World of Sharks

Few sharks capture the imagination quite like the thresher shark. They are well-known for their cartoonish appearance, “anxious-looking” faces and seriously cool hunting technique. But in scientific terms, we know very little about them – despite their endangered status.
Rafid Shidqi is on a mission to change that. For the last eight years, he has led groundbreaking research on the elusive pelagic thresher sharks of Alor, Indonesia, whose preference for deep, pelagic habitats make them extremely difficult to study. In 2018, Rafid started the non-profit Thresher Shark Indonesia, working within remote, shark-dependent fishing communities to better understand and protect the species. Through acoustic and satellite telemetry and socio-economic studies, Rafid has made vital discoveries about not only the movements and behaviour of pelagic threshers, but also the communities who rely on them to make a living.
Rafid’s story isn’t just about conserving a cool species – it’s also about empowering communities, opening pathways for local youth through conservation leadership, and finding sustainable solutions for shark-dependent fisheries.

Find out more: https://threshershark.id/en/ (@threshershark.id on instagram) and @rafid.shidqi

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Follow us on socials! @saveourseasfoundation

 

This episode is an extra special one – it’s our 100^th! To celebrate this milestone, our host Dr Isla Hodgson looks back across half a decade and 100+ hours of conversations about sharks with the people who know them best. And, we hear messages and bonus shark stories from some friends of the pod. 

Transcript and shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast.

This episode features the voices of (in order of appearance): 

Dr David Shiffman [5.10] 

Dr Helen Scales [5.51]

Dr Luz Saldana Ruiz (en Español) [13.46]

Jillian Morris-Brake [16.51]

Steve Backshall [21.59]

Dr Jaime Penadés Suay (en Español) [26.53]

Craig Foster [32.07]

Dr Hollie Booth [38.50]

Dr Brit Finucci [39.20]

Dr Jack Cooper [41.50]

Parasites have a bad rep. We often see them as harmful, exploitative, and just plain icky. But in the shark world, parasites are much more than just irritating hitchhikers. They are ecosystem engineers and important indicators of the health of not just sharks, but the entire ocean. And studies are starting to show some may actually benefit our sharky friends.

Isla met with shark parasitologists Dr Bjoern Schaeffner and Dr Jaime Penadés Suay at Sharks International, Sri Lanka, where they were hosting a workshop on shark parasites. Together, they discuss what parasites we might find in and on sharks, their critical ecological and biological roles, and why on earth we should care about them, before heading to an outdoor dissection in the seaside city of Negombo to explore, hands-on, the world inside of sharks. 

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

We're diving back into our mailbag to answer more of your burning sharky questions! In this episode we address all sorts of fascinating queries such as how bioluminescence evolved in sharks, which species are capable of breathing while they’re not swimming, and whether sharks are really older than trees. Plus, we take deep dives into several awesome species – great white sharks, grey reef sharks, pocket sharks and of course, James’ favourite, the velvet belly lantern shark. 

Specific question timestamps:

Q1: Are there any shark species that are showing signs of adapting well to climate change? [3.36 – 10.21]

Q2: Has there ever been more observations of any of the two species of Mollisquama (pocket sharks)? [10.31 – 13.20]

Q3: How did bioluminescence in species like the pocket shark evolve? Was it independent, or did their last common ancestor have bioluminescent fluid? [13.40-15.11]

Q4: We rarely hear about white sharks in the vicinity of South America, either ocean, with the exception of seasonal migrations of NA white sharks into the US South Atlantic coast and Caribbean. My question is: why not? [15.22 – 21.49]

Q5: Which shark species can stay still and breathe through buccal pumping? [21.59-28.44]

Q6: Which species of shark and ray are most closely related? [28.54 – 37.50]

Q7: What is the most surprising thing you’ve learnt in your career (when you first started, vs. most recently)? [37.58 – 44.58]

Q8: Shark [bite incidents] often go unreported for various reasons despite the best efforts of educational institutes to accurately record them. What do you think the real number of global [incidents] might be? [45.06-52.14]

Do you have any questions you'd like researched and answered on the pod? Get in touch! You can email isla@saveourseas.com or message us on socials: @saveourseasfoundation.

 

 

Art has the power to change perspectives, spark dialogue, and raise awareness of the complex issues facing our ocean. This is exactly why PangeaSeed was established. Since its inception in 2010, PangeaSeed has brought together local artists and their communities to collaborate on large-scale, vibrant public artworks on the walls of their towns and cities, depicting the ocean, her inhabitants, and the challenges she faces, in line with PangeaSeed's mission to bridge art and science. Over the last decade,  over 500 murals have been created in locations across the world. Ahead of their travels to Seychelles, Isla sat down with executive director and director of operations for PangeaSeed, Tre and Akira, to discuss the intersection of art and ocean conservation, the importance of community and connection, and how sharks started an entire movement. 

You can find out more about PangeaSeed here www.pangeaseed.org, or on social media (@pangeaseed and @seawalls_). 

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Follow us on socials! We are @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms. 

In August 2025, a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science suggested that ocean acidification could negatively impact a shark's most useful tool: their teeth. We speak with the papers lead author, Max Baum, about this research, and what the findings could mean for the sharks of tomorrow. Plus we take a deep dive into the wonders of shark teeth, and meet a decidedly unbothered tiger shark named Farida.

You can read the paper we discuss in this episode here: Simulated Ocean Acidification Affects Shark Tooth Morphology 

You can also follow Max on Instagram (@maxbaum_insights) and discover more about his work here: www.ocean-insights.org.

Full shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast.

Find out more about us by following @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms!

Sharks have been around a long, long time (over 450 million years!). But how did they evolve into the extraordinarily diverse and successful group of animals that we have today? On today's episode, we meet palaeontologist and author of The Secret History of Sharks, Professor John Long, to discuss a thrilling story of evolutionary experimentation, fossilised clues, and above all, survival.

The Secret History of Sharks is available now: https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/john-long-2/the-secret-history-of-sharks/9781529427356/

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

 

The Maldives has served as a shark sanctuary for 15 years, and is now one of the most diverse regions for sharks and rays in the world. But with great success comes a new problem: conflict with humans. Fishers are reporting a loss of some of their catch to sharks, an issue known as depredation. For her PhD, SOSF project leader Mina Hatayama is seeking to understand depredation in the Maldives, studying shark behaviour and how it impacts local fishers and their attitudes towards sharks. She will also be asking the very intriguing question of whether hotter sharks are hungrier sharks, exploring the potential role of ocean warming in these increased depredation incidents, as well as working closely with the local fishing community to understand their perspectives and co-develop sustainable solutions.

In this episode, we dive into the challenges of humans and sharks sharing space and resources. It’s a really insightful conversation that weaves together all kinds of issues, from human attitudes and shifting baselines, to the influence of global threats such as climate change on human-wildlife interactions. We also discuss how complex and delicate these situations can be, and the realities of navigating an interdisciplinary project. 

Read more about Mina’s ongoing SOSF project here https://saveourseas.com/project/attitudes-and-costs-from-a-new-conservation-challenge/ and here https://www.fishandfisheries.com/minahatayama.

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

 

 

Sometimes called the 'couch potatoes of the sea', nurse sharks are famous for their laid back attitude to life spending most of their days cosied up in piles, napping. But their gentle, docile nature doesn't make them any less special. In this episode, we sit down with SOSF project leader and PhD Researcher Sergio Madrigal Mora - who has spent a lot of time hanging out with the Labradors of the shark world - to discuss how nurse sharks are perfectly adapted to life in the tropics and why they form 'cuddle huddles' on the sea floor. And, we learn more about Sergio's research into the influence of changing temperatures on the movements of Pacific nurse sharks in Costa Rica's St Elena Bay.

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

You can follow Sergio on Instagram: @sergiomm_77 or @tiburones_ucr. You can find us across all platforms as @saveourseasfoundation.

Papers mentioned in this episode: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v750/meps14733,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098125000589,
https://connectsci.au/mf/article/75/2/MF23162/61130/Long-distance-
dispersal-of-the-endangered-Pacific

 

We know sharks have incredible senses, but just how good is their eyesight? In this episode, we explore the world through a shark's eyes with fish vision expert Dr Lily Fogg. How does fish vision compare to our own? How do the eyes of a fish living on a vibrant coral reef differ from those hanging out in the murky depths? And do sharks see in technicolour, or multiple shades of grey?

We also take a dive deep into Lily's most recent research, which investigated the eyes of the world's longest living vertebrate: the greenland shark. Her findings challenge a commonly held perception of these ancient creatures, and push the boundaries of what we thought was physiologically possible...

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

You can read the full study on greenland shark vision here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67429-6

You can find SOSF on social media by searching for @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms.