p><p>Shark bites in the Carolinas are by warm-water species like bull sharks, tiger sharks and <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/carcharhinus-limbatus/" target="_blank">blacktips</a> (<em>Carcharhinus limbatus</em>). Each species is associated with particular habitats and dietary preferences.</p><p>Blacktips, which we suspect are responsible for most relatively minor bites on humans in the southeastern United States, feed on schooling bait fishes like menhaden. In contrast, bull sharks are equally at home in fresh water and salt water, and are often found near estuaries. Their bites are more severe than those of blacktips, as they are larger, more powerful, bolder and more tenacious. Several fatalities have been ascribed to bull sharks.</p><p>Tiger sharks are also large, and are responsible for a significant fraction of fatalities, particularly off the coast of volcanic islands like Hawaii and Reunion. They are tropical animals that often venture into shallow water frequented by swimmers and surfers.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1cfa1c9590e386ecc9455b4762b87518"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yDqzGOa-adc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
Humans Are Not Targets
<p>Sharks do not "hunt" humans. Data from the International Shark Attack File compiled over the past 60 years show a tight association between shark bites and the number of people in the water. In other words, shark bites are a simple function of the probability of encountering a shark.</p><p>This underscores the fact that shark bites are almost always cases of mistaken identity. If sharks actively hunted people, there would be many more bites, since humans make very easy targets when they swim in sharks' natural habitats.</p><p>Local conditions can also affect the risk of an attack. Encounters are more likely when sharks venture closer to shore, into areas where people are swimming. They may do this because they are following bait fishes or seals upon which they prey.</p><p>This means we can use environmental variables such as temperature, tide or weather conditions to better predict movement of bait fish toward the shoreline, which in turn will predict the presence of sharks. Over the next few years, the Florida Program for Shark Research will work with colleagues at other universities to monitor onshore and offshore movements of tagged sharks and their association with environmental variables so that we can improve our understanding of what conditions bring sharks close to shore.</p>More to Know
<p>There still is much to learn about sharks, especially the 500 or so species that have never been implicated in a bite on humans. One example is the tiny <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/one-worlds-rarest-sharks-also-one-most-adorable-325280" target="_blank">deep sea pocket shark</a>, which has a strange pouch behind its pectoral fins.</p><p>Only two specimens of this type of shark have ever been caught – one off the coast of Chile 30 years ago, and another more recently in the Gulf of Mexico. We're not sure about the function of the pouch, but suspect it stores luminous fluid that is released to distract would-be predators – much as its close relative, the <a href="https://sharkdevocean.wordpress.com/2015/04/23/second-ever-pocket-shark-discovered-in-gulf-of-mexico/" target="_blank">tail light shark</a>, releases luminous fluid from a gland on its underside near its vent.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5783b39d0838d6e410344a852ed0dcc3"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UTO5debfmsg?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Sharks range in form from the bizarre <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/mitsukurina-owstoni/" target="_blank">goblin shark</a> (<em>Mitsukurina owstoni</em>), most commonly encountered in Japan, to the gentle filter-feeding <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/rhincodon-typus/" target="_blank">whale shark</a> (<em>Rhincodon typus</em>). Although whale sharks are the largest fishes in the world, we have yet to locate their nursery grounds, which are likely teeming with thousands of <a href="https://www.earthtouchnews.com/oceans/sharks/baby-whale-shark-rescued-from-gillnet-in-india-video/" target="_blank">foot-long pups</a>. Some deepwater sharks are primarily known from submersibles, such as the giant <a href="https://twitter.com/gavinnaylor/status/1146144452681113601" target="_blank">sixgill shark</a>, which feeds mainly on carrion but probably also preys on other animals in the deep sea.</p><p>Sharks seem familiar to almost all of us, but we know precious little about them. Our current understanding of their biology barely scratches the surface. The little we do know suggests they are profoundly different from other vertebrate animals. They've had 400 million years of independent evolution to adapt to their environments, and it's reasonable to expect they may be hiding more than a few tricks up their gills.</p>
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There are hundreds of species of sharks in the world, and they have been around since before the dinosaurs. Albert kok / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
Every day, sharks suffer from different threats. Up to 100 million sharks disappear every year, due to destructive fishing by humans and the impact of climate breakdown. One-third of the world's known shark species have been listed as "threatened" species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
<p>We need to talk about them, because the ocean desperately needs sharks! After 400 million years of evolution, sharks are incredible creatures—master hunters with incredible precision. Sitting at the top of the food chain, they're central to maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems.</p><p>There are hundreds of species of sharks in the world, and they have been around since before the dinosaurs. Despite their fearsome Hollywood reputation, they are some of the most amazing animals on the planet.</p><p>1. Many sharks lay eggs, but some give birth to live young, just like we do. Shark pregnancies can last from a few months to well over a couple of years. That's longer than whales or elephants!</p><p><br></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDU5Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzU0Mjc0MH0.JvuzjHa6Ooagu6TwOlpNkL2PHIJKc1wVRlGpgNodABo/img.jpg?width=980" id="40a9a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7976b712a17115fa12373c79dda3da4b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
This whale shark smiles for the camera in the warm water off the coast of the Philippines. Greenpeace
<p>2. Sharks come in all shapes and sizes, from the tiny lantern sharks, which are about the size of your hand, to giant whale sharks, which are about the same size as a bus.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDU5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTI0MDc2M30.5HG2OtaWn7rzG-yOCCi1uudu1ZtsJN3WVAa862Y-Czw/img.jpg?width=980" id="90d57" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19a48d869f278de604853069b22ac627" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A former fisherman, now a whale shark guide, hand feeds a whale shark as a tourist takes an underwater photo, Tan-awan, Oslob Cebu. Greenpeace
<p>3. Greenland sharks, which live in cold polar waters, hold the record as the oldest known vertebrate animals on the planet. Since they are estimated to live as long as 500 years, there could be some alive today that were born in the Middle Ages. For reference, Leonardo Da Vinci painted the <em>Mona Lisa</em> 500 years ago!</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDYwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTAyNzIyM30.joSQ45GWbPmjbQz6HORGAc7lqCU5yhQQ7Ph9yJw0bAw/img.jpg?width=980" id="3dfaa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4a167fd460fb02965e4b584e16bd381e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An oceanic whitetip shark in Egypt. Greenpeace
<p>4. Mako sharks hold the record for being the most athletic sharks, reaching swimming speeds of over 40 miles per hour! They are also known to have jumped as much as 30 feet out of the water.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDU5Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjM4MzgxMn0.7o0LXHghEcDdjuqZcuuRqCvxCUzJHntZLRKY8nepdL0/img.jpg?width=980" id="e8bcb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4d271852e180662116cffa34baac9dc6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A whale shark photographed from above in Cenderawasih Bay National Park, Indonesia. Greenpeace
<p>5. The world's biggest sharks also have the widest mouths and eat only tiny ocean plankton, just like the largest whales.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDU5OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDUzODY3N30.1PhPwfNoxgOVScTrLd7j74Z7Xltx4o4LcdORF1pLECg/img.jpg?width=980" id="8ef53" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="94b49ddbeb7942a6fdfb7dafc4e5656b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A whale shark in the Philippines. Greenpeace
<p>6. Carpet sharks live on the ocean floor and have elaborate patterns to blend in with perfect camouflage. The Tasseled Wobbegong shark takes this to the extreme, with a fringe of feathery 'tassels' around its body.</p><video controls id="47fac" width="100%" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1b871017fa92559349dea2a0f82b9e3b" expand="1" feedbacks="true" mime_type="video/mp4" shortcode_id="1596802627015" url="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F19031-whale-vid.mp4" videoControls="true"> <source src="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F19031-whale-vid.mp4" type="video/mp4"> Your browser does not support the video tag. </video><p>7. Epaulette sharks have developed a cunning ability to hold their breath and walk over rocks and land using their fins and tail. This lets them check out the seafood buffet in neighboring rock pools at low tide.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDYwNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwODQ5OTcxOX0.2EAryAcdpiL6LFqO4DfJ36hzjr5mO1o04-mqyYmyQ-M/img.jpg?width=980" id="3e376" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6687e03c7d218576a4717d9e7a5b1164" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Lemon shark and other fish underwater at Tuamotus, French Polynesian. Greenpeace
<p>8. Hammerhead sharks' elongated heads not only give them super-sense when it comes to electromagnetic detection, but they also have almost 360-degree surround vision.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDYwNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTg3OTE0NH0.epJrafWy-FvIbNkUV9inwp0cdtXEwaw9Hg5Z9wyLe68/img.jpg?width=980" id="f28f3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1b4e75f4c1d9e2d3c30096e269188f3f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) near the Azores. Greenpeace
<p>9. When sharks are turned upside down, they go into a natural suspended state called tonic immobility.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDYwNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDg4NzcwNH0.aZeWi6Y4c26xzdmZnp4iut-H04EjlT5dY8EzKD95nl4/img.jpg?width=980" id="8f836" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7082c58afd2044cb5b9c74a3686a948a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A shark is seen in the Republic of Palau. Greenpeace
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">10. It's dark in the deep sea, so tiny lantern sharks have developed their own way to glow in the dark. It's not yet known if this is to find food, find each other, or help avoid being eaten!</span><br></p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MDYwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzA5MDU1MX0.Z0515YQ-ahMtFOXMkbv9l7uGuHMKL-MH5gC_eUBvoho/img.jpg?width=980" id="d857c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="178223bd3bc63966fd6a447f01532340" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/10-little-known-shark-facts/" target="_blank">Greenpeace</a>.</em></p>Grey Reef Sharks in Tahiti. Greenpeace
<p>In June 2019, the Greenpeace ship Esperanza went to the North Atlantic to confront the overfishing of sharks. At the same time, Greenpeace International issued a report, <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/international/publication/22700/sharks-under-attack/" target="_blank">Sharks Under Attack: Overfished and under-protected</a>. It proposed a solution: secure a strong Global Ocean Treaty at the UN.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Maine officials are investigating the state's first potentially fatal shark attack. Hermanus Backpackers / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
Maine may have experienced its first-ever fatal shark attack.
<p>Officials in the Pine Tree State are investigating a possible shark attack that took place Monday and left one woman dead. If it's confirmed, it will go down in the books as Maine's first official deadly shark attack, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-dead-shark-attack-off-maine-coast-officials/story?id=72020451" target="_blank">ABC News</a> reported.</p><p>The Maine Department of Marine Resources posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2986784014784669&id=544606922335736" target="_blank">Facebook</a> that "an eye witness reported that the woman was swimming off the shore near White Sails Lane when she was injured in what appeared to be a shark attack. Kayakers nearby brought her to shore and EMS responders were called to the scene where she was pronounced deceased." The post went on to say, "Until further notice, swimmers and boaters are urged to use caution near Bailey Island and to avoid swimming near schooling fish or seals."</p><p>Bailey Island is in Casco Bay, just east of Yarmouth and Freeport. Maine Department of Marine Resources spokesman Jeff Nichols told the <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/27/metro/woman-killed-aparent-shark-attack-off-coast-bailey-island-maine/" target="_blank">Boston Globe</a> that he could not find records of any fatal attacks before Monday. </p><p>Nichols also told the Boston Globe that the last known shark attack occurred off the coast of Eastport in 2010, when a diver swam near salmon pens. Local news reports said the diver used his camera to fend off the shark and escaped unharmed, according to the Boston Globe.<br></p>
<p>The Boston Globe also reported that although It's unclear what kind of shark the diver saw, he believed it was a porbeagle. </p><p>James Sulikowski, a shark researcher in charge of Arizona State University's Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab, has spent years researching white sharks in Maine in collaboration with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. He said there are eight shark species found off Maine's coast, but only white sharks are known to have attacked people, the Boston Globe reported.</p><p>When that happens, Sulikowski said, it's most likely because the shark has mistaken a human for a seal.</p>
<p>"The shark wasn't looking to eat this woman," Sulikowski told the Boston Globe. "It thought it was getting a seal. We've never been on their menu. We don't taste like what they want."</p><p>He added that white sharks try to take their prey by surprise. "They come up from below or behind, undetected, and just try to overpower their prey with a ferocious blow," he told the Boston Globe.</p><p>Sulikowski told <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/27/person-injured-in-shark-attack-off-harpswell/" target="_blank">The Portland Press Herald</a> that it could have been a white shark attack. The Boston Globe reported that this past weekend, Sulikowski and his team were contacted about a dead seal on the beach in Phippsburg, near Bailey Island, that had a 19-inch bite mark in it.</p>
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A landmark study by Global FinPrint reveals sharks are absent on many of the world's coral reefs, indicating they are functionally extinct. Global FinPrint
By JoAnn Adkins
A landmark study by Global FinPrint reveals sharks are absent on many of the world's coral reefs, indicating they are functionally extinct — too rare to fulfill their normal role in the ecosystem.
<p>Of the 371 reefs surveyed in 58 countries, sharks were not observed on nearly 20 percent, indicating a widespread decline that has gone undocumented on this scale until now. The Global FinPrint team, led by researchers at Florida International University (FIU), also identified conservation measures that could lead to recovery of these iconic predators.</p><p>Essentially no sharks were detected on any of the reefs in the Dominican Republic, the French West Indies, Kenya, Vietnam, the Windward Dutch Antilles and Qatar. Among these, a total of only three sharks were observed during more than 800 survey hours, according to the study published today in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2519-y#https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2519-y" target="_blank"><em>Nature</em></a>.</p><p>"While Global FinPrint results exposed a tragic loss of sharks from many of the world's reefs, it also shows us signs of hope," said Jody Allen, co-founder and chair of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. "The data collected from the first-ever worldwide survey of sharks on coral reefs can guide meaningful, long-term conservation plans for protecting the reef sharks that remain."</p>
<p>This benchmark for the status of reef sharks around the world reveals an alarming global loss of these iconic species that are important food resources, tourism attractions, and top predators on coral reefs. Their loss is due in large part to overfishing of sharks, with the single largest contributor being destructive fishing practices, such as the use of longlines and gillnets.</p><p>"Although our study shows substantial negative human impacts on reef shark populations, it's clear the central problem exists in the intersection between high human population densities, destructive fishing practices, and poor governance," said <a href="https://case.fiu.edu/about/directory/profiles/chapman-demian.html" target="_blank">Demian Chapman</a>, Global FinPrint co-lead, associate professor in <a href="https://case.fiu.edu/biology/" target="_blank">FIU's Department of Biological Sciences</a> and researcher in the Institute of Environment. "We found that robust shark populations can exist alongside people when those people have the will, the means, and a plan to take conservation action."</p><p>The study revealed several countries where shark conservation is working and the specific actions that can work. The best performing nations compared to the average of their region included Australia, the Bahamas, the Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, the Maldives and the United States. These nations reflect key attributes that were found to be associated with higher populations of sharks — being generally well-governed and either banning all shark fishing or having strong, science-based management limiting how many sharks can be caught.</p>
<p>"These nations are seeing more sharks in their waters because they have demonstrated good governance on this issue," said Aaron MacNeil, lead author of the Global FinPrint study and associate professor at Dalhousie University. "From restricting certain gear types and setting catch limits, to national-scale bans on catches and trade, we now have a clear picture of what can be done to limit catches of reef sharks throughout the tropics."</p><p>The FinPrint team is wrestling with the fact that conservation action on sharks alone can only go so far. Researchers are now looking at whether recovery of shark populations requires management of the wider ecosystem to ensure there are enough reef fish to feed these predators.</p><p>"Now that the survey is complete, we are also investigating how the loss of sharks can destabilize reef ecosystems," said <a href="https://case.fiu.edu/about/directory/profiles/heithaus-michael.html" target="_blank">Mike Heithaus</a>, Global FinPrint co-lead and dean of the <a href="https://case.fiu.edu/index.html" target="_blank">College of Arts, Sciences & Education</a> at Florida International University. "At a time when corals are struggling to survive in a changing climate, losing reef sharks could have dire long-term consequences for entire reef systems."</p>
<p>Launched in the summer of 2015, Global FinPrint's data were generated from baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) that consist of a video camera placed in front of a standard amount of bait – a "Chum Cam." Coral reef ecosystems were surveyed with BRUVS in four key geographic regions: The Indo-Pacific, Pacific, the Western Atlantic and the Western Indian Ocean.</p><p>Over the course of four years, the team captured and analyzed more than 15,000 hours of video from surveys of 371 reefs in 58 countries, states and territories around the world. The work was conducted by hundreds of scientists, researchers, and conservationists organized by a network of collaborators from Florida International University, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Curtin University, Dalhousie University, and James Cook University.</p><p>For more information and a new global interactive data-visualized map of the Global FinPrint survey results, visit <a href="https://globalfinprint.org/" target="_blank">https://globalfinprint.org</a>.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://news.fiu.edu/2020/first-of-its-kind-global-survey-led-by-fiu-researchers-reveals-sharks-are-functionally-extinct-from-many-reefs" target="_blank">Florida International University</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646585350#/" target="_self"></a></p>
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Amani Webber-Schultz grabs an adult blacktip shark aboard a research vessel with the Field School. Field School
When Jasmin Graham describes her research on smalltooth sawfish, a critically endangered ray with a unique "saw" at the front of its face, she explains how "nothing else looks like this in the ocean; those species evolved to do something no other shark or ray can do." It resonates, and people understand why diversity matters in sharks, she said. She expanded on this same concept to emphasize how diversity also matters in finding solutions to the challenges that threaten elasmobranchs and in those scientists doing that work.
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/%23blacklivesmatter" target="_self">Black Lives Matter</a> protests have <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/black-birders-week-racism-outdoors-2646150562.html" target="_self">reignited conversations about institutionalized racism and the importance of diversity and inclusion in all fields</a>.</p><p>As a result, Graham, a young, black female shark scientist, found herself chatting on Twitter via the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/blackinnature?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank">#BlackInNature hashtag</a> with Amani Webber-Schultz, Carlee Jackson and Jaida Elcock, three other young, black female shark scientists from around the country.</p><p>They were excited to find each other and soon created a space for other women of color in shark science — MISS — to connect and not feel as alone.</p>
<p>"<a href="https://www.misselasmo.org/" target="_blank">MISS means Minorities in Shark Science</a>, and it really started because we didn't see representation in the sciences, and that matters a lot when you're young," said Jackson.</p><p>In fact, a recent study found that black women scientists were not represented a single time in seven seminal textbooks used to teach U.S. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> and medicine undergraduates, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53158292" target="_blank">BBC </a>reported.</p><p>"We need to start acting to address these disparities if we don't want to exclude yet another generation of talented scientists," said Rahma Elmahdi, an inclusion expert, reported BBC.</p>
<p>Graham told EcoWatch how she "didn't know marine science was a thing" growing up. Her family fished and enjoyed the beach but never ventured below the water's surface for fear of sharks and the inability to swim. When the scientists first showed interest in marine biology, her parents were supportive but could not provide her access to an actual marine scientist.</p><p>Graham had to figure it out on her own until a collegiate advisor went out of his way to mentor her in shark science and encourage graduate study.</p><p>"One of the reasons we started MISS is we recognized that we all are very lucky we had someone who stepped in and guided us," she said, "but what happens to the people who don't have someone step in? Do they just fail? That isn't fair."</p><p>MISS wants to become that "someone who steps in and helps," Graham explained. Beyond that, the founders, who also serve as the executive board, envision the organization becoming a community of minority scientists who can rely on each other and provide the type of support that none of them experienced until they found each other a month ago.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MjYzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMDM0OTEzMn0.h9ul7BOy4X3XIDpXBQLDyziCbX2gokyW1wwWfxTgYVU/img.jpg?width=980" id="fbf9e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e16aa3abe578678dc22d1bc103be7fb6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Jasmin Graham downloads data from an acoustic receiver. Jasmin Graham
<p>"We strive to be seen and take up space in a discipline which has been largely inaccessible for women like us," <a href="https://www.misselasmo.org/" target="_blank">the board stated</a>. "We strive to be positive role models for the next generation."</p><p>Each of the scientists emphasized the importance of innovation for science and of diversity for innovation.</p><p>"We believe diversity in the field creates more diversity in the knowledge and solutions," said Jackson.</p><p>Life experiences and world views have a huge impact on how people think about and address global problems, Graham added. More perspectives leads to more creative ideas and solutions. Homogeneity in problem solvers leads to homogeneity in thought patterns and, often, to dead ends.</p><p>Fisheries science is grappling with this challenge, she said, often "running in circles" until they ask <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/defending-indigenous-rights-climate-change-2602221014.html" target="_self">local indigenous communities</a> to share their knowledge.</p><p>"If you don't have everyone at the table, you don't have all the information," Graham said, "And science is all about data."</p>
<p>Representation in policy decisions and research is paramount to creating the most inclusive, effective and long-lasting solutions, the board postured.</p><p>MISS is quickly gaining traction, already fundraising $20,000 of their $25,000 initial goal. The money will fund travel stipends and professional development <a href="https://www.misselasmo.org/workshop.html" target="_blank">workshops</a> to 18 new minority women shark scientists next March and April.</p><p>Many people of color struggle with financial barriers to gain access and develop skills that would make them successful marine biologists, Elcock said, because most internships are unpaid or require payment for participation. The founders intend for the hands-on workshops, which will take place on the <a href="https://www.getintothefield.com/" target="_blank">Field School</a> research vessel where Webber-Schulz is a current fellow, to provide participants with critical field experience and to kick start their networks of minority shark scientists.</p><p>They also will focus on outreach to the younger generation, to be the role models they didn't see for young, budding scientists of color.</p><p>"We want to make it clear that women of color belong in shark science, even if you don't see them yet," said Webber-Schulz. "We do exist and we are here to stay."</p><p>Elcock summarized, "If we don't have diversity, science loses. Everyone loses."</p>
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