World of Sharks

It’s spooky season, which is basically a big ol’ excuse to visit some of our weirder and more mysterious species with their strange and fantastical adaptations. Think haunted-looking sharks that have remained unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs; a tiny terror with a mouth straight out of a Stephen king novel; a ray that can deliver 220 volts of electricity to its enemies and a deep-sea critter with a distinctly ghostly appearance and an alien-like third arm that extends out from the front of its head…

We talk about all this and more with shark scientist, horror enthusiast and all-round ocean nerd Dr James Lea!

Key timestamps

9.46: Cute but creepy - all things ghost shark (and their bizarre tenaculums)

20.55: The ancient, zombie-like frilled shark and all its teeth

27.50: Goblin sharks; the pink predator of your nightmares

32.53: Coffin rays, the electrifying ray that could give Uncle Fester a run for his money

42.53: The Greenland shark who stole Christmas? (And getting ‘shark drunk’)

48.56: A parasitic tangent into the shark-eating barnacle

51.30: The mysterious and diverse deep-water catshark family, viper dogfish, and the blackbelly lantern shark

58.04: Tiny terrors: cookie-cutter sharks!

Full shownotes (with links to all the videos we mentioned in this episode) are available at http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast.

October is famously spooky season – but did you also know it’s the month that we celebrate one of the funkiest groups of elasmobranchs? October 17th is International Sawfish Day, an event held every year to raise awareness of these wonderfully weird and seriously threatened animals.

‘What is a sawfish?’ I hear you cry. Well, fear not – this is an episode dedicated entirely to learning all about them. And to teach us all about these fantastical and mysterious creatures, our guest is Dr Barbara Wueringer, a scientist specialising in the behaviour, sensory ecology and biology of sharks and rays, with a particular focus and passion for sawfishes. She is the founder, director, and principal scientist of Sharks And Rays Australia (SARA), a non-profit research organization based in Cairns, Queensland, dedicated to not only the study of these species, but also the engagement of the public and local and Indigenous communities in their conservation.

You can find out more about Dr Wueringer and the work of SARA here https://www.sharksandraysaustralia.com/ or by following @SharksAndRaysAU.

Found a saw? You can report it to www.cytags.com (for sighting submissions in Australia) or https://www.sawfishconservationsociety.org/ (for international sightings).

Key timestamps

•

07:10 - 12.49: Early interests and career journey

•

17.40 - 27.00: An introduction to sawfishes: anatomy, diversity and habitats

•

27.03 - 34.11: Super senses and how sawfishes detect and capture prey

•

34.11 - 39.48: Threats to sawfishes

•

39:48 - 45.00: Conservation in northern Australia and working with Indigenous communities

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45:26 - 51.00: Tagging sawfishes in crocodile country

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51:42 - 55.40: Community-led conservation - why every river matters

Many of us enter the water hoping to encounter sharks and rays, and maybe even get some prize images of our own – but how can we do it with as little impact on the animal as possible? In this episode, we discuss how to share the water with sharks safely, ethically and responsibly with wildlife photographer and filmmaker Luke Saddler, who has spent countless hours observing sharks in their environment and capturing their natural behaviours. We talk about how to: read body language, choose a responsible tourism operator, start out in wildlife film-making and become a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ – all while hearing some of Luke’s own incredible adventures in the field.

Find out more about Luke: @lukesaddler, http://www.lukesaddler.com

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Find us on social media: @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms!

Key timestamps

07:11 — A very special dive in a "galaxy of hammerheads"

13:09 — Luke’s journey from marine biology to wildlife filmmaking

16:23 — How understanding animal behaviour improves your footage

18:01 — Luke’s first shark encounters in Australia

22:42 — How to interact with sharks responsibly

24:10 — Cage diving, baiting, and choosing responsible operators

28:43 — What to look for in a shark tour operator

30:50 — How to behave around sharks underwater

31:17 — Reading shark body language (and when to back off)

35:19 — How drones are changing shark research and filming

40:44 — Planning a wildlife shoot

44:58 — Telling shark stories without fearmongering

47:30 — Getting started in underwater photography and filmmaking

54:18 — What to keep in mind before a first shark encounter

Ghofrane Labyedh came to Cameroon in search of whales and instead discovered an overlooked conservation story: threatened sharks and rays were being landed in large numbers, yet little was known about the fisheries catching them.

Since 2019, Ghofrane has worked alongside Cameroon’s coastal communities to understand these fisheries and the cultural, social and economic importance of sharks and rays. In this episode she shares stories of her work, which weaves together research, community-led conservation, policy and storytelling; culminating in an initiative where the fishers themselves play a central role in protecting the endangered species on their doorstep.

She also discusses how she has taken this multi-layered approach in her new role as Lead Coordinator of the West and Central Africa Elasmobranch Coalition with the Manta Trust. Her work here will focus on bringing together researchers, organisations and practitioners from across 14 countries in the region to address the decline of sharks and rays, strengthening in-country capacity for research and monitoring, and enhancing policy and legal frameworks for endangered species.

Links

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Ghofrane on Instagram: Motherfish08

The West and Central Africa Elasmobranch Coalition: https://www.wcasharksandrays.org/

The international trade in shark fins is a behemoth; vast, complex and difficult to disentangle. But for molecular and forensics expert Dr Diego Cardeñosa, one of the most powerful tools we have to tackle the fin trade is the tiniest part of a shark: their DNA. In this episode, we take a deep dive into Diego's research, which has been instrumental in understanding the nuances of the fin trade and securing better regulations for this billion-dollar industry. This includes the development of a portable, easy-to-use and inexpensive DNA ID kit (the "lab-in-a-backpack") that can help local officials identify endangered and protected species from just fragments of shark fin - all for under $2. We also talk about the problems with implementing international policy at a local level, the scale and complexities of the trade, and whether Diego is seeing any shifts in how the trade operates - for better or for worse.

Links

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Diego on Instagram: @diegocardenosa

https://saveourseas.com/project-leader/diego-cardenosa/

https://case.fiu.edu/about/directory/profiles/cardenosa-diego.html

If you want to dive deeper, you can find links to Diego’s research here.

Few sharks capture the imagination quite like the thresher shark. They are well-known for their cartoonish appearance, “anxious-looking” faces and seriously cool hunting technique. But in scientific terms, we know very little about them – despite their endangered status.
Rafid Shidqi is on a mission to change that. For the last eight years, he has led groundbreaking research on the elusive pelagic thresher sharks of Alor, Indonesia, whose preference for deep, pelagic habitats make them extremely difficult to study. In 2018, Rafid started the non-profit Thresher Shark Indonesia, working within remote, shark-dependent fishing communities to better understand and protect the species. Through acoustic and satellite telemetry and socio-economic studies, Rafid has made vital discoveries about not only the movements and behaviour of pelagic threshers, but also the communities who rely on them to make a living.
Rafid’s story isn’t just about conserving a cool species – it’s also about empowering communities, opening pathways for local youth through conservation leadership, and finding sustainable solutions for shark-dependent fisheries.

Find out more: https://threshershark.id/en/ (@threshershark.id on instagram) and @rafid.shidqi

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Follow us on socials! @saveourseasfoundation

This episode is an extra special one – it’s our 100th! To celebrate this milestone, our host Dr Isla Hodgson looks back across half a decade and 100+ hours of conversations about sharks with the people who know them best. And, we hear messages and bonus shark stories from some friends of the pod.

Transcript and shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast.

This episode features the voices of (in order of appearance):

Dr David Shiffman [5.10]

Dr Helen Scales [5.51]

Dr Luz Saldana Ruiz (en Español) [13.46]

Jillian Morris-Brake [16.51]

Steve Backshall [21.59]

Dr Jaime Penadés Suay (en Español) [26.53]

Craig Foster [32.07]

Dr Hollie Booth [38.50]

Dr Brit Finucci [39.20]

Dr Jack Cooper [41.50]

Parasites have a bad rep. We often see them as harmful, exploitative, and just plain icky. But in the shark world, parasites are much more than just irritating hitchhikers. They are ecosystem engineers and important indicators of the health of not just sharks, but the entire ocean. And studies are starting to show some may actually benefit our sharky friends.

Isla met with shark parasitologists Dr Bjoern Schaeffner and Dr Jaime Penadés Suay at Sharks International, Sri Lanka, where they were hosting a workshop on shark parasites. Together, they discuss what parasites we might find in and on sharks, their critical ecological and biological roles, and why on earth we should care about them, before heading to an outdoor dissection in the seaside city of Negombo to explore, hands-on, the world inside of sharks.

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

We're diving back into our mailbag to answer more of your burning sharky questions! In this episode we address all sorts of fascinating queries such as how bioluminescence evolved in sharks, which species are capable of breathing while they’re not swimming, and whether sharks are really older than trees. Plus, we take deep dives into several awesome species – great white sharks, grey reef sharks, pocket sharks and of course, James’ favourite, the velvet belly lantern shark.

Specific question timestamps:

Q1: Are there any shark species that are showing signs of adapting well to climate change? [3.36 – 10.21]

Q2: Has there ever been more observations of any of the two species of Mollisquama (pocket sharks)? [10.31 – 13.20]

Q3: How did bioluminescence in species like the pocket shark evolve? Was it independent, or did their last common ancestor have bioluminescent fluid? [13.40-15.11]

Q4: We rarely hear about white sharks in the vicinity of South America, either ocean, with the exception of seasonal migrations of NA white sharks into the US South Atlantic coast and Caribbean. My question is: why not? [15.22 – 21.49]

Q5: Which shark species can stay still and breathe through buccal pumping? [21.59-28.44]

Q6: Which species of shark and ray are most closely related? [28.54 – 37.50]

Q7: What is the most surprising thing you’ve learnt in your career (when you first started, vs. most recently)? [37.58 – 44.58]

Q8: Shark [bite incidents] often go unreported for various reasons despite the best efforts of educational institutes to accurately record them. What do you think the real number of global [incidents] might be? [45.06-52.14]

Do you have any questions you'd like researched and answered on the pod? Get in touch! You can email isla@saveourseas.com or message us on socials: @saveourseasfoundation.

Art has the power to change perspectives, spark dialogue, and raise awareness of the complex issues facing our ocean. This is exactly why PangeaSeed was established. Since its inception in 2010, PangeaSeed has brought together local artists and their communities to collaborate on large-scale, vibrant public artworks on the walls of their towns and cities, depicting the ocean, her inhabitants, and the challenges she faces, in line with PangeaSeed's mission to bridge art and science. Over the last decade, over 500 murals have been created in locations across the world. Ahead of their travels to Seychelles, Isla sat down with executive director and director of operations for PangeaSeed, Tre and Akira, to discuss the intersection of art and ocean conservation, the importance of community and connection, and how sharks started an entire movement.

You can find out more about PangeaSeed here www.pangeaseed.org, or on social media (@pangeaseed and @seawalls_).

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Follow us on socials! We are @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms.

In August 2025, a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science suggested that ocean acidification could negatively impact a shark's most useful tool: their teeth. We speak with the papers lead author, Max Baum, about this research, and what the findings could mean for the sharks of tomorrow. Plus we take a deep dive into the wonders of shark teeth, and meet a decidedly unbothered tiger shark named Farida.

You can read the paper we discuss in this episode here: Simulated Ocean Acidification Affects Shark Tooth Morphology

You can also follow Max on Instagram (@maxbaum_insights) and discover more about his work here: www.ocean-insights.org.

Full shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast.

Find out more about us by following @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms!

Sharks have been around a long, long time (over 450 million years!). But how did they evolve into the extraordinarily diverse and successful group of animals that we have today? On today's episode, we meet palaeontologist and author of The Secret History of Sharks, Professor John Long, to discuss a thrilling story of evolutionary experimentation, fossilised clues, and above all, survival.

The Secret History of Sharks is available now: https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/john-long-2/the-secret-history-of-sharks/9781529427356/

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

The Maldives has served as a shark sanctuary for 15 years, and is now one of the most diverse regions for sharks and rays in the world. But with great success comes a new problem: conflict with humans. Fishers are reporting a loss of some of their catch to sharks, an issue known as depredation. For her PhD, SOSF project leader Mina Hatayama is seeking to understand depredation in the Maldives, studying shark behaviour and how it impacts local fishers and their attitudes towards sharks. She will also be asking the very intriguing question of whether hotter sharks are hungrier sharks, exploring the potential role of ocean warming in these increased depredation incidents, as well as working closely with the local fishing community to understand their perspectives and co-develop sustainable solutions.

In this episode, we dive into the challenges of humans and sharks sharing space and resources. It’s a really insightful conversation that weaves together all kinds of issues, from human attitudes and shifting baselines, to the influence of global threats such as climate change on human-wildlife interactions. We also discuss how complex and delicate these situations can be, and the realities of navigating an interdisciplinary project.

Read more about Mina’s ongoing SOSF project here https://saveourseas.com/project/attitudes-and-costs-from-a-new-conservation-challenge/ and here https://www.fishandfisheries.com/minahatayama.

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Sometimes called the 'couch potatoes of the sea', nurse sharks are famous for their laid back attitude to life spending most of their days cosied up in piles, napping. But their gentle, docile nature doesn't make them any less special. In this episode, we sit down with SOSF project leader and PhD Researcher Sergio Madrigal Mora - who has spent a lot of time hanging out with the Labradors of the shark world - to discuss how nurse sharks are perfectly adapted to life in the tropics and why they form 'cuddle huddles' on the sea floor. And, we learn more about Sergio's research into the influence of changing temperatures on the movements of Pacific nurse sharks in Costa Rica's St Elena Bay.

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

You can follow Sergio on Instagram: @sergiomm_77 or @tiburones_ucr. You can find us across all platforms as @saveourseasfoundation.

Papers mentioned in this episode: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v750/meps14733,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098125000589,
https://connectsci.au/mf/article/75/2/MF23162/61130/Long-distance-
dispersal-of-the-endangered-Pacific

We know sharks have incredible senses, but just how good is their eyesight? In this episode, we explore the world through a shark's eyes with fish vision expert Dr Lily Fogg. How does fish vision compare to our own? How do the eyes of a fish living on a vibrant coral reef differ from those hanging out in the murky depths? And do sharks see in technicolour, or multiple shades of grey?

We also take a dive deep into Lily's most recent research, which investigated the eyes of the world's longest living vertebrate: the greenland shark. Her findings challenge a commonly held perception of these ancient creatures, and push the boundaries of what we thought was physiologically possible...

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

You can read the full study on greenland shark vision here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67429-6

You can find SOSF on social media by searching for @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms.

To kick off our new season, we're diving into our mailbag to answer your burning questions! From speedy sharks to mimicry and even fossilised shark poop, we're leaving no stone unturned...

Thank you to everyone who sent in a question - we had so many we ended up doing two episodes! Part 2 will be out later in the season.

Questions answered (with timestamps):

• 04.54: Do any sharks, other than megamouth sharks, use mimicry?
• 14.15: Are megamouth sharks regional endotherms?
• 19.22: Do magnetic shark deterrents work?
• 30.28: Are hydrothermal vent species able to move around?
• 32.54: How do we know which prehistoric shark fossilised poop came from?
• 41.13: How do basking sharks find their food?
• 47.49: Which is the fastest shark?
• 52.34: If you could pass one international law to help sharks, which would it be?

You can also read our answers in the shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

The conversations that shape the fate of sharks and rays rarely happen in quiet laboratories or out at sea. More often, they unfold in fluorescent-lit halls, behind nameplates and microphones, inside sprawling congress centres where global decisions about nature are made. At the IUCN World Conservation Congress, surrounded by thousands of delegates debating the future of biodiversity, host Isla sat down with SOSF Scientific Advisor Sarah Fowler and Chair of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, Dr Rima Jabado, to discuss how far we’ve come in the race to save sharks and rays from extinction – and what steps we need to take next to ensure their future on this planet.

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Find out more about the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) here: http://www.saveourseas.com or follow @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms.

Did you know that there are over 60 species of shark who are luminous? In this episode, we learn all about the sharks who light up the darkness of the deep sea. How are they able to produce their own light? And why have they evolved the ability to glow? We are joined by Professor Jerome Mallefet, an expert in bioluminescence who has studied some of the most fantastical species on earth, including a shark with lightsabers on its back - the velvet belly lanternshark - and the largest known luminous vertebrate, the kitefin shark.

Shownotes: http://www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

Find us on socials! @saveourseasfoundation

How do sharks locate prey when they’re roaming the open ocean? What does a shark ambush look like? Are sharks capable of hunting cooperatively? And why do cookiecutter sharks take on prey much larger than themselves (including submarines!)? We are asking all these questions and so much more this week as we dive into the fascinating world of shark behavioural ecology to better understand foraging and hunting, with marine biologist and co-lead of the Predator Ecology and Conservation Lab at Florida International University, Dr Yannis Papastamatiou.

Find out what it was like to dive with over 300 blacktip reef sharks at once (in the dark), what sharks and seabirds have in common, and why white sharks might be more social than we think.

You can follow Yannis (@yannispapastamatiou) and the PECLab (@peclabfiu) on Instagram.

You can find us across all platforms: @saveourseasfoundation.

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

It’s spooky season, and what a great excuse to visit our friends in the dark; the deep-sea sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras! We’re joined by fisheries scientist and deep-sea legend Dr Brit Finucci to go on a journey into the darkness – a far from barren landscape filled with weird and wonderful creatures. We’ll meet icons like the small-but-ferocious prickly dogfish, the luminous lanternsharks, the ancient and toothy frilled sharks, and a ghost shark called Colin, who just so happens to be new to science.

Shownotes: www.saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast

If you want to learn more about ghost sharks, Brit has co-authored a new book all about them! Ghost Sharks: A Fully Illustrated Guide to the Chimaeras of the World is available for pre-order now.

Find out more about Brit and her work here:

Instagram: @britfinucci

https://niwa.co.nz/people/brit-finucci-0

https://saveourseas.com/project-leader/brittany-finucci/

Follow us on social media! We are @saveourseasfoundation across all platforms.