This is really beyond phenomenal - especially the tracks!
Just look at the GIF at the top - I mean, seriously, how bloody awesome is that!
Just look at the GIF at the top - I mean, seriously, how bloody awesome is that!
Philopatry anybody?
And the overlap with the fishing fleets?
Having spent countless hours looking for birds when trolling offshore, I know all too well that the prey is not distributed evenly but instead comes in patches, and that consequently, predators converge - and it only stands to reason that as we are supplanting the Sharks as the top predators on the high seas, their footprints will increasingly overlap with that of our commercial fleets, leading to high mortality rates both due to targeted Shark fishing but very much also due to (more or less) unvoluntary bycatch - see this rather recent report about the status of pelagic Elasmobranchs in the SoPac.
Earlier papers e.g. here and here - and here is also an important paper describing the grotesque irony of those fisheries being increasingly unprofitable, story here.
Solutions?
Possibly the postulated well-placed (and well-enforced!) pelagic MPAs but that sure ain't gonna be easy (and here!) - and read this about the need to better identify, and then include those few remaining marine predator refuges! And what about the continued Climate Change-induced poleward shifts (and here!): shift accordingly?
Detail detail! :)
Yeah I know I know.
That's a lot of links - but they are simply a must as things are complicated!
Enjoy the paper and the links!
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