Andrew is a post-doctoral researcher in North Carolina focused on population and conservation genetics in hydrothermal vent communities.
David is a graduate student in Florida. He studies the ecology and conservation of sharks.
Amy is a graduate student in North Carolina studying local ecological knowledge within small scale fisheries.
Chuck is a graduate student in North Carolina focusing on apex predators and how they interact with fisheries.
Lyndell is a graduate student in North Carolina, studying the feeding ecology of cownose rays.
Iris is a graduate student in Washington studying habitat use and feeding habits of juvenile Pacific salmon and herring in Puget Sound.
Michael is a graduate student in Maryland investigating the visual systems of mantis shrimp.
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By David Shiffman, on December 28th, 2011
 Caribbean reef shark, Bimini. Photo credit: David Shiffman 2011 was a relatively good year for sharks and rays. Presented below, in no particular order, are ten important shark conservation stories from the past year.
1. Shark sanctuaries. The world gained several new shark sanctuaries, areas where shark fishing is banned, in 2011. Nations creating new shark sanctuaries include Honduras (~92,000 square miles), the Bahamas (~240,000 square miles), Marshall Islands/Guam/Palau (a regional partnership protecting almost 2 million square miles). Numerous concerns about enforcing rules in these huge areas, as well as concerns about potential loopholes in the policies, exist among conservation scientists.
2. Fin bans. These laws ban the possession, trade, or sale of shark fins within the boundaries of a city, state/territory, or country. In 2011, Hawaii’s first-in-the-US fin ban took effect, and a few other US states (California, Washington, and Oregon) passed similar laws. There is an ongoing debate in the shark conservation community about whether blanket bans on finning are better than promoting best practices (i.e. more sustainable shark fishing techniques). Additionally, some are concerned that we aren’t focusing enough on other threats to sharks like bycatch and habitat destruction.
Continue reading The top 10 shark conservation stories of 2011
By David Shiffman, on June 10th, 2010
The last talk of Sharks International just concluded. Day 3 focused on genetic and molecular techniques, which have been used to answer all sorts of interesting questions about sharks. I presented my research for the first time, and it was very well received (which is part of the reason why I haven’t posted in a couple of days- I’ve been very busy answering questions and celebrating being done with my talk).
Continue reading Sharks International: Day 3 and 4
By David Shiffman, on June 8th, 2010
The second day of Sharks International just concluded. This morning’s keynote address focused on how shark behavior research has changed in the last few decades, and how improved technology has made that possible. Scientists used to have to build their own acoustic tags and follow the tagged sharks around in a boat. Nowadays, tags can be on a shark for months at a time before they upload their information to a satellite, and thanks to pH, depth, and temperature sensors, they record a lot more than just location. This makes answering all sorts of questions about shark behavior possible.
Talks today focused on conservation. We heard from international legal experts about CITES and other treaties designed to protect wildlife. We learned about how shark feeding dives affect the behavior of sharks and associated reef fish, and we learned how much living sharks can be worth for ecotourism. We also learned about a recently rediscovered species of shark that had been thought extinct for a century (sadly, it’s probably going extinct soon). I actually used up all the ink in a hotel pen taking notes.
Tomorrow there are no talks, and I’m going SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef with some conference delegates. My presentation is Thursday morning.
-WhySharksMatter
By David Shiffman, on June 7th, 2010
The first day of talks is over here at Sharks International. In this morning’s keynote, we were treated to a summary of the last 20 years of great white shark research in Australia. Talks so far have mostly focused on tracking studies, and people have made some fascinating discoveries.
Continue reading Sharks International: Day 1 Summary
By David Shiffman, on May 31st, 2010
Later this week, I’m headed to the land down under to attend Sharks International, a once-a-decade shark science conference. Scientists from six continents and dozens of countries will be presenting their research on sharks, rays, skates, and chimeras. This will be the first time I’ve presented my own research at any scientific conference. I’ll try my best to blog about the conference as it occurs, but with all the science going on (and the availability of Australian beer) I may not have a lot of time. If you don’t hear from me for a while, you can rest assured that I’ll be returning with some great material for future Southern Fried Science posts. Also, Charlie is coming with me as part of the ongoing “Charlie and the Adventure” series.
If any of our readers will be attending the conference, I’m presenting on Thursday, June 10th at 11:00 a.m. in the Crystal Twig room. We always love meeting our readers in person.
~WhySharksMatter
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