Pregnant Sharks Inserted With New Tracking Technology To Ensure Suitable Habitats When They Give Birth Due to Extinction Threats

People usually find sharks threatening, but unknown to many, they are also threatened. Marine ecologists are working hard to protect the threatened and endangered shark species.

New Technology to Track Pregnant Sharks

According to Defenders of Wildlife, a national non-profit dedicated to protecting imperiled species, 73 million sharks are killed annually, and 75% of shark species are already threatened with extinction. The habitats where pregnant sharks give birth have also been affected. To help pregnant sharks, scientists created a way to track them to ensure they will give birth in a safe habitat, Phys.org reported.

James Sulikowski, the author of the study and a professor at Arizona State University, and Neil Hammerschlag said a suitable habitat is very important. Otherwise, baby sharks will not grow up.

If they fail to grow, there will come a time when there will be no more sharks, leading to the ocean ecosystem's collapse.

According to Nat Geo WILD, baby sharks are a predator target, and around 80% of some shark species don't make it to adulthood. Also, adult sharks don't spend time caring for their newborns, subjecting the latter as part of the predators' menu. For that reason, some pregnant sharks travel to shallow water to give birth there, where big predators can't go. However, where sharks are born is largely a mystery.

Sulikowski, senior Global Futures scientist at Arizona State University and director of the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab at ASU's New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, said they had developed a novel, satellite-based technology that will help protect threatened and endangered shark species by prioritizing the conservation of pupping and nursery grounds.

The researchers deployed intrauterine satellite tags on two mobile sharks, a hammerhead, and a tiger shark, to detect when their birth occurs. The new technology is called birth-alert-tags or (BAT).

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How Do Birth-Alert-Tags (BATs) Work?

The 2-inch long and 1-inch wide BAT, shaped like an egg, is inserted into a pregnant shark. When the shark gives birth, the BAT will pop out along with the pups and reaches the ocean surface.

Once released, the device will switch to transmitter mode and send messages announcing the location and time of the birth.

Scientists have learned a lot about sharks' birthing through BAT. For instance, they assumed sand sharks gave birth inland, but the device revealed they are most comfortable delivering their pups in abandoned shipwrecks on the ocean floor.

Sulikowski said the discovery was a shock to them. He admitted that they do not know where most shark species give birth or how far they travel to habits essential to their survival.

Once they discover the habitats, they will make sure to protect them by creating sanctuaries or expanding the areas for the said purpose.

Sulikowski said they also had a number of failures while developing the technology, including antenna, firmware, and battery failing to work. But he was thankful to his co-author Hammerschlag that they didn't give up because their discovery could revolutionize how they study sharks.