Our selection of top shark stories, highlighting the latest news and discoveries from around the world...

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New global map shows where sharks and rays most need protection

3rd February

Shark and ray populations are struggling across the world due to overfishing and other threats. A new report delineates 816 areas of the ocean that should be protected to help them recover.

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Urban light pollution alters nighttime hormones in sharks, study shows

3rd February

Artificial light from major coastal cities can disrupt the nighttime biology of sharks, according to new research that provides the first-ever measurements of melatonin—a hormone tied to biological rhythms—in wild sharks.

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Sharks on brink of extinction caught in tangle nets in protected Irish waters

6th February

Thousands of protected and critically endangered sea animals were killed after being caught in nets used by crayfishing vessels in Ireland’s only marine national park, new research shows.

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First Record of a Sexually Mature Female Sharpnose Sevengill Shark, Heptranchias perlo, from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

6th February

The record contributes to current knowledge of the species’ regional distribution and provides additional information on its reproductive occurrence in the area. 

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Antarctica’s First Shark Caught On Camera - And Why It Matters

12th February

The Southern Ocean is frigid, remote and punishingly cold, with temperatures dipping below zero. Which is why new footage captured near the South Shetland Islands is so remarkable: for the first time, a shark has been recorded on video in the Southern Ocean itself.

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When giants get trapped: How Kerala’s fishers are learning to save the world’s largest fish

13th February

Fishers along Kerala’s coast have now helped save 54 whale sharks, animals so large that they seem almost unreal when seen up close, and yet so helpless when trapped in a net meant for much smaller creatures. 

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Plastic Pollution Is Reaching Sharks Before They Hatch

20th February

A new study has documented microplastics inside mermaid’s purses, the protective egg cases that shield developing shark embryos from the outside world until they are ready to hatch.

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Scientists discover a completely new life form wreaking havoc on deep-sea sharks

22nd February

A common shoreline barnacle has been documented piercing deep-sea sharks and extracting nutrients directly from their flesh, marking a complete transition from filter feeding to parasitism.

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How cockfighting imperils Peru’s critically endangered sawfish

27th February

The elongated “teeth” that give sawfish (Pristis pristis) their name aren’t actual teeth, but hardened, modified scales embedded along the rostrum. For decades, some cockfighters have carved these structures into sharp spurs that they attach to a rooster’s legs before a fight.

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