Tag Archives: University of Southampton

Ship strikes a cause of whale shark decline

Scientists are looking to better track whale sharks in New Zealand to determine how vulnerable they are to ship strikes after an international study found it may be the cause of their decline. The report, led by the Marine Biological Association of the UK and the University of Southampton, tracked 348 satellite-tagged whale sharks. The tags showed individual whale sharks, which are an endangered species, moving into shipping lanes and then sinking slowly to the sea floor, hundreds of metres below, backing the theory that they were struck by tankers or cargo vessels. >click to read< 10:36