Decline Of Sharks Research Articles

Shark Tales: Hawaiian Epistemologies and Indigenous Resistance in Kiana Davenport’s Shark Dialogues and Kawai Strong Washburn’s Sharks in the Time of Saviors

ABSTRACT The literary trope of the shark has been exploited as a symbol of monstrosity in classic Western literature, from the great sea novels by Herman Melville, Jules Verne, and Ernest Hemingway to Peter Benchley’s iconic Jaws. However, the demonisation of sharks in Western literature stands in sharp contrast to the cultural reverence and nuanced literary trope of the shark in Hawaiian narrative traditions such as moʻolelo (myths and legends) and ‘ōlelo no‘eau (proverbs and poetical sayings). This paper examines the reciprocal associations between sharks and humans in Hawaiian culture in two novels set in contemporary Hawai‘i, Kiana Davenport’s Shark Dialogues (1994) and Kawai Strong Washburn’s Sharks in the Time of Saviors (2020). These novels resist Western cultural hegemony by portraying sharks according to indigenous Hawaiian epistemologies and narrative traditions as ʻaumākua (ancestral guardians) and symbols of deep, oceanic genealogies. The analysis of the shark trope in Washburn’s and Davenport’s novels draws on the ethnographic studies by Martha Beckwith, Mary Kawena Pukui and Noelani Puniwai; traditional folktales and legends; as well as Oceanic cultural critics Epeli Hau‘ofa and Albert Wendt. Considering the alarming 70% decline in sharks since the 1970s and the ensuing collapse of oceanic ecosystems, it is time to rethink the portrayal of sharks as monsters in Western literature and popular culture.

Increasing rate of species discovery in sharks coincides with sharp population declines: implications for biodiversity

The global biodiversity of some taxonomic groups is poorly described, but thought to be decreasing rapidly. Surprisingly, this holds for a group of the world's most iconic large‐bodied animals: sharks. Our analysis shows rapid and steep contemporary population declines in sharks coinciding with an increasing rate in species discovery. Larger sharks occupying lower trophic positions with wide geographic distributions (latitudinal ranges) found in shallow waters tend to be discovered first. In light of this increasing trend in species discovery and a cumulative description record far from reaching an asymptote, models cannot predict the global number of sharks. Our results highlight that while our knowledge of shark diversity improves at an accelerating rate, this diversity is under threat and declining rapidly; most shark species are vulnerable to declines, especially smaller‐bodied sharks. This surprising finding may relate to mesopredator declines following periods of rapid expansion due to the demise of large sharks (apex predators). Furthermore, shark population declines are structured by phylogeny and, to a lesser extent, geography. Decline in sharks are likely to influence other species as well, e.g. via trophic cascades. The net result may be a greater loss of biodiversity in the oceans and could potentially explain why fewer extinction events are observed than predicted by models. Likewise, it is not inconceivable that species may be lost prior to their discovery.

A first estimate of white shark, Carcharodon carcharias , abundance off Central California

The decline of sharks in the global oceans underscores the need for careful assessment and monitoring of remaining populations. The northeastern Pacific is the home range for a genetically distinct clade of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias). Little is known about the conservation status of this demographically isolated population, concentrated seasonally at two discrete aggregation sites: Central California (CCA) and Guadalupe Island, Mexico. We used photo-identification of dorsal fins in a sequential Bayesian mark-recapture algorithm to estimate white shark abundance off CCA. We collected 321 photographs identifying 130 unique individuals, and estimated the abundance off CCA to be 219 mature and sub-adult individuals ((130, 275) 95% credible intervals), substantially smaller than populations of other large marine predators. Our methods can be readily expanded to estimate shark population abundance at other locations, and over time, to monitor the status, population trends and protection needs of these globally distributed predators.