We don’t typically think of ocean animals as having friends. And they don’t, really—not in the way we think of friends as folks you invite to happy hour and send pictures of your dog.
But they do have relationships where they help each other out. Today, the International Day of Friendship, we’re recognizing one of the many inter-species relationships in the sea: sharks and remoras.
If you’ve ever watched Shark Week, you’ve probably seen remoras hanging out alongside the sharks. Also known as suckerfish, they’re fish in the family Echeneidae that attach or swim alongside large marine animals like sharks. There are eight species in the family, and all are generally long and thin. The largest species is the slender suckerfish, which can grow to more than 43 inches, and the smallest is the white suckerfish, which grows only to about 12 inches.
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Remoras have a flat disc on top of their backs that functions like a suction cup (hence, “suckerfish”). They stick themselves to sharks, rays, whales and other large animals and cruise along. They’re sometimes referred to as the “hitchhikers of the sea.”
So what’s in it for remoras? These fish benefit by nibbling on parasites or grabbing leftovers from the sharks’ meals. The sharks aren’t harmed at all by remoras hitching a ride on their sides.
Recent research has helped us understand how remoras are able to stick so well to their hosts. Their suckers have collagen fibers that allow them to stick 3.5 times longer than the suction cups we’re used to.
This is a type of symbiotic relationship, or established interaction between two species where at least one species benefits. Other examples are coral and zooxanthellae, where zooxanthellae make food and get shelter, and cleaner wrasses and predatory fish, where the wrasses get a meal and larger fish get cleaned up.
In President Biden’s first six months in office, his Build Back Better plan has been at the forefront of his agenda. It consists of three parts: the American Rescue Plan, which provided COVID relief to families and small business; the American Families Plan, intended to bolster the middle class; and the American Jobs Plan, which focuses on revitalizing infrastructure.
With the American Rescue Plan having passed earlier this year, both the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan are currently making their way through Congress. Although both the Jobs Plan and the Families Plan are critical components of building back better, I want to take a deeper look into why the American Jobs Plan is inexplicably linked to our ocean and climate—and why accounting for this link is vital to the plan’s success.
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First, we need to look at what is actually in the plan Congress is debating. The American Jobs Plan proposes to do a number of things, including revitalizing highways and bridges, delivering broadband internet to all Americans, upgrading schools and veterans’ hospitals and more. Importantly, it also prioritizes efforts that reduce emissions and reduce the effects of climate change—which is crucial for maintaining a healthy and functioning ocean—including:
Increasing energy efficiency of buildings across the country.
Improving public transportation options, including investing billions into rail systems.
Enhancing electric grids, food distribution and hospitals in communities vulnerable to climate-driven disasters.
Incentivizing clean energy to transition away from fossil fuels.
Restoring and protecting natural lands that mitigate the effects of hurricanes, sea-level rise and wildfires.
Establishing a Civilian Climate Corps that will work to advance environmental justice.
These measures are just the tip of the iceberg of the initiatives proposed in this bill, which has several important things to note. First, and perhaps most importantly, is the critical emphasis within it on increasing climate resilience and mitigation of climate change effects. In the last month alone, we’ve seen the Pacific Northwest coast bake under record breaking temperatures; unprecedented manatee deaths, massive red tide events and water quality degradation in Florida; and a Miami condominium building collapse potentially in part due to the coastal effects of climate change. Clearly, it’s impossible to discuss the future of infrastructure in the United States without framing it in terms of climate change.
We are already seeing and feeling the effects of climate change in our ocean, along our coasts and throughout the entire country—to “build back better” means to build to withstand future climate conditions.
Second, within the bill there is a necessary focus on minority and low-income communities that are disproportionately affected by severe weather events and other effects of climate change. The bill proposes that 40% of the benefits of climate-focused investments be used to assist disadvantaged communities and provide tax credits for disaster-resilience projects in low- and middle-income areas.
Third, the plan presents expansive opportunities to invest in our ocean and coasts, which will help mitigate climate change and improve the lives of people throughout the country. By investing in coastal restoration and resilience projects, for example, we can buffer the effects of sea level rise, improve habitat for threatened wildlife and create thousands of jobs. Initially the plan called for $2.5 billion in investment for these projects, but a new report found that half of all coastal U.S. states and territories have identified a need of over $6 billion in these projects. That’s why we’re encouraging Congress to invest at least $10 billion in these initiatives.
Another example is the bill’s Healthy Ports Program, which would help modernize our nation’s ports and improve the shipping sector to help move us into a clean-energy future. We know a zero-emissions shipping industry is possible, and investing in this vision through the infrastructure bill is a critical step in achieving this goal.
I encourage you to review the other ways the American Jobs Plan can advance ocean-based climate solutions and support vulnerable and marginalized coastal communities by reading our recent report. It is powerful to see all the ways this funding could be applied to better the lives of people around this country in the face of climate change and help protect our ocean in the face of increasing threats.
However, outlining a plan is only the first step. A plan means nothing if it is not put into action.
As Congress continues to debate the future of this plan, we must hold our elected officials accountable to ensure the measures aren’t weakened to the point of ineffectiveness in the name of compromise. Money that is channeled into ineffective or incomplete programs is a waste of valuable resources—we need to ensure that the legislation that is passed remains strong on ocean-based climate solutions and environmental justice. Then, the next phase of the work begins. Our leaders at every level of government need to be held accountable to ensure the funds are being used properly to advance the goals outlined in the plan.
I am very encouraged to see this climate-focused infrastructure plan put forward by the Biden administration. It is a strong example of fulfilling the administration’s goal of working towards a greener future that actively tackles the threats of climate change. Although the work is just beginning, it gives me hope that we can make great progress in implementing large scale ocean-based climate solutions.
Collaborative creation is a powerful experience. It’s a natural fit for learning through collective problem solving, building partnerships and trust and empowering positive impacts in all sorts of unforeseen ways. A recent example of this is a newly developed immersive-learning touchscreen developed by Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic program in collaboration with the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Ecosystem Conservation Office (ACSPI) and the Juneau-Douglas City Museum (JDCM).
The goal of our mutual project seemed simple enough: We would work side-by-side (both virtually and in-person) to create a touchscreen for the Pribilof Islands that would include information, pictures, stories and history related to the people and ecosystems surrounding the remote Pribilof Islands, St. Paul and St. George. Eventually, the interactive kiosk would live on St. Paul and serve as a learning outreach tool for and by the community and could be updated over time.
Early on in the design process, Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Arctic Fellow Mike LeVine got wind of an upcoming year-long exhibit in his hometown of Juneau, Alaska, that would spotlight the internment of Pribilovian Unangan (Aleut) at Funter Bay during World War II. To our delight, a new collaborator joined the team: the Juneau-Douglas City Museum! We agreed to loan the kiosk to the museum as part of their exhibit and worked together to incorporate Unangax̂ internment experiences into the touchscreen.
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By early 2021, the touchscreen was completed and arrived on the museum’s doorstep to become an official part of their exhibit, Echoes of War: Unangax̂ Internment during WWII.
After the museum exhibit ends in October 2021, the touchscreen will move on from Juneau to St. Paul Island. The touchscreen houses over two and a half hours of interactive experiences—videos, photo galleries, maps, audio interviews, language word games, music and articles about both St. Paul and St. George.
The exhibit offers visitors a chance to explore the ecology, culture and biological wonders of the Pribilof Islands. It also highlights the unique and critical importance of the islands and their people in the Bering Sea ecosystem.
Now that the touchscreen is in full operation, I asked our museum partner how their visitors were enjoying the kiosk and if they could look back and share their reflections on the project.
NikoSanguinetti, Curator of Collections and Exhibits Juneau-Douglas City Museum
Question: How do you think the touchscreen adds to the exhibit?
Answer: This touchscreen completes the story that we were trying to tell in a way that we never would have been able to do with the resources that were previously available to us, for which I am incredibly grateful.
As we were working through the development of the museum exhibit, I was constantly running this very difficult line of trying to create an “immersive” exhibit in a relatively small space and with very little money. An immersive exhibit also generally equates to having few words, which was becoming a problem for my partners. The history and memory of the Funter Bay internment is rich with experiences and stories with each one having special meaning to each individual person. I was struggling with the task of telling a fully developed story in as few words as possible. Inevitably, I was always leaving something, or someone, out. And that “something” varied from person to person. However, what was often getting left out was more information about the people who were interned and the islands and culture that shaped them.
In this regard, the touchscreen was a game changer. It allowed us to include much more information, tell a richer story and engage visitors in a different way than the rest of the exhibit. And it did all of this without contributing to museum fatigue or bogging down the exhibit with more words that visitors most likely wouldn’t read.
Q: What do you think makes this project noteworthy?
A: I think what makes this project noteworthy is the true collaborative nature of the project between different agencies (and people) to produce something interactive and engaging for various audiences (not just museum goers but eventually on St. Paul for both locals and different types of visitors). In addition, the project changed and evolved to incorporate and enhance the museum exhibit—an exhibit that was not part of the original project plan or scope. It is a shining example of collaboration at its best. All the work was directed at creating a better product with as wide a reach as possible. Ego and expectations were left at the door.
The fact that the touchscreen was almost commandeered by the Funter Bay Project to enhance the exhibit as a whole speaks to the idea of collaborating for a cause. Allowing me to join the conversation—with ACSPI allowing the touchscreen to come to the museum before heading home—is a fantastic example of that. I might be slightly incorrect in my thinking, but I saw the whole touchscreen project as being its own separate entity that was then augmented to feed into this larger project in a meaningful way. The entire team was extremely accommodating and flexible to create an incredible addition to the JDCM exhibit that could also achieve its original purpose of being a stand-alone display.
Q: Any last thoughts to share?
A: The touchscreen and its content also came at a critical time. With many institutions shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital access became the name of the game. While we stopped just short of making all the content available online, the idea of the project to centralize a large amount of resources into an accessible place is moving in the direction all museums are shifting towards. In its physical form, the touchscreen also helped bring a new aspect of the exhibit to life in a digital format. Museums are shifting the way they approach exhibit design and are often struggling with how to engage with younger audiences of museum visitors. This touchscreen helps the JDCM be that much more accessible—a trait we hope to nurture in the future.
In early June 2021, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy travelled to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum to sign a bill into law protecting the Unangax̂ cemetery in Funter Bay. The bill adds the cemetery to the Funter Bay Marine Park making the land safe from being sold or developed, and ensures protection for the grave sites.
The bill signing at the museum helps bring to light that exhibits and outreach tools can provide an important and necessary function in helping to heal, educate and share cultural stories—a keystone of keeping any community healthy and vibrant.
Ocean Conservancy wishes to express our gratitude to the residents of St. Paul and St. George for sharing their stories, experiences, pictures and other information with us to make the touchscreen possible, and to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. Funding for this project was provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Along the coast of the United States, marine ecosystems support fisheries that feed us, connect us with friends and family, and sustain cultures and traditions. As a result of decades of hard work by fishermen, managers, scientists and conservation groups, our country has some of the most sustainably managed fisheries in the world.
But the work is not done. New challenges, like our rapidly changing climate, are making it harder to tackle ongoing ones. Our fisheries face challenges in rebuilding stocks to healthy population levels, reducing our impact on ocean habitats and other ocean creatures, supporting subsistence and Tribal fishing and cultural activities, and maintaining strong fishing communities and coastal economies.
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After an extensive listening tour to get input from regional fishery participants and experts, Congressmen Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Ed Case (D-HI) have introduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act. This ambitious bill would amend and reauthorize our existing marine fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The new bill tackles the most challenging issues facing our fisheries and fishing communities today and offers forward-looking solutions to better prepare our fisheries for long-term sustainability, even in the face of changing ocean conditions.
Here are my top six favorite solutions from the bill:
1. Consider climate change impacts throughout the management system.
The ocean is getting warmer, there’s less oxygen in the water and acidification is affecting water chemistry. Populations of fish are shifting, seeking cooler waters like what they’re more used to. And many fish populations are becoming less productive, leaving fewer fish to support ecosystems and fishing opportunities. This bill conveys one clear message: climate change is here, and America’s fisheries must be sustainable even in the face of it.
To do that, the bill directs scientists and managers to consider climate impacts when they make decisions about how much fishing can occur each year. Working with NOAA Fisheries, managers will focus on the stocks most vulnerable to climate impacts. And for those instances where stocks are shifting from historic fishing grounds to new areas, managers should ensure fishing is sustainable while determining how to manage fisheries across geographies.
2. Do more to bring vulnerable stocks back to healthy levels.
I recently wrote about a growing challenge in fisheries management—while we’ve been successful in rebuilding 47 stocks since 2000, 20% of our fish stocks still need to be rebuilt to healthy levels. Of those, many just aren’t improving under current management. Even more worrying, more stocks are slipping into an overfished status each year, meaning that our management system is still allowing stocks to decline.
To address this situation, the bill encourages managers to more actively manage stocks that are in rebuilding plans, which means checking on their progress more frequently and improving management when stocks are struggling to recover. The bill also recommends that when a rebuilding plan ends without restoring the stock, the next rebuilding plan should be more likely to succeed than the last one. With climate change lowering the resilience of fish stocks, rebuilding is a key way to protect them from climate-related disasters.
3. Expand Tribal representation in the management system.
Indigenous people stewarded the waters, ecosystems and fish in the region we now call North America since time immemorial. Sustainable management practices by Native peoples maintain the health and productivity of ocean resources that, in turn, support enduring societies. But our fishery management system contains profound inequities that prevent sovereign Tribes and Native Americans from co-equal management of the fish and marine ecosystems which they have historically stewarded and of which Indigenous people and culture are an intrinsic part.
The Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act takes important steps to begin addressing these long-standing issues, adding two Tribal seats to the management body that governs fishing in the North Pacific, representing more than half of our nations coastline and 229 Federally-recognizes Tribes. It also acknowledges and defines subsistence fishing and makes those fishermen eligible for disaster aid.
4. Improve data collection and use, particularly in recreational fisheries, for better sustainable management.
Fishery management is a data-hungry enterprise. Science-based management means we need to frequently assess the health of fish stocks to know how to keep fishing at sustainable levels. To do this, we rely on accurate and timely data on how much is being caught each year, along with data on ocean conditions and biological information.
The bill makes changes to improve the handling of existing data by NOAA Fisheries so it can be more easily utilized for management and to facilitate growth in use of electronic technologies for fishing vessels to report on and monitor their catch. The bill further tackles one of the biggest remaining challenges in sustainable management—improving data on recreational fishing. Private anglers around the country catch significant amounts of fish each year—often the reason that overfishing is still occurring in some important fisheries. Improving the collection of data from anglers and integrating that data into management is a crucial step in ensuring the recreational fishing sector is accountable for its catch.
5. Address ecosystem impacts while we manage fisheries to keep the ocean healthy.
U.S. fisheries are some of the world’s most sustainable, but fishing still has an impact on the environment. Additionally, energy development, shipping, activity within ports and pollution can damage the ecosystems that fish and fishermen rely on.
The Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act tackles issues around habitat, forage fish and bycatch to try to lessen ecosystem impacts. For habitat, the bill strengthens managers’ abilities to keep non-fishing activities from damaging habitats essential to fish and also improves the ways we plan for and manage those habitats. The bill removes loopholes that are preventing common-sense management measures that would reduce bycatch and improves reporting of bycatch in fisheries. And the bill looks to improve management of forage fish, which are important prey species that support the needs of many predators, including other fish.
6. Support fishing communities to keep our fishing traditions alive.
Healthy fisheries around the U.S. support commercial, recreational and subsistence fishing activities that, in turn, feed families and bring people together. But fishing communities are vulnerable, especially as climate change threatens the health of our ocean.
The bill reforms the way disaster assistance is provided to fishermen and fishing businesses, which will be important as marine heat waves, harmful algal blooms and other unexpected events increase in frequency. It also supports and preserves working waterfronts, maintaining critical infrastructure for fishing communities. The bill also takes into consideration the social and economic benefits of coastal communities’ participation in fishing to sustain the cultures, livelihoods and practices of fishing communities.
These six solutions couldn’t be more important or timely. I spend a lot of time worrying about the future of our fisheries, and this bill has given me hope. While we are only at the start of the legislative process, I’m encouraged that Congress is having the right conversation about fisheries, and I thank Representatives Huffman and Case for leading that work.
It’s a shark. But, it doesn’t use teeth to eat. Yes, I’m serious. I’m writing about none other than the basking shark. These gentle giants are often overlooked, thanks to the popularity of great white sharks and whale sharks—who steal all the glory.
But, I think the more we learn about basking sharks, the more we will find them both endearing and fascinating. Dive in….
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Where do basking sharks live?
Basking sharks are typically seen swimming slowly at the surface, mouth wide open. Preferring life along the coast, they have been known to enter bays and estuaries—and to venture out into the open ocean, on occasion. Basking sharks can be seen in pairs and in larger groups of up to 100 or more. Their name comes from their habit of “sunning” themselves at the surface, with their first dorsal fins fully exposed. Basking sharks are highly migratory and live all over the world—in both cold and warmer temperate seas.
What do basking sharks eat?
These gentle giants are happiest when they are moving slowly through the water eating zooplankton. That’s why you’ll find these sharks feeding along areas that contain high-density zooplankton. Basking sharks are one of three species of large, filter-feeding sharks, alongside whale sharks and the megamouth sharks.
Basking sharks rely on the passive flow of water through their throats, also called the pharynx, while swimming. Food is filtered from the water by gill rakers, which look like the prongs of a rake, located in the gill slits. The basking shark’s gill rakers can strain up to 2,000 tons of water per hour.
Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the ocean—first place goes to the whale shark. Basking sharks can grow as long as 40 feet and weigh more than five tons. Did you know that basking sharks can swim just as fast as great white sharks? It’s true. A 2013 study found they can have bursts of speed up to 11 mph and are even able to jump (breach) out of the water.
If this doesn’t sound impressive, let’s put swimming 11 mph into perspective. It is twice as fast as the average speed seen in the men’s Olympic 50-meter (164 feet) freestyle swim and 100x as fast as I can doggy paddle to the other side of my community pool.
It’s still a mystery to researchers as to why these sharks jump out of the water. They don’t need to breach for food, like the great white shark. The best guesses, so far, are for communication or to rid themselves of parasites.
Basking sharks need your help.
The basking shark is currently categorized as “Endangered” throughout its range by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
How much do you really know about the ocean? Here is your chance to test your knowledge with our ocean trivia quiz. Each question is followed by a photo and then the corresponding answer before moving onto the next question. Will you score a perfect 10/10? There is only one way to find out. Let’s get started…
Answer: False – They actually have arms, not tentacles. While animals like squid and cuttlefish have arms and tentacles, octopuses are more simple: they have 8 arms with trademark suckers. You can see tentacles on other cephalopods—they have suckers only by the end.
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Answer: They have 3 hearts! – While one keeps blood supply flowing to various organs, there are 2 more that are responsible for pumping blood by the gills so they can pick up oxygen.
Answer: Alaska – The Alaskan coastline extends for 6,640 miles, a distance greater than that of all the other states’ coastlines combined. Including islands, Alaska has 33,904 miles of shoreline.
Answer: Blue whale – Blue whales are massive. An adult female can grow to 100 feet long—about the length of a Boeing 737. Blue whales can weigh up to 200 tons (400,000 pounds)! That’s 30 times heavier than an African elephant. In fact, just their tongue can weigh as much as an elephant. Blue whales aren’t just the biggest animals alive in the ocean. They’re not just the biggest animals alive in the world. They are the biggest animals that have ever lived (that we know of, at least). Even the largest dinosaur can’t compare—the Argentinosaurus clocked in at about 220,000 pounds.
Answer: 9 – Octopuses have 9 brains because, in addition to the central brain, each of 8 arms has a mini-brain that allows it to act independently while staying in communication with the central brain.
9. This animal is the longest-living vertebrate on Earth.
Answer: Greenland sharks – Scientists recently discovered a 400-year-old female Greenland shark, who set a new record for the oldest living vertebrate! The oldest living human only lived to 122.
Answer: Whale shark – they can grow up to 40 feet long and weigh up to 20,000 pounds. That is as tall as two giraffes stacked on top of each other and the weight of two elephants combined!
How many did you get correct? Were you top of the class or do you need to brush up on your ocean knowledge a little more?
Challenge your friends! Share the ocean trivia with your friends and see how they compare.
Always keep learning with Ocean Conservancy’s marine wildlife factsheets – you are sure to discover something new about the ocean.
Maya Canonizado is a Communications Intern at Ocean Conservancy, based in Los Angeles, CA. She is a recent graduate from University of Southern California with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a minor in Management Consulting. Maya was born and raised in the Bay Area, California, and continues to consider it home base. Growing up and living on the coast her whole life sparked her love for the ocean and the desire to protect it from a young age. In her free time, Maya loves to cook and bake for her friends and family, travel to new places, and explore nearby parks.
Before I started working for Ocean Conservancy, I browsed through this very website. I stumbled across this hashtag on the homepage: #OceanOptimism. Reading that hashtag ignited a sense of hopefulness in me. As a fierce environmental advocate, I knew I could get behind something like this. It characterized a movement I wanted to be a part of.
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As a young girl, I always felt drawn to the natural environment.
I knew that nature was something tobe admiredand protected. I chose to dedicate my life and career to helping other people see the importance of protecting it, too.I resonate with #OceanOptimism as a recent college graduate with a degree in Environmental Studies and an internship in Communications at Ocean Conservancy. Optimism has always been an important part of my approach to environmental work.
The hashtag originated from a Twitter post back in 2014. #OceanOptimismwas usedto group stories reporting progress toward solving marine conservation challenges.Since itsinception, the hashtag has reached 60 million Twitter users to rally supporters and inspire change.Ocean Conservancy displayed this hashtag on their website because ocean optimism is in every fiber of their being.
For Ocean Conservancy’s CEO, Janis Searles Jones, ocean optimism really means courage:
“It means that we don’t shy away from the incredibly urgent threats facing our ocean like climate change. It means we don’t minimize or sugarcoat the problems or deny ourselves moments to mourn what’s already been lost. It means courage to take action and to fight for our ocean and the people and communities that depend on it. That’s what ocean optimism means to me, and that’s why I’m at Ocean Conservancy—to work with our incredible team on real, meaningful and equitable solutions that will protect and restore a changing ocean.”
While that’s what it means to our CEO, it can mean something unique for all of us who care about the ocean. Remaining optimistic is not only essential to protect our ocean but our own mental health. As supporters of the environment, we caneasilybecome overwhelmed. We see our record-breaking hot summers, intensified weather events and rising sea levels.Choosing ocean optimism (or ocean courage, as our CEOeloquentlystates) helps us gather the strength to continue our work.
Realismis also important to environmental advocacy.
A dose of realism is also necessary to ground us in the present and help us understand future implications, as intense as that may be at times. Realism ultimately brings us the sense of urgency we need to complete a task, big or small, which fuels the environmental movement. There is a fine line before realism can overcome hopefulness, however. As with everything in life, we must try to find the balance.
The attitude you bring to your environmental work matters.
As environmental advocates, weare privilegedto work on issues thatprofoundlyaffect people and the planet. I never imagined as a young girl that I would one day have the privilege to fight to conserve our ocean. I try to ground myself with a positive outlook on my potential impact.Every day, I choose #OceanOptimism because the protection of our beloved oceanis indeeda life-long battle.Those champions of the movement, both past and present, motivate, inspire and comfort us. Optimism helps us pursue our own commitments to leave the world better than how we found it.
You’ve heard of great whites. You’ve heard of hammerheads. And you’ve probably heard of makos, whale sharks and bull sharks. But have you heard … of zebra sharks?
Move over, tiger sharks—there’s a new wildly-named elasmobranch species in town, and they’re here to show their stripes (sort of). Today, I’m here to walk you through seven sea-riously wild facts about this curious carpet shark species.
Where do zebra sharks get their name?
While tiger sharks claim their name from the trademark “tiger stripes,” zebra sharks are named specifically after their appearance as juveniles. As pups, zebra sharks bear bands of dark and light brownish-yellow, which eventually disperse into spots as a young shark reaches adulthood. These stripes don’t just go away for no reason, though; they’re actually quite the defense mechanism when it comes to keeping pups safe from prey. Shedd Aquarium explains that, upon first glance, predators may mistake a baby zebra shark’s striped tail for dangerous sea snakes, so these stripes serve a very sneaky but also very protective purpose.
Zebra sharks are much smaller as babies, and once they reach their full size as adults, the need for this mimicry tool is lessened. Their spottier appearance assists them in camouflaging themselves against the sandy seafloor.
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If they’re spotted as adults, why aren’t they called leopard sharks?
Well, the answer to this question really depends on whom you’re asking. There’s another species of shark (Triakis semifasciata) that is commonly referred to as a leopard shark here in the United States. In Australia, however, Stegostoma fasciatum (the species this blog is all about) is most commonly referred to as a leopard shark (not a zebra shark). All in all, you could technically not be incorrect if you were to call either of these species a zebra shark or a leopard shark … but if you’re really trying to be careful with specifics with species, scientific names are here to save the day.
Where do zebra sharks live?
These sharks are primarily found in Indo-Pacific waters, but they have also been known to be found in the Red Sea. They love sandy seafloors and are most commonly found on or near coral reefs where many of their favorite foods are known to thrive.
How big can these sharks grow to be?
Most sources note that zebra sharks tend to average between seven and nine feet in length, with the largest reported to be close to 12 feet long. One of the most interesting stats about their size, however, is that they have incredibly lengthy, powerful tails—which sometimes can make up nearly half their entire body length.
If you’ve ever seen a zebra shark (or footage/photos of one) during the daytime, the shark was more than likely either staying very still or moving very slowly. This is because zebra sharks are nocturnal, becoming the most active at night when they hunt. During the daytime, they are pretty chill creatures, resting on the sandy seafloor. This visual can actually be a pretty peculiar one to witness, as these sharks sometimes “stand” on their pectoral fins, resting with their mouths open while facing the direction of the current. Don’t worry, though; there’s a method to the zebra shark madness. Unlike many other sharks that have to continuously swim through the water to breathe, zebra sharks have special openings called spiracles that make it possible for them to actually pump the water over their gills themselves.
What do they eat?
A few favorite foods of zebra sharks include crunchy crustaceans and succulent shellfish, such as crabs, shrimp, snails and other benthic invertebrates. They are also known to eat some small fishes. With streamlined, flexible bodies and incredibly strong teeth, the zebra shark is known for its ability to wiggle and writhe into small, tight spaces where many of these prey normally reside. They also have two handy feelers at the bottom front of their snouts that enable them to easily feel around for snacks in the dark.
They sure do! Zebra sharks are in the approximate 40% of sharks that are oviparous (meaning they lay eggs). After a zebra shark’s eggs are fertilized, she lays them in tough, sturdy capsules. These casings have strong fibers that attach to the seafloor, keeping them secure until they hatch.
As you can see, zebra sharks represent a truly captivating shark species. Unfortunately, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently lists them as endangered. Here at Ocean Conservancy, we’re working with scientists, policy-makers and advocates like you to fight against climate change and ocean acidification, which are two major issues threatening both the health of reef-dwelling sharks as well as their habitat. Today, you can help support critical marine conservation projects that help our oceans’ sharks and their reef habitats with a donation. Join us today, and let’s help sharks like zebra sharks see a better tomorrow !
Then, be sure to visit SharkWeek.com for even more fin-credible shark content.
Need a reminder that our ocean is full of unusual animals? Look no further than the glass octopus.
The glass octopus (Vitreledonella richardi) is a very rarely seen cephalopod found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world. The species gets its name from its nearly-transparent body—you can see straight through to the optic nerve, eyes and digestive tract. These octopuses mostly live in the aphotic zone, meaning deep waters where sunlight doesn’t reach, at around 3,000 feet. They can grow to about 1.5 long and are estimated to live about 2-5 years.
The glass octopus lives in deep, hard-to-reach places, so there is much we don’t know about this translucent and luminescent cephalopod. So far, there have only been a few sightings and a few specimens recovered from the gut contents of their predators.
We now have new close-up footage of a glass octopus in the wild, thanks to a recent expedition in the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The Schmidt Ocean Institute led the 34-day trip that brought scientists together from around the world to document sea creatures on deep seamounts. They also used high-resolution mapping tools to map more than 11,500 square miles of sea floor.
Using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named SuBastian, scientists observed not one but two glass octopuses, adding greatly to our knowledge of the behavior of this elusive species. “Looking into these deep-sea communities has altered the way we think about how organisms live and interact on seamounts and how they maintain diversity of life in the deep ocean,” said Dr. Tim Shank, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in a statement regarding the mission.
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The glass octopus is considered one of the least studied cephalopods in our ocean. Each additional sighting or specimen helps us better understand this elusive species and how they might respond to a changing ocean.
Glass octopuses weren’t the only star of the mission, however! Scientists also captured footage of whale sharks stealing food from each other, documented deep-sea coral predators and collected samples that might help us understand adaptive immunity, which could have applications to cancer therapy and drug delivery.
This recent expedition is a reminder of how much we have left to discover. Read more about the mission here.
How many species of sharks can you name off the top of your head? We know the big ones like great white sharks, great hammerheads and tiger sharks. But there are hundreds of species of sharks out there, some of which are found in places you might not expect.
Any time of the year is a good time to celebrate sharks, but in honor of Shark Week, we’re sharing some weird and wonderful sharks from all over the world.
Open ocean: Most of the sharks we know are the ones we encounter along the coast, like blacktips, bulls and bonnetheads. But there is a whole group of oceanic species who live all or part of their lives away from the coast, although some come closer to shore to eat or reproduce. Oceanic species include the bigeye thresher shark, whose tail can measure up to half its body length, and oceanic whitetip sharks, who (unsurprisingly) have white tips on their fins. Learn more about oceanic sharks with our fact sheets >>
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Arctic: Icy cold waters might not seem like the ideal habitat for sharks, but some species are specially adapted to thrive in the Arctic. Although most sharks are cold-blooded, or ectothermic, some species like the porbeagle and salmon sharks have evolved special blood vessels that help keep their muscles warmer than the surrounding waters. Also found in the Arctic are Greenland sharks, which can live as long as 400 years. Learn more about sharks in the Arctic >>
Deep sea: The deep sea isn’t for everyone—it’s cold, dark and under a lot of pressure (literally). But the deep sea is home to some particularly strange-looking sharks, like the frilled shark that looks more like an eel than a traditional shark and can be found 5,000 feet below the surface. It’s also home to the ninja lanternsharks that are bioluminescent, meaning they glow in the dark. Learn about other sharks that glow in the dark >>
