Sharks
David Shiffman loves all things sharks! He is a graduate student in South Carolina studying the ecology and conservation of sandbar sharks, writes for the blog Southern Fried Science as “WhySharksMatter”, and even has his own book coming out in order to educate more people on why we should all be involved in protecting the world’s shark populations!
What is your favorite species of shark, and why? What is your favorite shark quality?
A lot of people would probably think I was crazy if I claimed that sharks are beautiful animals, but no one can deny how gracefully they swim through the water. I used to sit by the shark tank at the Pittsburgh aquarium for hours just watching them.
My favorite species of shark is the Megaladon, which is basically an extinct 60 feet long great white. Their teeth can be five or six inches long, making them a pretty impressive predator!
Why do sharks matter, and what does the welfare of sharks mean for the welfare of the ocean?
Predators are always important to the health of food chains because they eat weak and sick prey. Most sharks are apex predators, which means they are at the top of their food chain and are therefore vital regulators of ocean ecosystems. Predators exert a force known as “top down control”, which helps keep food chains in check. The loss of this top down control can lead to the destabilization of economically important food chains.
What research have you been working on concerning sandbar sharks? What does it involve and why is it important?
My research focuses on the diet and trophic level of sandbar sharks. Basically, I’m studying what they eat and how they fit into food chains up and down the East coast of the United States. The old way of figuring out what sharks eat involves cutting open the stomach to see what falls out. This is a direct approach, but it involves sacrificing lots of sharks. I use a technique called stable isotope analysis, which involves taking a tiny muscle sample from sharks and from suspected prey species. I then put these samples into a machine called a mass spectrometer in order to compare the isotope levels between the prey and predator samples. This tells me how similar the samples are chemically and by interpreting this data we can determine what the sharks are eating. This data is very important to natural resource managers who are trying to protect this important species.
Besides your research, what do you do in order to protect sharks? What can others do?
Other than my research, I spend a lot of time educating the public about sharks. I do this through writing. I currently have an upcoming book called Why Sharks Matter, write for the blog Southern Fried Science, and also do many public education talks. I believe that sharks are in trouble worldwide not because nobody cares, but because no one knows what is happening to them.
The most important thing that people can do is to learn about sharks, their importance, and the threats they face. Once you’ve learned about them, tell a friend or family member what you’ve learned. I also recommend eating marine stewardship council certified sustainable seafood, which has relatively low shark bycatch rates.
Tell us about your writing! What is your book about? What is Southern Fried Science?
My upcoming book is all about why sharks are important to ecosystems and economies, why sharks are in trouble, and how people can help them. I honestly believe that if everyone knew these facts that the oceans would be a lot better off.
Southern Fried Science (southernfriedscience.com) was started by my good friend and former college roommate Andrew Thaler (the Southern Fried Scientist), who studies the deep sea. We also have a third author, Amy Freitag (Bluegrass Blue Crab) who studies the sociology of blue crab fisherman in the outer banks. I write as “WhySharksMatter”.
Our primary goal is to educate the public about science and conservation, but it also serves as a virtual meeting place for scientists, students, conservationists, and interested members of the general public to discuss important issues. We welcome comments from all of our readers and encourage anyone reading this interview to read the blog and join in the discussion!
I write primarily about shark science and conservation issues, but anything ocean or science related is fair game. Though many posts are designed merely to explain a new piece of shark news, I enjoy writing about controversial issues because they tend to generate interesting discussions. I personally learn a lot by observing both sides of a debate argue it out.
It’s wonderful that there is a place where people can discuss and learn about difficult topics! We recently read about your opinions on dolphin safe tuna. What do you believe people should know about this subject? How can this problem be solved?
Most people believe that eating “dolphin safe” tuna is an environmentally responsible decision. In reality, while “dolphin safe” tuna fishing methods are much better for dolphins, they are much worse for sharks, as well as endangered sea turtles and sea birds. The hard truth is that while no one wants to see flipper killed by a fishing net, dolphin populations were never endangered as a result of tuna bycatch. Bycatch from “dolphin safe” tuna fishing affects many endangered species. Many open ocean shark species, which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature says are in danger of extinction, are killed by this fishing method.
On an individual level, people can eat troll-caught tuna, which is much more expensive but doesn’t have any bycatch issues. You can also just not eat tuna. A global solution is much more complicated because tuna is one of the cheapest sources of protein around, which means that many of the world’s poor can’t really afford a more environmentally friendly food source.
Clearly this is a very complicated issue. What kind of things do you feel need to be done, on both small and large scales, in terms of marine conservation?
I believe that there are too many fishermen catching too few fish. We need a global fisheries management plan that includes lots of marine protected areas (some conservationists say 1/3 of the ocean) and tax incentives for fishermen to choose a new career. Aquaculture and fish farming will probably be a part of the solution as well, but a lot of present day aquaculture technology has a lot of pollution issues as well.
David Shiffman is a graduate student studying marine biology at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. His research focuses on the feeding ecology and conservation of sandbar sharks. Originally from Pittsburgh, David graduated with distinction from Duke University in 2007 with a B.S. in Biology and a concentration in Marine Biology. In addition to his research, David is actively involved in educating the public about the importance of sharks and the threats they face. He writes for the marine biology blog SouthernFriedScience.com and gives shark conservation presentations. After completing his masters degree he plans to get his PhD and continue researching shark ecology and conservation.
