South Africa’s white shark population is not in decline but migrating to survive.
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Articles on White sharks
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Some baby sharks eat their unborn siblings in utero, while others spend 100 years in childhood. Sink your teeth into the weird world of these juvenile wonders of the deep.
The scars many whales bear throughout their lives resulting from shark attacks are more than sufficient evidence sharks will have a go if an opportunity arises.
Researchers have discovered that great white sharks are more social than previously thought. Using specialized tags, they tracked six sharks and found that some stay close to each other when hunting.
As authorities grapple with the best way to respond to the tragedy, it’s worth remembering all shark mitigation measures come with both merits and drawbacks – and none is a silver bullet.
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.
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.
You’re more likely to drown at a beach than be killed by a shark. But there are things people can do to reduce the already low risk even further.
Media coverage of sharks often exaggerates risks to people, but more than 500 shark species have never been known to attack humans, and there’s lots to learn about them.
Some media have reported shark numbers at ‘plague proportions’ in Australian waters. But a new analysis suggests the opposite: species such as hammerheads and white sharks have plummeted in number.
If sharks habitats aren’t known, it’s harder to conserve either the animals or those habitats.
How many shark encounters have there been at your local beach? Explore our interactive map to see 20 years of incidents between humans and sharks in coastal waters around Australia.
Fatal shark bites are very rare. But the stats do suggest that the likelihood of an attack proving fatal is higher in Australia - probably because our waters are home to the “big three” dangerous species.
As the Discovery Channel and National Geographic Wild unleash a week of dueling shark programs, a biologist advises viewers to take what they see with a large grain of sea salt.
Sharks can’t sneeze like we do, but they can do other cool tricks – like making their stomach stick out of their mouth to get rid of unwanted stuff.
Shark nets are controversial, which is why the New South Wales government is investigating a host of other ways to keep humans and sharks apart – some more tried and tested than others.
If you do see a shark this summer, don’t panic – you just got lucky.
South Africa’s white shark population faced a rapid decline in the last generation. More concerning is that their numbers might already be too low to ensure their survival.
Independent tests show that a wearable electric deterrent called a Shark Shield does indeed seem to live up to its name.
The best way to guard against shark attacks is to study them, not kill them. Because while the alleged “shark boom” almost certainly not real, the more we know about sharks, the better.
Top contributors
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Wen Family Chair in Conservation, The University of Western Australia
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Senior Lecturer in Geography, University of Wollongong
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Marine Biologist, South African National Parks (SANParks); Honorary Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
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Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor in Marine Fisheries Ecology, Macquarie University
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Associate professor, Flinders University
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Shark biologist, The University of Western Australia
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Director, Florida Program for Shark Research and Coordinator of Museum Operations, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
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Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Bond University
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Postdoctoral Researcher in management and conservation of white sharks, Stellenbosch University
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Senior Research Fellow, Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton
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Senior Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University
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PhD Candidate, James Cook University
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Research Lead, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
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Senior Lecturer in Economic Geography, University of Wollongong
