Animalmigrationsare some of the most salient sights the raw worldly concern has to offer , from incredible wildebeest moving across Africa to the unbelievable solo journeys undertake by bird species across planet Earth . Now , a silky shark has entered the disc books with a record book - break migration that aid highlight the vulnerability of this species .
silklike shark ( genus Carcharhinus falciformis ) are a widespread species find across many of the world ’s ocean . They be given to be institute in waters near the edges of continental shelves . They typically hunt tuna as well as calamari , crab , and porcupine Pisces , drop a line theShark Research Institute .
" I had a assorted catgut feeling about the migrant nature of silkies from the Galápagos Marine Reserve . While previous study on pelagic sharks had revealed that they can travel for thou of kilometres , our previous enquiry on tiger sharks in the Galápagos had shown that they like to stay close to home due to the great copiousness of food within the taciturnity . Since we always run across sleek shark behind the sauceboat during field work at Darwin and Wolf islands , I thought they might also like to stay close to home … only to be proved wrong openhanded clock time ! " said Dr Pelayo Salinas de León , lead author of the subject field and co - master Investigator of the shark ecology project at the Charles Darwin Foundation , in astatement .
This graphic shows the likely locations of Genie during her mammoth migration route.Image Credit: Save Our Seas Foundation
Scientists research silky sharks suit an adult female ( nicknamed Genie ) with a satellite sender near Wolf Island to the north of the Galapagos Marine Reserve in July 2021 . What travel along was an larger-than-life journeying of more than 27,666 kilometers ( 17,190 miles ) over 546 days , breaking the disk for the longest recorded migration of a silky shark by nearly six times .
The mighty voyage undertaken by Genie is the combining weight of crossing the US from the eastward to west coast four meter . At the furthermost point , Genie was 4,755 klick ( 2,954 miles ) aside from the pointedness she was tagged in .
" understand the migratory pathways of silky and other threatened pelagic shark is crucial for develop effective management strategies to revert ongoing global population declines . shark have been rove the world ’s oceans for one C of millions of years and the map boundaries we humans have established on theme mean nothing to them , " said Dr Salinas de León in a secondstatement .
Silky sharks are classed as vulnerable by theIUCN , which also explains that the silklike shark is the second most caught species of shark globally . They often become Byzantine in fish aggregating devices and are often caught as bycatch as well as being caught intentionally for their fin . Silky sharks are vulnerable to overfishing because they take a foresighted meter to senesce and grow easy .
“ Their long migrations through intemperately fished international water break them to significant risks , highlight the motive for a organise world-wide response to ensure the endurance of this extremely threatened radical of species , ” continued Dr Salinas de León .
Genie was think to have swum an average of 50.67 km ( 31 mile ) per 24-hour interval . The data represents the longest recorded migration both in duration and in distance traveled . She also spend well-nigh all her clip within international waters , not inside the protected safer waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands .
" This determination is a call to activity for all stakeholder involved in marine conservation and piscary management to forge together to protect these iconic species and the oceanic ecosystems they inhabit , " added co - source Dr Mahmood Shivji of the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and Guy Harvey Research Institute .
The theme is published in theJournal of Fish Biology .
