During a recent effort to track porbeagle sharks, researchers made a grisly discovery.
After they were caught, the researchers stuck satellite-linked transmitters onto the sharks fins.
Once there, they could transmit the data they collected to Anderson and her colleagues.
Porbeagle sharks are already threatened by fishing and habitat loss.© James Sulikowski
Her transmitter had detached near Bermuda after only five months, which was unusual enough.
Even stranger were the readings from the week before the tag surfaced.
The incident is alarming because of what it could mean for porbeagle shark populations.
The females give birth to an average of four pups every year or two.
Adding other sharks to the dangers, particularly to pregnant females, just makes the situation more dire.
That could lead to new strategies to save these fearsome, awesome creatures while theres still time.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
And in a new study Friday, researchers have found that some of these bites are wholly defensive.
Good News!
