World of Sharks

Around the ocean in 80 sharks with Dr Helen Scales

Sharks with beards. Deep sea sharks with glow-in-the-dark bellies. Sharks that take on submarines. Sharks that walk instead of swim and rays with a hedge trimmer for a nose…this episode has it all! We explore the fantastic diversity of sharks and their relatives (and of all marine life!) with marine biologist, scientific writer and broadcaster Dr Helen Scales, ahead of the release of her new book, What the Wild Sea Can Be. Join us as we travel from the ocean depths to the shallowest rockpools, meeting a colourful bunch of characters along the way.

Timestamps:

05.01 - Helen's career journey from scientist to writer

16.33 - Pom-pom crabs, cleaner wrasse

22.14 - Sharks! Lanternsharks, greenland sharks, walking sharks, shysharks

27.10 - Sharks in history and culture

32.30 - The deep sea!

47.04 - Deep sea sharks

51.00 - What the Wild Sea Can Be and the future of our ocean

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Helen’s Instagram: @drhelenscales

Helen’s twitter: @helenscales

Website:  https://helenscales.com/

Helen’s latest book: https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/what-the-wild-sea-can-be/

Save Our Seas Foundation is on instagram (@saveourseasfoundation) and x/twitter (@SaveOurSeas).

Exploring Galápagos, the sharkiest place on Earth with Pelayo Salinas de León

Come with us on a voyage to one of the most remote, biodiverse and "sharkiest" places on the planet with leading expert Pelayo Salinas, co-principal investigator of shark ecology and conservation at the Charles Darwin Foundation and Save Our Seas Foundation project leader. In this episode we go on a dive to observe scalloped hammerheads visiting their after-work spa, get booped by the bouncer of the reef, Galapagos sharks, and swim alongside the world's largest fish. And, if that wasn't enough, we head off on an expedition into the deep to visit a very unusual egg-laying site on a hydrothermal vent... 

You can follow Pelayo on instagram and twitter (@pelayosalinas) and find out more about the Charles Darwin Foundation here: https://www.darwinfoundation.org/en/   

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast 

Follow SOSF: @saveourseasfoundation (instagram), @SaveOurSeas (x/twitter)

Thresher Sharks: The Biomechanics of Tail-Whipping with Jamie Knaub

Thresher sharks are known for their unusual hunting strategy. They use their long tail like a whip, striking it so fast that it creates a shockwave capable of stunning multiple fish at once! But how does their anatomy support such an extreme movement? In today’s episode we find out! We talk with Jamie Knaub, who researches the biomechanics and vertebral anatomy in large, swimming animals - including whales and sharks. In this episode we explore Jamie's research, including her most recent work studying the vertebrae of the thresher shark to understand how they are able to carry out that iconic tail whip. This episode has it all: the Olympians of the shark world, surprise humpbacks, sharks with anxiety, digital dissections and of course some deliciously nerdy science.

You can follow Jamie on X/twitter (@CornOnTheKnaub) or LinkedIn (Jamie Knaub). And you can find out more about the Fab Lab, run by Dr Marianne Porter, here: https://mepbiomechanics.com/

 

You can find us on social media on X/twitter (@SaveOurSeas) or instagram (@saveourseasfoundation)

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

 

 

Protecting sharks and coastal livelihoods with Dr Hollie Booth

Conservation is often more about understanding people than studying the animals we are trying to protect. In this episode we learn from Dr Hollie Booth, research fellow at the University of Oxford, who has worked extensively with small-scale fisheries in Indonesia, the world’s largest shark fishing nation. Hollie’s work aims to disentangle the drivers of shark fishing in order to find solutions that have positive outcomes for both sharks and coastal communities. Here, we discuss the complexities of fisheries and the many reasons why someone might catch and trade sharks. And, we talk about the importance of finding conservation strategies that are socially just as well as ecologically effective.

You can follow Hollie and her work: 

@the_hollietype (instagram)

@kebersamaan_untuk_lautan (instagram)

@hollieboothie (twitter)

https://saveourseas.com/project/solutions-for-shark-fisheries-in-a-surfers-paradise/

https://mcem.web.ox.ac.uk/incentive-based-marine-conservation

 

Shownotes: 

www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

 

Could climate change affect baby sharks? With Noémie Coulon

The ocean is warming at a rapid pace. This year (2024) began with the highest global Sea Surface Temperature (SST) on record, and scientists are already warning of mass coral bleaching events and other worrying consequences for marine life. But how could rising temperatures impact sharks, particularly in the early stages of life when they are most vulnerable? PhD student and “mother-of-sharks” Noémie Coulon is trying to understand the effects of ocean warming and acidification on baby sharks, using an egg-laying species – the small-spotted catshark – as an example. In this episode, we follow her work as she raises catsharks in the lab, testing the effects of different environmental conditions at key stages in their development.   

Follow along with Noémie's work on twitter (@noemie_coulon) and instagram (@noemie.coulon.9). 

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

The mystery of Charlotte, the pregnant stingray with Dr David Shiffman

In February 2024, a round stingray from a small, rural aquarium in the middle of a shopping mall unexpectedly took the world by storm. She was pregnant, but how this had happened was a complete mystery - there were no male stingrays in the tank, nor had there ever been...

In this episode we are joined by scientist and science communicator Dr David Shiffman (@whysharksmatter) to examine Charlotte's case. We go deep into the various theories that could explain Charlotte's pregnancy to get to the bottom of what really happened. No, a shark did not get a ray pregnant, but what did happen is even more fascinating. It's a good excuse to take a deep dive into the more unusual methods of shark and ray reproduction, including the super cool zoological phenomenon that is parthenogenesis! 

You can find out more about David here https://davidshiffmancv.com/, find his book here https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12267/why-sharks-matter and read his article on Charlotte for Southern Fried Science: https://www.southernfriedscience.com/no-a-shark-did-not-get-a-stingray-pregnant-but-what-really-happened-is-pretty-cool/

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

 

Tackling the fin trade with CITES with Luke Warwick

The international shark fin trade is a billion-dollar industry. It is also driving declines in shark populations around the world. In this episode, we are joined by Luke Warwick, expert in global shark policy, to learn how CITES - an international agreement between governments to regulate trade in endangered species - could help protect sharks and rays from overexploitation. In particular, we discuss a landmark vote that occurred in 2022, which saw 90% of the fin trade come under regulation almost overnight. Luke walks us through what has happened in the year since, from getting the vote passed to implementing the new regulations at local level. And, we discuss some of the trials and tribulations of trying to get 100+ countries to agree on something, especially when most of them have a vested interest...

You can learn more about Luke and his work with the Wildlife Conservation Society on twitter (@WCSsharks) and here https://www.wcs.org/our-work/wildlife/sharks-skates-rays. You can also check out the shownotes for this episode here www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

For more sharky content, find us on social media! We are @saveourseasfoundation on instagram, and @SaveOurSeas on twitter. 

 

The acoustic world of sharks: how do they hear? With Dr Lucille Chapuis

Do sharks have ears? Are they good listeners? What are they listening for? Do great white sharks get freaked out by orca sounds? And what kind of music do sharks like?! We cover all this and so much more with bio-acoustician and shark hearing expert, Dr Lucille Chapuis. Join us for a fact-filled episode that includes disco sharks, curious humpbacks, putting sharks in 'sleepy-time baths' and R2D2 with a throat problem. 

You can follow Lucille on twitter (@sharkslikejazz), instagram (@lucillechapuis) and via her website, www.sharkslikejazz.com. 

If you liked this episode, please consider giving us a rating and a review. You can get in touch with the podcast by emailing isla@saveourseas.com, or via social media (@saveourseasfoundation on instagram, @SaveOurSeas on twitter). 

Going back in time with shark skin! With Dr Erin Dillon

Time travel. Ancient coral reefs. Shark sleuthing. The AMAZING properties of shark skin...this episode has it all! We're chatting with Dr Erin Dillon, conservation paleobiologist and researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Erin's work uses fossilised shark skin (fancy term: dermal denticles) as a window into the past, to understand what kinds of sharks were around on coral reefs thousands of years ago and how that has changed over time. It's a fascinating deep dive into shark life before humans made their mark, and an insight into what healthy reefs could look like with a little bit of help. 

You can follow Erin's work by heading to her website, http://erinmdillon.wordpress.com, or by following Erin on social media (@erinmdillon). 

You can find the shownotes for this episode here www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast and find us on social media, we are @saveourseasfoundation on instagram and @SaveOurSeas on twitter. 

Why have sharks been so successful? With Dr James Lea

It's our 50th episode!! To celebrate, host Isla is joined by shark scientist and CEO of the Save Our Seas Foundation Dr James Lea to talk about the amazing evolutionary success of sharks and their relatives. We talk about just how much sharks have had thrown at them over the 440 million years they've existed on this planet (super volcanoes, ice ages, the terror of plants and a mass extinction event called the 'Great Dying'!) and discuss their super-powered adaptations and efficient body plans. Plus, we answer a listener question: how can I get my friends into shark conservation? 

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast 

You can find us on instagram (@saveourseasfoundation) and twitter (@SaveOurSeas).