New walking shark discovered in Papua New Guinea

If you have a moment, please have a read...

🥁🥁🥁 We’re hiring! The Narwhal is looking for a senior B.C. reporter and a senior national reporter to pursue ambitious journalism about the natural world in B.C. and Canada. More details threaded 🧶: thenarwhal.ca/work-with-us/

A week from now I will be traveling across the world to Colombo, Sri Lanka for #SharksInternational2026 ! If you are interested in shark life histories and what drives population growth rates, come see my presentation @sharks-int.bsky.social #SI2026

If you: - are part of the ray fan club, - wonder why I post from a museum collection every few months, - are interested in the connections between morphology, ecology, and biodiversity, And are going to #SharksInternational2026, check out my talk on Monday, 4 May at 12:40! @sharks-int.bsky.social

I’m headed to Sri Lanka in 1 week for #SharksInternational2026! Excited to see everyone’s work! If you’re interested in species’ MPA coverage, international reporting of no-take areas, or a new tool for exploring coverage for your study species/region, come check out my talk @sharks-int.bsky.social

🚨 New(ish) PhD paper out in @natcomms.nature.com with @hannahvwatkins.bsky.social, Ale Siqueira, and Dave Bellwood comparing the effects of warming temperatures 🥵 and commercial fisheries 🎣 on the growth performance of marine fishes 🌐 🦑🧪 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

While jellies are quite scary during stinger season, fishes that feed on these planktonic jellies contribute a whopping ~25% to the productivity of coral reef fishes 🪼🐟 Check out our new OA paper in @natecoevo.nature.com, led by PhD student James Gahan, here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌐 🦑🧪

JOINT PhD OPPORTUNITY! 🚨🦈 Work with Uni of Qld and @exeter.ac.uk on this amazing project developing insights for managing vulnerable species in fisheries globally. DEADLINE: 26th APRIL 2026 Apply and learn more - scholarships.uq.edu.au/scholarship/... 🦑🦈🌊🎣🧪🌐 @kristianmetcalfe.bsky.social #PhDsky

Excited to share our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com We synthesize causal discovery & inference approaches across traditions (regression adjustment, quasi-expts, SEMs, Granger causality, convergent cross-mapping, and more) into a unified workflow for ecologists. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Grateful for the mentors, collaborators, and friends who make science stronger every day. #WomeninSTEM @rachhson.bsky.social @sfubiosciences.bsky.social @sfuscience.bsky.social

What success looks like (5–10 years) • Fishing mortality aligned with species’ life histories • Species-level reporting becomes the norm • Management completeness rises above critical thresholds • Shark & ray populations stabilize and recover Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9

• 40% of global shark & ray catch comes from low- and middle-income countries • Small-scale fisheries underpin livelihoods and food security • Under-resourced management = high biodiversity & social risk • Reduced fishing mortality reduces extinction & social risk, improving ecosystem functions.

Where investment has the highest leverage to bend back biodiversity loss? Funding that strengthens: • Species-level catch & trade data • Compliance and enforcement • Capacity in national agencies • Monitoring in small-scale fisheries → Directly reduces fishing mortality

We don’t need new frameworks — we need to connect and implement the ones we have. Fisheries management, trade rules, compliance, and demand must align to reduce fishing mortality at scale. Implementation is the bottleneck. @hollieboothie.bsky.social @sharkcolin.bsky.social

Decline is not inevitable. Where fishing mortality has been reduced — through catch limits, retention bans, or spatial protection — shark and ray populations are stabilizing or recovering. Recoveries documented for wide-ranging and restricted-range species @charlie-huveneers.bsky.social

Gaps in catch limits, compliance, and enforcement mean fishing mortality stays high even where policies exist. Where management is complete, risk is lower and recovery is possible. @hollieboothie.bsky.social @sharkcolin.bsky.social Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9

Overfishing is compounded by under-management Fishing mortality is the primary driver & management completeness (for guitarfishes & requiem sharks) stands at ~49% globally. @sammsherman27.bsky.social @vanderwright.bsky.social Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9

What’s driving the decline? The crisis isn’t just fishing — it’s invisible fishing. Much shark & ray catch is under-reported, aggregated, or mislabeled, masking real mortality & delaying management. What we don’t measure, we don’t manage. @cgmull.bsky.social @nathanpacoureau.bsky.social

Sharks & rays are sentinels of ocean health. - Global abundance has been fished down by 65%, - Now 37.5% of species are threatened, - The current extinction rate is 25–250 times greater than the background fossil record, with greatest losses in tropical coastal seas. #BiodiversityTargets

New #sharkscience #sharkconservation "Bending back the curve of shark and ray biodiversity loss" in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com go.nature.com/4jXOnaC What will it take to reverse shark biodiversity loss? Find out in our new article out today. @nickdulvy.bsky.social @iucnshark.bsky.social

New paper out today in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com by the #GlobalSharkTrends team: Bending back the curve of shark & ray biodiversity loss; Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9 @sfu.ca @sfubiosciences.bsky.social @earth2ocean.bsky.social

New online! Bending back the curve of shark and ray biodiversity loss

Bravo @cbcstephenquinn.bsky.social for taking Vancouver Park Board to task for this terrible decision. 🚂 Back up this train, folks! 🚂 * JK Rowling fuels hatred and financially benefits from this deal * U.S. based company delivers it www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

The last 10 yrs were the worst decade on record for salmon spawner monitoring in Pacific Canada. Any scientist who works with local-scale salmon abundance data knows this. Many papers written about the 'ghost streams' no longer monitored by the streamwalkers of decades past. We wrote another.

The next wave of monitoring cuts crests. Brutal. How do you steward salmon without counting them? You don't. I am close to this issue & I know nuance abounds but I don't see how hundreds of millions of dollars towards restoration work can be effective without counting the fish we seek to support.

Published an op-ed the other day--fast-tracking actions to protect lands, waters, fish, and wildlife. BC and Canadian policies are rushing natural resource extraction forward--there is a parallel need to fast-track safeguards of lands and waters. vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e...

@fao.org released their 2025 report on the status of marine fisheries resources (openknowledge.fao.org/items/ac6d51...). In talking to the media about the report at #UNOC FAO stated that ~57% of sharks stocks are sustainably fished (t.co/fVFnZkY4vQ). This fact is WRONG 1/

New #sharkscience led by Vinay Udyawer Professional fishers’ knowledge informs distribution and interaction dynamics of Sawfish and River Sharks in coastal fishing grounds... Amazing insights from fisher interviews about their changing interactions through time link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Colin Simpfendorfer’s resignation from working group comes as conservationists lash expansion of lethal program they say ‘does nothing to improve beach safety’ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

I've waited a decade to finally have the chance to work with this ghost #shark 👻🦈 legend. While we were geeking away on this giant beast, we also got word that the first and only Ghost Sharks of the World book finally has a released date. Coming to you January 2026!

The rise and fall of the carbon tax, explained by @thenarwhal.ca thenarwhal.ca/video-carbon...

From peregrine falcons to humpback whales, a new study finds a crucial first step to recover an endangered species is to stop known harms. via @ainsliecruickshank.bsky.social thenarwhal.ca/endangered-s...

Welcome to the Salmon Watersheds Lab! We are a group of fishy folks doing aquatic ecology research @ Simon Fraser University! 📚🤓🐟 Led by our fearless fish leader, Dr. Jonathan Moore. Follow along for lab updates, opportunities, and some good ol’ fish content! #salmon #AquaticEcology

A handful of Canada’s at-risk species have made a comeback. Here’s what they can teach us | @thenarwhal.ca thenarwhal.ca/endangered-s... #SARA #COSEWIC #Conservation

A reminder that there is a starter pack for the CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY COMMUNITY. Today we welcomed cons phys gurus @trishschulte.bsky.social @physiologyfish.bsky.social & @craigefranklin.bsky.social. Ping me if you work in this space and want to be added! go.bsky.app/RRAUWkk

New summary of 2 massive recent publications documenting the status and trends of sharks, rays, and chimaeras 🧪🦈🌎 @mongabay.bsky.social news.mongabay.com/2025/01/new-...

🚨New postdoc positions available: we are looking for 2 postdoctoral researchers to join a large, collaborative effort to document, describe, and investigate the biodiversity of tiny, cryptobenthic fishes in the Indo-Pacific 🤏🐠🧪. More details: fishandfunctions.com/join%F0%9F%9... Please repost 🦑🧪

🦈🌎🦞🧪https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2024/12/new-study-finds-overfishing-has-halved-shark-and-ray-populations.html

Dive into the exciting work of the Earth to Ocean Research Group! Follow our brilliant students, research assistants, lab managers, postdocs, and faculty as they explore, discover, and make waves in science. 🌊✨ go.bsky.app/153jnvd

Nouvelle étude #GlobalSharkTrends publiée dans @ScienceMagazine révèle que la #surpêche a réduit de 50% les populations de requins et de raies en 50 ans, causant une érosion des fonctions écologiques et un risque d'extinction élevé. Article : bit.ly/GlobalSharkT... 🧵1/21

New research from E2O's Dulvy Lab was published in Science yesterday. Check out the thread below! #GlobalSharkTrends #MarineScience #SharksAndRays

ICYMI yesterday: Please read and share!

My research uses publicly available data to assess how well marine protected areas cover shark and ray species ranges. I focus on identifying gaps in protection & prioritizing areas to protect species most at risk of extinction. Let’s connect on sharks, spatial conservation, and the future of MPAs!✨

We urge the adoption of the Shark & Ray Red List Index to track progress on ocean conservation goals, like the Global Biodiversity Framework Target 5 & SDG 14.4. Accountability is key for preserving marine life! 🧵20/20 #GlobalGoals #UNGA #SDG #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #SDG Please like & repost

Bright spots with some science-based fisheries management measure benefiting sharks & rays: 1. USA & Canada 2. NE Atlantic 3. S. Africa 4. Australia & New Zealand #OceanOptimism @nancyknowlton.bsky.social @joshuacinner.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.... 🧵15/20

Researchers highlight troubling dark spots where shark & ray biodiversity is plummeting. 1. Japan–Taiwan 2. Indonesia to New Guinea 3. India & Bay of Bengal 4. Western Indian Ocean 5. SW Atlantic 6. Galapagos & SE Pacific 7. Gulf of California 🧵14/20

The current extinction risk trajectory is driving disproportionate (22%) loss of ecological functional diversity of sharks and rays. www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.... #GlobalSharkTrends bit.ly/GlobalSharkTrends 🧵13/20

New global analysis, experts calculate aquatic RLI for 1,199 sharks, rays & chimaeras from 1970 to 2020. 👉 over 1/3 qualify as Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable 👉 Red List Index has worsened by 19% since 1970 #GlobalSharkTrends bit.ly/GlobalSharkTrends 🧵6/20

Overfishing has halved populations of chondrichthyan fishes – sharks, rays, & chimaeras – since 1970. Target fisheries & incidental capture (bycatch) has resulted in over 1/3 threatened with extinction. #GlobalSharkTrends 🧵4/20 #EndOverfishing #SustainableDevelopmentGoals