Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). Tagging and tracking showed that white sharks travel thousands of kilometres.

Australia has two distinct white shark populations

Scientists identified two distinct populations of white shark at the east and west of Bass Strait in Australian waters, prompting researchers to suggest the huge fish may need a regional conservation plan.

The study examined tissue samples from 97 sharks collected around Australia since 1989 which were caught in beach safety programs, as fishery bycatch and during Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) field research. Its findings are broadly consistent with satellite and acoustic tracking research led by CSIRO’s Barry Bruce.

A large leatherback sea turtle with a school of fish off the coast of Brazil
A large leatherback sea turtle with a school of fish off the coast of Brazil

Climate change threaten baby leatherbacks

The study also predict, based on projections from multiple models, that egg and hatchling survival will drop by half in the next 100 years as a result of global climate change.

When leatherback turtle hatchlings dig out of their nests buried in the sandy Playa Grande beach in northwest Costa Rica, they enter a world filled with dangers. This critically endangered species faces threats that include egg poaching and human fishing practices.