There is growing evidence for individuality in dietary preferences and foraging behaviors within populations of various species. This is especially important for apex predators, since they can potentially have wide dietary niches and a large impact on trophic dynamics within ecosystems. We evaluate the diet of an apex predator, the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), by measuring the stable c...

Zooplankton samples were taken in the presence (n 68) and absence (n = 65) of surface f e e d ~ n g zooplanktlvorous basking sharks Cetorh~nus mavimus off Plymouth, southwest England, from May to mid-August, 1995-96 A prelim~nary study In 1995 showed zooplankton density (g m-3) to be 46% higher in samples taken near feeding sharks Calanoid copepods predominated In all samples but were 84 O,rl m...

The ongoing decline in abundance and diversity of shark stocks, primarily due to uncontrolled fishery exploitation, is a worldwide problem. An additional problem for the development of conservation and management programmes is the identification of species diversity within a given area, given the morphological similarities among shark species, and the typical disembarkation of processed carcass...

Protecting sharks from overexploitation has become global priority after widespread population declines have occurred. Tracking catches and trade on a species-specific basis has proven challenging, in part due to difficulties in identifying processed shark products such as fins, meat, and liver oil. This has hindered efforts to implement regulations aimed at promoting sustainable use of commerc...

Bite damage patterns have long been used to estimate shark species and body size, with somewhat limited success. The lack of Wt between damage patterns and shark size is partially due to variation in tooth size and shape within an individual. The ability to accurately predict body size from bite patterns is important for better understanding the ecological and behavioral underpinnings of shark ...

The conservation and management of sharks on a species-specific basis is a pressing need because of the escalating demand for shark fins and the recognition that individual shark species respond differently to exploitation. Difficulties with the identification of many commonly fished sharks and their body parts has resulted in a global dearth of catch and trade information, making reliable asse...

BACKGROUND As Western Australia's (WA) government enacts shark bite mitigation, the personal risk of shark bite in WA has not been studied. AIMS Model the risk of large (>3m) white shark bite (Carcharodon carcharias, LWS) in southwest WA. METHOD An observational study inclusive of 1 January 1974 to 31 December 2013 was conducted. Analysis of prey abundance, location, water temperature, and ...

Carcharhinid sharks can make up a large fraction of the top predators inhabiting tropical marine ecosystems and have declined in many regions due to intense fishing pressure. There is some support for the hypothesis that carcharhinid species that complete their life-cycle within coral reef ecosystems, hereafter referred to as "reef sharks", are more abundant inside no-take marine reserves due t...

Conservation concern regarding the overharvest of global shark populations for meat and fin consumption largely surrounds documented deleterious ecosystem effects, but may be further supported by improved knowledge of possibly high levels in their edible tissues (particularly meat) of the neurotoxin, methylmercury (CH3Hg). For many regions, however, little data exist on shark tissue Hg concentr...