{"id":11669,"date":"2019-06-25T07:18:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T11:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/?p=11669"},"modified":"2024-05-02T15:18:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T19:18:16","slug":"female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Sand Tigers Love Shipwrecks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above: A sand tiger shark swims over the SS Tarpon shipwreck. Photo courtesy of NOAA.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Less than a year after the North Carolina Aquariums launched the Spot a Shark USA<\/em> citizen science program, the initial findings already could play a significant role in the protection of the sand tiger shark. A globally designated vulnerable species, sand tigers are linked to healthy aquatic ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Under the program, divers submit both new and historical shark images to the Spot A Shark USA<\/em> website, providing as much information about the image as possible. Behind the scenes, researchers map the locations of each shark.<\/p>\n

The citizen scientist photographs of sand tiger sharks suggest that female sand tiger sharks exhibit \u201csite fidelity\u201d — returning to the same locations over time. Building a photographic record can help to identify habitats that the imperiled species requires.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix female sand tiger sharks were photographed and re-photographed at the same or nearby shipwrecks located off the coast of North Carolina over a period of time ranging from a few months to six years,\u201d says Avery Paxton, lead researcher for the project. \u201cThis indicates shipwrecks are potentially critical habitats for sand tiger sharks and worthy of further research.\u201d<\/p>\n

The preliminary findings add to a growing body of evidence that shipwrecks are potentially critical habitat for the species and could help facilitate conservation of sand tiger sharks, whose estimated population in the United States have declined by more than 75%.<\/p>\n

Some researchers believe this highly migratory species uses the North Carolina wrecks as \u201crest stops\u201d on their journey from New England to Florida. Another hypothesis suggests the shipwrecks may be even more valuable to sand tigers as key reproductive habitats or even as year-round habitats.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a scientific process, and we have just started chipping at the surface,\u201d says Paxton. \u201cThat\u2019s why it is so important to share this information to further future research efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bringing researchers and divers around the world to the table may help solve complex mysteries of the sand tiger shark and facilitate conservation of the iconic species — and ultimately enable its recovery.<\/p>\n

Read the full study in Ecology<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Adapted from a press release<\/a> from the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.<\/em><\/p>\n

##<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Less than a year after the North Carolina Aquariums launched the Spot a Shark USA citizen science program, the initial findings could play a significant role in the protection of the sand tiger shark \u2014 a globally designated vulnerable species whose presence is linked to healthy aquatic ecosystems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":11673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[690,36,28],"tags":[55],"yoast_head":"\nFemale Sand Tigers Love Shipwrecks - Coastwatch Currents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Female Sand Tigers Love Shipwrecks - Coastwatch Currents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Less than a year after the North Carolina Aquariums launched the Spot a Shark USA citizen science program, the initial findings could play a significant role in the protection of the sand tiger shark \u2014 a globally designated vulnerable species whose presence is linked to healthy aquatic ecosystems.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Coastwatch Currents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-25T11:18:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-02T19:18:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/06\/sand-tiger-over-the-tarpon-via-NOAA.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2083\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1390\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katelyn Vause\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katelyn Vause\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/\",\"name\":\"Female Sand Tigers Love Shipwrecks - Coastwatch Currents\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/06\/sand-tiger-over-the-tarpon-via-NOAA.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-25T11:18:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-02T19:18:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/#\/schema\/person\/55240136542ee5b536e242cebbb52406\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2019\/06\/female-sand-tigers-love-shipwrecks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/06\/sand-tiger-over-the-tarpon-via-NOAA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/06\/sand-tiger-over-the-tarpon-via-NOAA.jpg\",\"width\":2083,\"height\":1390,\"caption\":\"A sand tiger shark swimming over tarpon. 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