22/02/2025
If you see more sharks, does it mean there are more sharks? The short answer – not necessarily.
🍕 If you were to walk down the street every day offering free pizza, every day more and more people would probably show up for a free slice, but that doesn’t mean our population has grown.
🦈 Sharks, like humans, like a free meal and might show up in greater numbers to ‘shark’ a fish off a hook, as they’ve learned to associate a boat engine or a fish’s struggle on a line with an easy feed.
Other factors like warming oceans impacting where shark species move and how long they stay, changing fishing pressures, and increased reporting on social media and the news can all influence our perceptions of shark numbers.
Currently, about one in eight shark and ray species in Australian waters face the threat of extinction. Many of our shark species also have slow reproductive rates.
When it comes to sharks, we are their biggest threat but also their only hope.
Read more in our latest blog from resident AMCS shark scientist, Dr Leo Guida: https://www.marineconservation.org.au/shark-numbers/
