For the first time on video, an endangered shark meets a ship | Business

The footage captured by the device it was tagged with provides valuable information about collisions between ships and marine animals.

“This is the first direct observation we know of of a ship striking marine megafauna,” says Taylor Chapple, a marine biologist at Oregon State University.

Sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) spend most of their time at the surface of the ocean, filtering water and plankton with their huge jaws. Therefore, these animals are vulnerable to ship impacts.

“The fact that a shark we attached a Fitbit to in this area was struck within hours shows how vulnerable these animals are to ships,” says Nicholas Payne, a physiologist at Trinity College Dublin.

Six hours after tagging, the approximately 7-meter-long female fed near the surface, only occasionally diving. Immediately after the painful collision, during which her skin was noticeably damaged, she sped to the bottom of the ocean.

In contrast to the beginning, during the remaining 7.5 hours of footage, she does not appear again. This suggests that even when collisions are not fatal, they can lead to harmful changes in behavior and other long-term consequences, such as injuries, the researchers point out.

However, more research is needed to assess this [laivų smūgių] short-term and long-term effects on sharks.

This research is published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.