Adopt-a-whale ?
This aerial image of a young humpback with an adult southern right whale has stunned researchers and left them scrambling to find out if adoption between different species of cetaceans has been previously documented . Jess Wohling took the photos near Esperance in Western Australia . She only realised the difference between the two whales when she was going through footage taken at Eleven Mile Beach . She sent the photos to whale researcher Katy Fennai , who confirmed the pair were different species and was “ completely blown away ”.
Squid game
The UK government is running a consultation on how to regulate a new fishery for the European squid , Loligo vulgaris . The species is becoming a more valuable catch as the UK ’ s seas warm , and juveniles are often found at popular South Coast night dives . November is a peak season for breeding . Each female lays up to 600 eggs , along with many other squid forming huge rafts , presumably for safety in numbers . Hatching and development varies depending on water temperature , but squid grow at great speed and can breed after nine months . Until fairly recently it was believed they lived for up to four years , but now 15 months is accepted as maximum life expectancy . Taking measures to avoid overfishing will give them a chance to continue to thrive .
Buckle up for the journey ahead
Paul Cox reports from the recent Sharks International conference , where a huge amount of knowledge was shared by experts
Well , I said I ’ d come back to this , so here I am . Sharks International 2022 , being hailed as the largest collection of shark talks in history , is officially done and dusted . It was a massive achievement for the team at the Shark Trust to co-host not one but two scientific conferences in the space of 12 days . Five days online and three inperson days in Valencia . And it was a huge , fascinating , inspiring feast of shark science and conservation . It left me exhausted , exhilarated and wondering how on Earth we could set about communicating eight days of shark science to a much wider audience . Because this stuff needs to be heard .
We enjoyed talks on machine learning ; genetic analysis ; shark movement patterns ; complex ocean modelling ; deep sea shark biology ; using ultrasound on Whale Shark hearts ( my personal favourite ); Mediterranean fisheries ; inspiring young people ; data sharing ; angel shark conservation planning ; citizen science ; aquarium conservation ; shark scientist diversity ; film-making ; legal frameworks ; advocacy ….
You get the point . There was a lot , some 280 presentations from 64 countries . All different . All offering tiny little glimpses into the world of science ( and scientists ) that has built up around sharks and rays . And yet , there was a sense of repetitiveness if you pull focus on the talks a little . The key message that came through again and again and again . Sharks are in trouble . Fisheries are the issue . We can learn more and more about sharks and , how they ‘ work ’, where they live , how they interact with the wider ecosystem . But it comes down to this : if we don ’ t deal with overfishing – the unsustainable exploitation of marine life – then we could be simply documenting the decline in ever finer detail .
The conference came to a close with a discussion about hope . How can we – the scientists who are closest to all the detail , who ( theoretically ) understand the magnitude of the threat – continue to have hope . That ’ s a bit of a paradox but , for me , we have no choice but to stay positive . We all need to feel that there ’ s a point to this massive global effort to better understand and protect sharks . And we have the benefit of knowing that solutions do exist and that massive progress has been made since the early days of shark conservation in the 1990s . This progress has been in no small part due to the growth in shark science .
Science doesn ’ t panic or get depressed . It just keeps going . It made me think of the airline pilot who , with all the knowledge at their fingertips , the deep understanding of what could go wrong when turbulence hits , calmly and politely asks you to return to your seat and fasten your seat belt . So , if we listen to the science , and we put trust in the solutions that it offers , I genuinely believe we can weather this storm . But we may need to buckle up for the ride .
www . sharktrust . org
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