Two fossilised whale skulls, discovered in Belgium, have recently been analysed using micro-CT scanning, revealing shark teeth embedded in the bone. This finding offers a clue about the feeding behaviour & scavenging in the Early Pliocene North Sea ecosystem.
www.discovermagazine.com/shark-teeth-...
Only in the Coral Triangle of Indonesia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea do epaulette sharks 'walk' along complex shallow inshore reefs. They are nocturnal predators, most active at dusk and dawn, making slow headway by 'walking', using their paddle-shaped pelvic and pectoral fins.
“I had no idea.” This was the sentiment of many Libyan fishers when they learned that angel sharks are Critically Endangered.
Read more about the insights Sarah Al Mabruk gained from interviews with fishers in her blog below.
saveourseas.com/update/i-had...
The bobtail squid is known to hide itself in the sand during the day, but at night, their cunning camouflage comes into play. From dusk until dawn, these squid hunt their prey, aided by a nifty adaptation called counter-illumination.
📷: Christopher Leon
📷: Simon Hilbourne
📷: Dillys Pouponeau
📷: Christopher Leon
📷: Danel Wentzel
📷: Shane Gross
📷: Matthew During
The Save Our Seas Foundation is proud to announce that we'll be at the 2026 @sharks-int.bsky.social, to be held in Sri Lanka.
We can't wait to see you there! If you're attending, we'd love to meet and say hi.
We are amped to share with you the SOSF Team who will be present there.
Devil rays are highly revered for their beauty, and yet highly exploited for their products. Having historically evaded the pressures of commercial fishing, these rays have become increasingly targeted for the gill plate trade and the meat trade.
📷: Simon Hilbourne
The SOSF project 'Shark and ray baselines using eDNA in Bahrain' offers a glimpse of what is possible when local action meets global science. In the Arabian Gulf, eDNA surveys were completed, & with DNA barcoding, a local database of species in the region was created.
www.forbes.com/sites/meliss...
The Pacific Partridge tun is a nocturnal hunter found across the Indo-Pacific. These shelled molluscs bury themselves in the sand during the day, and hunt exclusively on sea cucumbers at night, engulfing their prey whole under the veil of darkness.
There's one month left to apply for our Keystone Grants!
If you're working on a multi-year project focused on the research, conservation or education of sharks and rays, apply now.
Applications close on May 13, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. CET. 📅
Apply here: grants.saveourseas.com 🔗
📷: Morne Hardenberg
By interviewing fishers, Ismet Saygu has identified a potential hotspot for juvenile guitarfish along Turkey’s coast. Read more about how fishers’ knowledge is helping to strengthen protection measures for the species in this region.
saveourseas.com/update/fishe...
The ocellated eagle ray has a distinct diamond-shaped disc that is significantly wider than long. They are undeniably one of the most satisfying rays to look at, with a rhomboidal disc decorated with numerous small white spots or rings.
📷: Pelayo Salinas
At a time when extinction and species decline are accelerating, the global conservation community at the 15th Conference of the Parties saw the adoption of new protections for 40 migratory species, including 33 marine animals like sharks, seabirds and shorebirds.
news.mongabay.com/2026/04/migr...
Dusted in gold and shaped like diamonds, Pacific cownose rays are a true treasure to behold. Resembling birds in flight, these migratory species travel in fevers across the eastern Pacific Ocean, from northern Mexico to northern Peru, including the Galápagos Islands.
🎥: Pelayo Salinas
Following a report that an angel shark had been spotted in Libyan waters, Sarah Al Mabruk’s own resolve to find out if these Critically Endangered species still persist in Libya led to 55 citizen reports along Libya’s coast.
Could this be an overlooked refuge?
saveourseas.com/update/eyes-...
Smooth hammerhead sharks are remarkably versatile, spending much of their time near the ocean’s surface in cooler, temperate waters, yet they are just as capable of descending hundreds of meters. These elusive sharks have even been recorded venturing into freshwater habitats
🎥: Byron Dilkes
The camouflage grouper is widely distributed on shallow reefs in the Indo-Pacific. During their annual spawning aggregations, they are vulnerable to overfishing which has led to steep declines in their populations. It is now listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
📷: Dillys Pouponeau | © SOSF
Listen here: saveourseas.com/worldofshark...
The Maldives has served as a shark sanctuary for 15 years, and is now one of the most diverse regions for sharks & rays. But with great success comes a new problem: conflict with humans. In this episode of #WoS, Mina Hatayama talks about this conflict through an ecological & social science lens.
"Where have all Sri Lanka's sawfish gone?" is the question Blue Resources Trust has investigated, which revealed alarming findings.
Despite this bleak outlook, researchers say there is still a ray of hope for recovery.
news.mongabay.com/2026/03/smal...
The eyes of long-spined porcupinefish are quite the sight, as with most nocturnal fish. In the shallow coral reefs where they live, the corneal iridescence significantly increases their visual range as they hunt for snails, sea urchins and hermit crabs under the cover of darkness.
Peering into 400 million years of evolution, Adrian (Szu-Hsuan) Lee and team have captured the first chromosome images of a great white shark. This breakthrough was achieved using a new minimally invasive, non-lethal method that allows researchers to study their DNA.
saveourseas.com/update/imagi...
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...
Read more about Nina’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/bett...
Collage by Kelsey Manners Dickson
#saveourseasfoundation #SOSF2026Projects #SouthAfrica #sharksandrays #fishery #observership
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.
Read more about Nidhi’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/unde...
Collage by Kelsey Manners Dickson
#saveourseasfoundation #SOSF2026Projects #India #bayofbengal
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.
Read more about Teah’s project here: saveourseas.com/project/the-...
🎥: Silverback Films | Open Planet
🎥: Byron Dilkes
🎥: Open Planet Studios | Silverback Films | Open Planet
🎥: Byron Dilkes
🎥: Franco Cristiani
🎥: Simon Hilbourne
#SOSF2026Projects #NewZealand #ChathamRise #deepseashark
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.
