A new study provides a comprehensive global synthesis of how vessel traffic affects large marine wildlife, including whales, dolphins, seals, manatees, sea turtles, sharks and rays.

Coral reefs are undoubtedly in crisis. Scientists have documented concerning coral bleaching events, dramatic declines in coral cover, fish and shark populations across the Caribbean over recent decades. But a critical question has remained unanswered: has the way energy flows through reef ecosystems also changed? A new study led by scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and published in Nature reveals that it has, profoundly. Food chains on modern Caribbean reefs are 60-70% shorter than they were 7,000 years ago, and individual fish have lost the dietary specialisation that once sustained a complex web of energy pathways. 

A new scientific study has confirmed the accidental capture of a juvenile white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) within the Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), providing rare evidence of the species' persistent presence in the Mediterranean. The findings, published in Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, contextualize this 2023 encounter within 160 years of regional records and highlight the urgent need for conservation of this iconic species.

Artificial light from major coastal cities can disrupt the nighttime biology of sharks, according to new research that provides the first-ever measurements of melatonin—a hormone tied to biological rhythms—in wild sharks.

A new study based on long-term monitoring data demonstrates significant differences in growth between nurse sharks off the coast of Miami and those living just across the Gulf Stream.