News Digest January Our selection of top shark stories, highlighting the latest news and discoveries from around the world... Scientists Uncover Massive Deep-Sea Eggs Inside on Active Volcano Thought to Be Extinct for Centuries 5th January What the researchers found may be the largest known nursery of deep-sea skate eggs ever recorded. But that’s only the surface of the story. Country diary: Mermaid’s purses bring riches to the beach 9th January I record our haul on the Shark Trust app, where the data is added to their Great Eggcase Hunt project. The cases we’re finding were laid by spotted and thornback rays (Raja montagui and Raja clavata), two of the commonest species around British coasts. Silky shark tagging study reveals gaps in marine protected areas 12th January The limited range of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) offers reduced protection to vulnerable species such as the highly mobile silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis). Threatened by commercial fisheries and the global fin trade, more research is needed to understand their movements and how to improve levels of protection, Europe's largest skate recovers in Scottish waters 13th January Numbers of critically-endangered flapper skate are beginning to recover in Scotland, new research has suggested. The study, conducted by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, involved interviews with commercial fishers from all over Scotland, who reported a significant increase in flapper skate caught while fishing for other species over the past four years. Blind, slow and 500 years old – or are they? How scientists are unravelling the secrets of Greenland sharks 22nd January This month, scientists made a groundbreaking discovery: the sharks are not, in fact, blind. The newly published findings upend commonly held beliefs and expose the challenges of studying a shark that has long resisted the reaches of science. But the disruptive nature of the research also underscores the challenges scientists face in predicting how a rapidly changing climate might harm or help the elusive fish. Rare deep-sea goblin shark seen for first time in Canary Island waters 23rd January A team of researchers from the University of La Laguna has documented for the first time the presence of a live goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), in the waters of the Canary Islands. Scientists found a creature that is breaking the rules of reproduction 26th January A new study analysing the epaulette shark of Australia and New Guinea finds that this species shows no noticeable spike in metabolic rate during reproduction. Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs had limited impact on sharks and rays, study shows 28th January A new study using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) has revealed that the asteroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago caused only a modest decline in shark and ray species. Banner Image: © Paul Naylor Manage Cookie Preferences