The reef shark population has dropped to dangerously low numbers — way worse than researchers anticipated, according to a new study co-authored by Florida International University.
The global number of reef sharks, including gray reef, blacktip reef, whitetip reef, nurse and Caribbean reef sharks, has sharply declined by 60% to 73%, the study shows.
While the picture originally looked bleak, researchers were unaware of how close these species were to extinction. “This tells us the problem for sharks on coral reefs is far worse and more widespread than anyone thought,” said Colin Simpfendorfer, lead researcher and adjunct professor of Marine and Aquaculture Science at James Cook University in Australia, in a news release.
