A new Nature Communications analysis finds that shark-finning regulations, while important, have not produced a statistically significant change in global shark-product exports, imports, domestic consumption, or trading partnerships. The study by UCSB researchers McDonald et. al result is a clear warning: preventing the wasteful act of finning at sea must be paired with enforceable fishing limits and meaningful controls on the shark-fin trade. What does this mean for the sharks?
Read MoreShark Attacks: Separating Shark Fact from Fiction
This week we are celebrating Shark Week to recognize the importance of sharks to marine ecosystems and the threats shark populations face in the global ocean.
Read MoreEmergency Shark Fishing Regulations- Make Permanent
On June 17, the California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to approve an emergency regulation to strengthen restrictions on fishing gear, in order to improve public safety and prevent fishers from illegally targeting white sharks near California beaches and piers.
Read MoreDo Sharks Get Cancer?
There is a widespread, persistent myth that sharks are immune to cancer, largely popularized by a 1992 book titled Sharks Don’t Get Cancer by Dr William Lane. However, marine biologists and veterinary pathologists have definitively proven that sharks do develop both benign and malignant tumors.
Read MoreGlobal Shark Attacks at Norm in 2025
Global shark attacks were higher in the year 2025 over 2024 reports the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF). Despite the attention it gets when an incident involving a shark and human occurs, shark populations are decreasing globally.
Read MoreWhite Sharks and the Red Triangle
At the tail end of Sharktober, California has seen three *incidents” involving great white sharks (white sharks) and humans with one tragic fatality.
Read MoreHope for the High Seas- New Global Treaty Signed
In the Northeast Pacific, adult white sharks annually migrate far from USA and Mexican protection and are vulnerable to being killed as bycatch on international longliners or shark finning on the high seas. This is one of the reasons we celebrate their return to Sanctuary during Sharktober each year!
Read MoreGreat Whites on the Rise
Scientists and shark conservation organizations like Shark Stewards call this period “Sharktober” to describe the period of heightened great white shark (hereafter called white sharks) activity and human encounters along the California coast. As the fall season arrives along California’s coastline, a compelling and cautionary period for ocean-goers occurs when adult great white sharks return to California waters. These fall months coincide with an increase in human -shark interactions and a few, but rare, high profile human shark interactions, (aka shark attacks.) Here we discuss the incidence of great white shark human interactions* along the West Coast of North America, the relative risk and how to avoid becoming the next statistic.
Read MoreThe Devil’s Teeth & Iron Swimmers
Today Catherine Breed—UC Berkeley alum, Bay Area marathon-swimming force, and connoisseur of extreme swims, has completed the SE Farallones to the Golden Gate swim under classic marathon swimming rules (no contact, no suit aids, no music). In calm conditions Breed Catherine Breed became the 7th swimmer and the 4th to swim from SE Farallon Island to the Golden Gate Bridge in 13 hours, 54 minutes- shaving almost 4 minutes off the previous record held by Joseph Locke in 2015.
Read MoreShark Week: A Deep Dive or a Light Touch for Sharks
As July 20, 2025 marks the start of Discovery Channel’s 37th annual Shark Week, millions of viewers around the world are gearing up for a another week of shark-centric programming.
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