It was an opportunity not to be missed when researchers, carrying out a routine expedition to monitor great white shark populations in the Mediterranean, happened across one of the fastest, most elusive, and critically endangered species on the planet: the shortfin mako shark.

Recognising that chances to advance understanding and conservation efforts of such a rare species don’t come along all that often, the team was quick to react, tagging the shark in what has become the first encounter of its kind with a shortfin mako shark in the Mediterranean region.

Tagging a shortfin mako shark is no small feat. Notoriously elusive, the mako shark is also one of the fastest predators in the ocean, with a top speed of 45 mph. It’s a stat that only heightens the improbability of successfully tagging such a species of shark. It’s hoped that this encounter will now provide researchers with the kind of valuable information and insight needed to step up conservation efforts for the species and act to prevent any further declines of its population numbers.

This all took place in the summer of 2023, during a scheduled research expedition into the Mediterranean’s population of great white sharks.

“During that research trip, we encountered a young shortfin mako shark by happenstance,” said Brendan Shea, Ph.D student in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. “So, we placed an electronic tag on it, which will now provide us with valuable information about its movement, helping us understand how to better conserve the population.”

The tag the team used is called a pop-off archival tag. It collects and stores data on water temperature, depth, and ambient light levels. This data helps researchers estimate the shark’s location and understand its movements. The tag has been designed to detach after a set period or if the shark diver deeper than 1,800 metres. Once detached, it will transmit its captured data back to a satellite.

“These tags give us valuable information about where these animals travel,” said Shea. “This makes conserving them easier. We need to do more tagging, but this is a great starting point.”

Data gathered from the tag indicates that in just 54 days, the young mako shark had travelled more than 750 miles, despite being only one or two years old. Insight like this could reshape the steps conservationists take to protect the species as it suggests that increased protections will need to be applied for a species that travels such distances from its nursery at such an age.

“Sharks play a crucial role in the health of our oceans,” said Shea. “A healthy ocean supports various human activities, so understanding and conserving shark populations benefits everyone. Understanding the three-dimensional movement of sharks helps us know how they connect different habitats and their role in the ecosystem.

“This data also informs us about the depths they occupy, which is vital for conservation efforts.”

The research, carried out as part of the White Shark Chase initiative led by Virginia Tech, was published recently in Frontiers in Marine Science. Its publication follows a succession of reports into the critical status of shark, ray, and chimaera populations across the world’s oceans. 

The risk of extinction now being faced by all species of sharks, rays, and chimaeras has increased by almost 20% over the last 50 years, driven primarily – according to a newly developed Red List Index trained on marine life – by overfishing, a direct human impact that has more than halved species populations since 1970.

Overexploitation by target fishers and incidental capture (or bycatch), compounded by habitat degradation, climate change, and pollution has all led to the current near-extinction plight faced by one third of all species of Chondrichthyans – an ancient and ecologically diverse group of over 1,199 sharks, rays, and chimaeras.

Meanwhile, a report issued by the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group earlier this month revealed that the global demand for shark meat has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, despite sharks, rays, and chimaeras being among the most threatened vertebrates on the planet and one third of all species facing extinction.

Echoing the sentiments of those at Virginia Tech, Dr Nathan Pacoureau at the European Institute for Marine Studies, Brest University in France – a consultant specialist on the IUCN Red List Index, said: “Sharks and rays are important predators, and their decline disrupts food webs throughout the ocean. Larger, wide-ranging species connect ecosystems, for example, reef sharks are vital in transferring nutrients from deeper waters to coral reefs, helping to sustain those ecosystems.”

The shortfin mako shark is a large, predatory shark that lives in the open ocean and reaches lengths of 12 feet (3.8 metres) and weights of at least 1,200 pounds (545kg). With top speeds of 45 mph, the shortfin mako is the fastest shark and one of the fastest sharks on the planet. It is also known for its incredible leaping ability and can be observed jumping to extreme heights out of the water when hunting.

Given what we know about the species’ athleticism, we can only doff our cap to the Virginia Tech researcher who had the ability to keep a pace with this particular mako shark in order to deploy the tag. They deserve a medal.

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