The death of 57-year-old Paul Millachip at Fremantle’s Port Beach is a reminder that shark bites, though rare, can be tragic. New research aims to reduce the risk by understanding sharks’ vision.
Sharks and rays have ruled the ocean for 420 million years, but that reign may be slipping.
(Mark Erdmann)
Nearly all species of sharks and rays are captured in fishing operations. But research shows that fishing quotas and closing some areas to fishing can help rebuild threatened populations.
Sharks have been around for more than 400 million years — but not all sharks are equally resilient to changes around them. Why do some groups thrive, while others dwindle?
IUCN workers staff pavilions at the seventh World Conservation Congress in Marseille, southern France.
Gao Jing/Xinhua/Alamy Live News
As part of the nation’s massive wartime mobilization effort, millions of Americans, for the first time, traveled abroad – where many had their first encounters with the marine predators.
From working on Jaws to putting herself in danger, Valerie Taylor vowed to change public attitudes to sharks. A new film dives deeply into her underwater life.
Blue sharks, which are prized for their fins, swimming off Cape Point in South Africa.
Morne Hardenberg
Alison Kock, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Sharks grow slowly and produce few young compared to bony fishes. In many cases, this means that their populations are fished out faster than can be replenished if not well managed.
By measuring how and when elephant seals sleep, researchers were able to figure out how elephant seals change their risk-taking behavior as they gain weight.
A biologist examines microplastics found in sea species at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Greece, Nov. 26, 2019.
Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP via Getty Images
New fossil detective work sheds light on the life of megalodon, the biggest predatory shark ever discovered.
Getting the job done. A female Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) produced a daughter (left) without the assistance of a male.
Skip Brown/Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Mercedes Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an egg develops into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm, might be more common than you realized.
Researchers are using a newly developed satellite tag to study previously unknown aspects of tiger shark reproduction. This approach could be used on other difficult-to-study shark species.
A blue shark in the Channel Islands off California.
NOAA SWFSC/Flickr
Marine Biologist, South African National Parks (SANParks); Honorary Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity