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There are nearly 8 billion people on Earth, but in 2023, only 10 shark attacks were fatal.
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On the other hand, I'm told millions of sharks are killed by humans every year.
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The current average is about 100 million sharks are killed a year from the shark fin soup trade.
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But that is not the only problem.
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A lot of sharks are killed as by cash.
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So, for example, if you're fishing for a tuna, you set out, you know your long lines, you catch sharks, they may die.
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They're not the actual target of the fishery.
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They may be losing the habitats that are good for them.
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And then we're seeing changes due to climate change as well.
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So they face multiple threats.
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Recent research reveals that sharks are vanishing from coral reefs, and the Ocean's intricate web of life unravels when sharks disappear.
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When you have sharks, you actually have more fish.
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I mean, that may seem counterintuitive because the sharks eat the fish.
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But when you're looking at the connections that take place in a food web, generally, if you've got these sharks at the top of the food chain, then you're going to have healthier fish populations, healthier coral populations.
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But a new generation of conservationists are stepping in to protect sharks.
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One of them is Florida International University marine ecologist Dr.
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Yanis Papas Tomatillo.
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Today I've joined him to go shark fishing.
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The specific species Sienna studies are powerful but misunderstood bull sharks and tell bull sharks because that's where they get their name.
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They're pretty chunky and girthy.
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They've definitely been implicated in several bites on humans, so they have a bad reputation.
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But overall they're pretty mellow shark, just like most of them are.
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I personally obviously love them, and what I try to convey is their importance for the role they have in these oceans.
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But not everyone feels that way.
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That's because local fishing boats report that lately Florida bull sharks have been grabbing and eating their catch.
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The problem is that you have a hooked fish, and before you can bring it onto the boat, a shark comes and basically eats it or takes a bite out of it.
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And so that's become an increasing problem around here and it's causing a lot of sort of economic damage to this fishery.
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And that's also generating sort of animosity with some of the fishing community and the sharks.
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Yanis fights to ensure bull sharks aren't met with fear and hostility, but instead with awe and respect.
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Our work is geared towards conservation.
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Our goal is to sort of reduce this conflict between humans and shark.
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Our mission today, catch a bull shark so Yannis can track its movements.
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If Yannis understands where bull sharks are most active, he can pass that information along the local fishing boats.
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And then we can give advice.
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As you know, perhaps avoid this area this time of day because it's going to be a lot of sharks.
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Before we could hook a bull shark, he and his team had to entice 1 up from the depths.
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So what's the process?
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We're trying to start setting up a jump slick to bring some sharks up to the boat so we can catch them.
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You can see this is a whole Lamberjack.
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Wow, impressive looking animal.
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If I were a shark,
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I would definitely come up.
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Be delicious.
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Suddenly, instead of a bull shark, we had attracted the attention of a different predator, A massive hammerhead.
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There's your wild kingdom.
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Look at that huge hammerhead.
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But it wasn't long before a bull shark smelled the bait.
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I think it's a bull.
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All right, See
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It's coming up.
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I stepped in to help reel in this powerful shark.
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It won't be easy.
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Bull sharks can go to be 11 feet long and weigh over 500 lbs.
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Yeah, they typically this feisty, you know, this is a fresh shark.
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So yes. So what we're trying to do today is we'll surgically implant a small transmitter to body cavity and then let that animal go.
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And then anytime that shark swims within range of one of our listening stations, that listening station will record the date and the time when the animal was there.
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And we can start and paint a picture of who's been where and when.
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OK, That's good.
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Ready.
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Got it.
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OK.
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185 PCL.
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185 PCL.
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After measuring the size of this bull shark, the team began surgery.
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We intentionally flipped the shark over.
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Some shark species, like this one will naturally go into a state of calm immobility when turned on their backs.
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This large female seems to be nice and calm.
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Janice is implanting an acoustic transmitter inside the shark so it doesn't create drag as the shark swims.
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It's better for science and for the animal.
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Transmitter Thank you.
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The transmitter is implanted.
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Now it's time to carefully close the incision suture.
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How's it coming?
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OK, it's not the easiest.
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When you're hanging over the side of a boat, a row of stitches called sutures won't take long to heal.
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Sharks have a remarkable ability to heal quickly from wounds.
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OK, a little bull shark.
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Thanks for contributing to science and conservation to help save the rest of your species.
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Away you go.
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Tails off, tails off.
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All right, off she goes.
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Away she goes.
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There you go.
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Yeah, that's true.
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Well done.
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All right, let's go and pull that line and call it a day.
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Every time this shark comes near an underwater receiver, the implanted transmitter will be recorded.
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So the receivers, you have hundreds of these around the world.
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This shark will pass by and send a signal.
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Yeah.
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So we have some which we have specifically put out, but there's other users, other scientists tracking other animals all along the coast of Florida, Gulf Coast, this coast, all the way up the East Coast, the US And we actually have a collaborative network.
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So if anybody else is tagged, animals are detected.
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We get that data.
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Our goal is to figure these issues out with the movements of the sharks and then to relay that information to the water users here who actually, you know, have to interact with the sharks.
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It's a wonderful experience being with you, actually seeing a bull shark up close, showing it to people for the first time.
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It's kind of a privilege for us to do and seeing that response that they they have.
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And that's generally the response we see.
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It's not, it's not hatred, it's not fear.
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It's more wonder.
