Sharks and Chainmail Valerie Taylor: Women in Ocean Science

I watched Jaws for the first time as a kid, with my dad. He cautioned me it might be too scary, but I wasn’t scared of the shark- I was enthralled. That fascination never left and has brought me to many pieces of media much better for sharks than Jaws, but Jaws in addition to all the horror the film brought for sharks, helped bring prominence to the career of a remarkable woman who has worked tirelessly to document and save sharks.

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Sharks and the sustainable blue economy

Sharks play a pivotal role in ocean ecosystems, acting as apex predators that maintain the health and balance of marine environments. Their presence regulates species populations, which helps prevent the overgrazing of seagrasses and reefs by smaller marine animals.6 By promoting healthy oceanic ecosystems, sharks indirectly support fisheries and other marine industries critical to the blue economy.

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The Islands of the Dead: Exploring the Farallon Islands

Located close to San Francisco, one of the world’s most recognizable metropolises, there is a series of desolate, fog shrouded, wind and wave-sculpted islands. Known as the “Islands of the Dead” by the Native Miwok, and the “Devil’s Teeth” by Spanish mariners, these islands have a fascinating history of human exploitation, killing and loss.

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How Jaws Influenced Shark Perception

Twenty-one years after publication, Peter Benchley, the author of the best selling novel from which the script was derived said, “I couldn’t write Jaws today. The extensive new knowledge of sharks would make it impossible for me to create, in good conscience, a villain of the magnitude and malignity of the original.”

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A Swimmer’s Nightmare: the Cookiecutter Shark 

Some sharks, like a weird species of dogfish, the cookiecutter shark, (Isistius brasiliensis) are invisible to daytime surface dwellers, but leaves a tell-tale signature bite mark.

First discovered between 1817-1820 by French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Giamard during an exploratory voyage, the Cookiecutter shark is one of the most bizarre species of shark to rise from the depths.

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Earth Day Cleanup Kohala, Hawai’i

With Keep Puako Beautiful and South Kohala Reef Alliance  Shark Stewards invites you to a Tailgate style cleanup of the facility, beach, land and water April 22, 20223. Watch for […]

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