In an archipelago renowned for its distinct fauna and flora, the extraordinarily agile Sally Lightfoot crab catches the eye as it scurries along the shores and beaches of most islands in the Galapagos. 📷: Christopher Vaughan-Jones

Borrowing tools from archaeology, researchers have been able to tell the stories of sea turtles from their shells. As they grow continuously through life, so do their shells, with each layer becoming a record of conditions from that time. www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...

In South Africa - one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots for sharks and rays - Nina is working with the bottom-trawl hake fishery and the independent observer programme that functions across the fishery's vessels to improve the data collected on shark and ray bycatch.

Along India’s Bay of Bengal coast, rays are caught at busy landing sites. Nidhi is analysing ray tissues, conducting community surveys and sharing her results with fishers, consumers and policy-makers to raise awareness of the risks and encourage reduced consumption of threatened species.

Teah is detailing 30 deep-sea chondrichthyans on New Zealand’s Chatham Rise, a global deep-sea shark hotspot, including the threatened school shark, leafscale gulper shark and spiny dogfish, to unravel how species are responding to intense fishing pressure.

The Ba River and its estuary on the north-western coast of Viti Levu, Fiji, is an ISRA. Natasha is partnering with the Ministry of Fisheries to determine whether the Ba estuary and lower river still function as a nursery and aggregation site for shark and ray pups, despite the harm happening here.

In Palawan, Philippines, fishers operate on a small scale and with open access. Overfishing, declining catches and the accidental capture of vulnerable species such as sharks and rays all threaten local fisheries. Raymart is detailing the first account of shark and ray bycatch.

Amanda’s work focuses on understanding and protecting rhino rays in Malaysia, along the east coast of Johor, through a combination of field surveys, lab work and community engagement. Here, conservation efforts and community engagement can make a real difference in protecting marine ecosystems.

Paola is tracking leopard and starry round stingrays in El Jobo Bay on Costa Rica’s north-western Pacific coast. Understanding when and where these stingrays gather will help reduce their accidental capture and exposure to human threats through informing protective measures like no-fishing zones.

At a time when governments are racing to pledge to conserve 30% of the ocean by 2030, it's the commitment to enforcement that often lacks behind. "If the past decade was defined by drawing boundaries on maps, the next may be judged by what happens within them." news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-...

Britania is using underwater camera traps and passive acoustic recorders to document diver–shark interactions at Shark Point - one of Indonesia’s most high-traffic hotspots. Britania will also interview divers to assess awareness and perceptions of sharks and conservation.

Sofia’s research focuses on the genetics of the Critically Endangered narrownose smooth-hound shark. It is one of the most exploited sharks in the Argentine–Uruguayan CFZ and waters of both countries, targeted by artisanal fisheries and caught as bycatch in industrial bottom-trawl fisheries.

Lindsay will measure how capture stress affects the survival of white, dusky & sand tiger sharks, focusing on rod-and-reel recreational fisheries in the US. She will generate guidelines to reduce handling stress, improve survival & strengthen recovery efforts for these threatened shark species.

Fieldwork rarely goes as planned. For weeks Lotte Dahlmo and team waited through wind, and cold for empty hooks. By season’s end, the Ghost Track project had tagged 20 elusive chimaeras, and witnessed something very special: a pregnant female releasing her eggs! saveourseas.com/update/imagi...

Meghana is using advanced imaging & anatomical visualisation to illuminate the hidden anatomy & species diversity of small-bodied sharks, rays & chimaeras in India’s waters. Read more about Meghana’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/wave... Collage by Kelsey Manners Dickson #SOSF2026Projects

Critically Endangered largetooth and smalltooth sawfishes are likely to have vanished from most of West Africa, but the protected mangroves of Guinea-Bissau may harbour remnant populations. Kayla is searching for sawfish in the Bijagós Archipelago using eDNA assay paired with droplet digital PCR.

Silky sharks are widely overfished, and among the most captured sharks by local fisheries on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Irene is using shark-safe hormone analysis and ultrasonography to improve our understanding of the drivers behind regional movements off this coast.

After a nearly 10-year hiatus of being recorded by aerial survey, the elusive blue whale has been seen again in the Atlantic Ocean - in a region to be re-opened to commercial fishing, an action that will have impacts that have been warned about. oceanographicmagazine.com/news/rare-bl...

Applications for the Save Our Seas Foundation Keystone Grants are now open! Applications close on May 13, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. CET. 📅 More information about this grant here: saveourseas.com/grants/fundi... Apply here: grants.saveourseas.com Illustrations by Kelsey Manners Dickson

Using citizen science, baited cameras and environmental DNA, Owen seeks to create a benchmark for where threatened sharks and rays still occur along the southern and western Gulf of Oman. He aims to build the evidence needed to guide stronger protection and support the recovery of sharks and rays.

Fetra’s work takes place along Cameroon’s southern coastline, where nearshore waters serve as vital nursery grounds for sharks and rays. With alarming numbers of juveniles being regularly landed in small-scale fisheries, Fetra think these nursery grounds are increasingly degraded by overfishing.

Dedicated to the conservation of sharks & rays in the Pacific waters of Guatemala, Maria’s research focuses on monitoring their landings, conducting workshops with fishers, and tagging young-of-the-year scalloped hammerheads. Read more about Maria’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/from...

In Greenland’s Arctic Ocean, long-lived ocean predators act as biological time capsules. Nicolas believes they can provide unique insights into long-term plastic pollution trends. The project will provide evidence for targeted conservation actions and raise awareness among Inuit communities

Emma is applying DODAT (Dietary Observation and Detection Assessment Technology), a non-lethal, minimally invasive sampling tool, to detail the diet of bull sharks in the coastal waters of the Crystal River and the Crystal River springs system, along Florida’s Big Bend.

Using small, non-harmful tissue samples collected at fish landing sites in Nigeria, Segun will help generate DNA ‘barcodes’ that can be used to identify the African wedgefish even when it is traded or processed. Read more about Segun’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/biom...

I am delighted to announce that I will be presenting at @sharks-int.bsky.social 🦈 I am incredibly grateful to the @saveourseas.bsky.social for making this opportunity possible through the award of a Special #SOSFTravelGrant. I am truly honoured to have been selected and to receive this support.

While much research of the Red Sea’s marine ecosystem focuses on bony fish, sharks and rays remain comparatively understudied. Eloise and Kaitlyn seek to change this, placing their research focus on rhino rays in the Al Wajh Lagoon.

Far south-west of Nigeria, in Badagry, Kehinde is focused on the little-known but threatened Seret’s butterfly ray. Often caught incidentally and rarely recorded, there is a substantial risk that it will disappear unnoticed from Nigerian waters.

In this week's episode of the #WoS podcast, we sit down with Sergio Madrigal Mora to discuss how Pacific nurse sharks in Costa Rica's St Elena Bay are perfectly adapted to their docile lifestyle and why they spend most of their days cosied up in piles. Listen here: saveourseas.com/worldofshark...

In 2010, the Maldives became one of the few places in the world where sharks were fully protected. Here in the Central Indian Ocean, this prohibition of shark fishing offers Sara an opportunity to assess whether gulper shark populations can recover when fully protected.

Sophie will monitor Mahe's fisheries’ bycatch to get a more thorough understanding of the impact on elasmobranchs. Read more about Sophie’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/moni... 🎥: Luke Saddler 🎥: Larisa & Hieu Mghĩa Mini | Pixabay 🎥: Byron Dilkes 🎥: Simon Hilbourne #SOSF2026Projects

Linking science, fishers’ knowledge and community action, Antika seeks to advance shark and ray conservation in East Java, Indonesia Read more about Antika’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/wedg... 📷: Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation #SOSF2026Projects #Indonesia

As is the case in other parts of the world, understanding shark conservation in Cameroon means understanding people first. Conservation is about listening to the communities whose livelihoods rely on the sea. More below in Ghofrane Labyedh’s blog. saveourseas.com/update/you-c...

In a region of remarkable marine biodiversity, Kenn’s work focuses on understanding how sharks, skates and rays use the coastal waters of Galicia, north-western Spain. Read more about Kenn’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/neob... #saveourseasfoundation #SOSF2026Projects #Spain #NEOBLUE

Ana seeks to understand the ecology and population connectivity of lemon sharks at three key locations in Brazil: Atol das Rocas, Fernando de Noronha & the Abrolhos Archipelago. Read more about Ana’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/isla... 📷: Ryan Daly #SOSF2026Projects #lemonshark #Brazil

In the remote, vast wilderness of La Moskitia, Honduras, Alpha focuses on understanding shark populations and monitoring incidental captures. Read more about Alpha’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/fill... Illustration by Kelsey Manners Dickson #SOSF2026Projects #Brazil

In a study reviewing six years of data, scientists studying bull sharks in Fiji have learnt that these sharks have relatively rich and complex social lives. The sharks' social networks show active social preferences related to sex, size and age. www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...

Our cohort of 2026 Small Grant recipients are world-builders taking action to mould a fairer, healthier future for us all, a future in which people and the ocean thrive. Meet our 2026 Small Grant project leaders here: saveourseas.com/building-a-b...

Hailing from 23 countries around the world, our 2026 Small Grant recipients are a mix of young researchers, experienced conservationists, and change-makers. Together, they are taking action to achieve the change we need. Meet our 2026 Small Grant project leaders: saveourseas.com/building-a-b...

California sea lions live in coastal waters and on beaches, docks, buoys, and jetties along the western coast of North America, from British Columbia, down to the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. On land, and in water, they form social groups called a herd or raft. 📷: Jake Wilton

Kara, a mature female shark has 'pinged' off the coast of Vancouver Island in Canada. Although sharks have been recorded in Canadian Pacific waters, this is the first recorded 'ping' of a shark. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

The Save Our Seas Foundation, is proud to announce Mahé Ocean Murals, a public art initiative led by the international non-profit PangeaSeed. This project will celebrate the deep connection between community, creativity, and conservation. More here: saveourseas.com/public-art-w...

Agile swimmers of the frigid Antarctic waters, the leopard seal is a formidable hunter. Like their namesake, they're fierce predators, aided by excellent eyesight and sense of smell. 🎥: Byron Dilkes

Misidentified for years as one of the three known devil rays in the Canary Islands, the Bentfin devil ray (Mobula thurstoni) has finally been recognised in these waters, and revealed in part by citizen science sightings. More in Alicia Rodríguez Juncá’s blog below. saveourseas.com/update/uncov...

A dried shark gapes at the front of a chimaera oil store at the Caleta Riquelme Market, in Chile's northern beach city of Iquique - a local hub where artisanal fishers sell their daily catch. They are the only fishers allowed to catch sharks, with permits, in Chile. 📷: Valentina Romagnoli

Our oceans, rivers, lands and skies are pathways for billions of migratory species each year - journeys that underpin healthy ecosystems. Almost half of all these species' populations protected under a major UN wildlife treaty are now in decline. oceanographicmagazine.com/news/migrato...

A Cameroonian fisher’s decision to release a pregnant shark led to a new approach in Ghofrane Labyedh’s project. This unexpected act of compassion saw fishers, previously perceived as the problem, become partners in protecting Cameroon’s sharks and rays. saveourseas.com/update/when-...

Ocellated eagle rays are a splendour to witness, soaring over the coastal reefs of the Marshall Islands. Until recently, these eagle rays were grouped with the Pacific and Atlantic white-spotted eagle rays, which share a similar appearance. Now they are recognised as distinct. 🎥: Pelayo Salinas

One of the pitfalls in shark conservation is proper catch monitoring and the enforcement of regulations. In Benin, 25 fisheries officers gathered for training to be able to correctly identify the critically endangered scalloped hammerhead saveourseas.com/update/stren...

While many fish know not to go near the toxic tentacles of the anemone, clownfish are right at home amidst its swaying arms. They are one of the few species immune to the sting of an anemone, thanks to a protective layer of mucus that covers its body. Photo by Dillys Pouponeau | © SOSF