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| Scientists Seek Better Understanding of
Threats Faced by Sharks |
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The University of Hawaii research site on Coconut Island is just minutes by motorboat from the shore of Oahu - the most populated island in the Hawaiian chain.
The facility is a good place to observe the marine animals, since they’re native to local waters, and some are kept in a sheltered bay for study.
Specialist Carl Meyer does research on sharks and tries to learn about their habits.
"When sharks are feeding and hopefully how much they’re eating.
And that’s what we use these captive animals for."
Scientists also monitor the behavior of sharks at sea, measuring the animals and placing radio-equipped electronic tags on their fins.
The scientists fitted a sandbar shark with a camera for a rare shark’s-eye view of its daily activities.
"When we recovered the camera, we saw that the shark had spent the day in a large aggregation of sharks, not just sandbar sharks but also blacktip sharks and many, many scalloped hammerhead sharks."
Sharks are swift and lethal, but don’t usually prey on humans.
Meyer says that rare attacks are amplified by the media and dramatized in films like the 1975 thriller "Jaws."
He says sharks are important top-level predators that help maintain the balance of the marine systems.
Those systems are threatened by pollution, climate change and commercial fishing, both as fishermen target sharks for the Asian food market and kill them in the process of fishing for other species.
University of Hawaii scientists are studying endangered and vulnerable shark populations, and also coastal coral that is being lost to rising ocean temperatures.
Carl Meyer says that humans are more of a risk to sharks than sharks to humans.
"Because never before in the natural history of the world have we seen a species become so dominant and so able to alter the natural environment."
And he says the results of environmental changes cannot always be predicted.
Mike O'Sullivan, VOA News, Coconut Island, Hawaii
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