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Saltwater Life is a marine research and conservation organisation based in the UK.

Photo Credit: Debra Canabal, Epic Diving

Elasmobranchs

Elasmobranchs first evolved over 400 million years ago. They are superbly adapted to their environment, showing remarkable diversity and variation in their physical appearance, their biology, and their behaviour. They inhabit every ocean on the planet and yet, they are under ever-increasing pressures which challenge their ability to survive.

Threats

Commercial over-fishing is by the far the greatest threat to elasmobranchs. They are targeted for their meat, fins and liver oil. Additional pressures such as the destruction and pollution of their habitat, the demand for shark cartilage (although usually taken from sharks already killed by fisheries), poor angling practices, ocean acidification and climate change as well as poorly managed wildlife tourism are all factors contributing to the decline of shark populations worldwide. Collectively these threats result in an estimated figure of between 63 and 273 million sharks being killed every year by humans.

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Safeguard

As most elasmobranch species grow slowly, mature late and give birth to relatively few pups, they simply cannot sustain these pressures, thus many species have been severely depleted, with population numbers recovering very slowly if at all. The need for effective management practices and crucially the enforcement of these, are essential to safeguard sharks.

Introduction to Sharks

Juvenile Great White. Photo credit: Lauren Smith

General Introduction

Elasmobranchs first evolved over 400 million years ago. They are superbly adapted to their environment, showing remarkable diversity and variation in their physical appearance, their

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Evolution and Classification

Why do our oceans need sharks?

Providing balance within ecosystems: The fact that shark species are so diverse and inhabit every ocean on the planet makes them key players essential to the ocean environment. 

The removal of sharks from an ecosystem, will directly affect the population numbers of their prey species as well as indirectly impacting other species within the ecological community. For example, the presence of sharks around seagrass meadows minimizes the impacts of seagrass grazing species and prevents over-grazing of this crucial habitat which supports a variety of different fish, shellfish and bird populations. 

Seagrass itself is also important because it sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, storing it within itself and within the sediment preventing it from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change, thus the consequences of removing shark species from a particular habitat can have indirect and far-reaching consequences.

Thus the ecological roles of sharks in ecosystems are complex, not all effects are linear, (top-down) and it is important to remember that the majority of sharks species are not large (<1m as adults) and are mesopredators, some are specialist predators, others generalist predators, occupying different roles within the food web affecting the connectivity of these species within the marine ecosystem.

The functioning of the ocean ecosystem is vital to all life on earth.

Shark Senses

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Shark Habitat

Shark Habitat

Sharks inhabit every ocean on the planet, across varied marine environments, tropical coral reefs, cold arctic waters, deep seas, open ocean, coasts, estuaries and even a few species can be found in freshwater. Where sharks are found depends on their physiological capabilities and adaptations to a given environment as well as ecological factors such as abundance of prey, competition, probability of finding a mate etc.

Shark Encounters

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Shark Habitat

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