How Miami's Waters Are A Lifeline For Hammerheads
An eight-year study highlights Biscayne Bay as a vital nursery and seasonal refuge for great ... More hammerhead sharks, underscoring its importance across life stages and for long-term shark conservation.
In the warm, shallow waters just off the city of Miami, is a haven for one of the ocean's most iconic yet critically endangered marine predators. Hidden beneath the skyline, among seagrass beds and mangrove shorelines, Biscayne Bay serves as a sort of 'cradle' for the great hammerhead shark, a new study from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science confirms. It turns out that juvenile great hammerheads, during their most vulnerable years, rely heavily on the bay as a nursery habitat.
The great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) is the largest species of hammerhead, easily recognized by its wide, T-shaped head and tall, curved dorsal fin. Reaching lengths of up to 20 feet (6 meters), these sharks are found in warm, coastal waters around the world. Their unique head shape enhances their ability to detect prey, especially stingrays buried in the sand, and plays a crucial role in their hunting strategy. Despite their formidable size and hunting abilities, great hammerheads are critically endangered due to overfishing, habitat loss, and their sensitivity to capture stress. They often fall victim to bycatch in commercial fisheries and are targeted for their fins. Unlike other sharks that roam vast distances, great hammerheads display strong site fidelity to certain coastal habitats, particularly during juvenile stages.
Researchers examined the feeding and habitat patterns of 62 great hammerhead sharks sampled between 2018 and 2025. Using multi-tissue stable isotope analysis (a non-lethal technique that measures the chemical 'fingerprints' left by food sources in muscle and blood plasma) the team tracked both the recent and long-term dietary habits of these animals, allowing them to understand how hammerheads use Biscayne Bay across different life stages.
What they found was striking.
'Juvenile great hammerheads show a constrained diet and habitat use, potentially feeding heavily on ... More small inshore stingrays early in life,' said Catherine Macdonald, a research associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, and the director of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the Rosenstiel School. 'This reliance on a narrow range of prey and habitats makes juvenile great hammerheads particularly vulnerable to human activity and environmental change.'
For their first two years of life, these young sharks depend almost entirely on the bay's inshore habitats and prey. After that, they begin venturing to coastal reefs, but they still return to the bay seasonally, usually between late spring and early summer. Some adult sharks even continue to forage in the area, showing that the bay isn't just important early on but significant throughout their entire lives.
Located in one of the most densely populated parts of Florida, Biscayne Bay has been under pressure for decades. Declining water quality, reduced freshwater inflow, and widespread physical degradation — driven by local rapid urban growth — have vastly changed the ecosystem. What was once a pristine estuary has become a hotspot for pollution, habitat loss, and stress. These changes affect all marine life in the bay, but for the young great hammerheads, they may be especially devastating. 'Juvenile great hammerheads show a constrained diet and habitat use, potentially feeding heavily
on small inshore stingrays early in life,' said Dr. Catherine Macdonald, a research associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, and the director of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the Rosenstiel School. 'This reliance on a narrow range of prey and habitats makes juvenile great hammerheads particularly vulnerable to human activity and environmental change.' Their limited diet and strong preference for nearshore habitats means they have fewer options if conditions deteriorate or if fishing pressure increases. And fishing pressure is a real concern, since Miami is a major destination for recreational fishing, and great hammerheads are often caught unintentionally. The species is known to be extremely sensitive to capture stress, to that point that even when released, many individuals don't survive. 'Reducing interactions with these sharks — particularly avoiding catch-and-release fishing in key nursery areas — can dramatically improve survival for this endangered species,' said researcher John Hlavin, the lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the Rosenstiel School. 'If a shark is accidentally caught, the best action is a quick, in-water release, without photographs that delay the release process.' Every second the shark is out of the water decreases its odds of survival. That's why responsible fishing is critical, Hlavin continues, especially between March and July, when both juveniles and subadults are present in the bay. Avoiding catch-and-release in known nursery areas could greatly reduce mortality for this species.
The results of the study also offer valuable information for policy makers and conservationists. Stable isotope analysis revealed how tightly tied these sharks are to the bay's resources, particularly in their early life. This kind of data can be used to create spatial protections, seasonal fishing restrictions, or habitat restoration initiatives. For example, if we know juvenile hammerheads are concentrated in specific parts of Biscayne Bay in certain months, those areas can be prioritized for protection or restricted from fishing during key periods. While protecting open-ocean shark populations is challenging due to their wide-ranging nature, preserving nursery habitats like Biscayne Bay is a tangible, localized way to make a big difference.
Biscayne Bay may lie in the shadow of Miami's skyscrapers, but it's also at the heart of this species' survival. It's here, in the shallows, where these young sharks take their first bites. It's here where they learn to hunt, and where they face some of their greatest risks. The future of great hammerhead sharks may depend not just on what happens out in the deep ocean… but on what we choose to protect right here at home.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Medscape
an hour ago
- Medscape
Updates in Metastatic NSCLC From ASCO 2025
Dr Jonathan Goldman, of the University of California, Los Angeles, shares key updates in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer from ASCO 2025. Dr Goldman reviews findings from TROPION-Lung02, which evaluated datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) ± pembrolizumab (pembro) in first-line metastatic NSCLC. The objective response rate (ORR) was 55% for Dato-DXd + pembro vs 56% for chemo. Improved outcomes in TROP2 NMR-positive patients may indicate a predictive biomarker. Dr Goldman then discusses results from OptiTROP-Lung03, in which sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT) showed superior efficacy compared to docetaxel in pretreated EGFR-mutated NSCLC. The ORR for sac-TMT was 45% vs 15% for docetaxel. Next, he highlights updates from KRYSTAL-7 of first-line adagrasib plus pembro in KRASG12C-mutant NSCLC. The combination yielded an ORR of 44% and median duration of response of 26.3 months. In patients with a PD-L1 ≥ 50%, ORR reached 50% vs 34% in those with lower expression. Dr Goldman also reports on HERTHENA-Lung02, in which patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) improved progression-free survival (PFS) vs chemo in resistant EGFR-mutated NSCLC, but the lack of overall survival benefit led to application withdrawal. Finally, Dr Goldman reviews phase 2b findings from REZILIENT1, evaluating zipalertinib in EGFR exon 20-mutant NSCLC. In patients without prior amivantamab, ORR was 40% and PFS was 9.5 months. In those previously treated with amivantamab, zipalertinib resulted in clinically meaningful results: an ORR of 23.5% and PFS of 7.3 months.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Biotech industry faces off: US vs. China
China has become a significant player in the biotech space, potentially threatening the lead the US holds. EY Americas industry markets leader for health sciences and wellness Arda Ural sits down with Josh Lipton and Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Anjalee Khemlani to discuss the dynamics between the US and China in the biotech industry. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here According to a recent report from the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, China has the most immediate opportunity to overtake the United States in biotechnology. For more, let's welcome in Arta Rawi America's industry markets leader and Health Sciences and wellness, as well as Yahoo Finance's very own Anjali Camlani. Welcome to you both. All right, I'll start with you. Uh, maybe it's just a big question, big picture question. Does the US have the investment power, in your opinion, to overtake China in biotech? Yeah, thanks for having me. Uh, the biotech is the innovation feeder to the big pharmaceuticals and it only uh nurtures well in an ecosystem. So to answer your question, what do you need in that ecosystem for that to nurture? Uh, investment capacity, which we have been having for the last, you know, decades, if you will, to kind of keep investing in that innovation to move on. NIH has been probably the world's largest VC over $40 billion in non-dilute funding into the entrepreneurial startups. Then you have talent who has been, you know, coming all these top universities and MDs and PhDs who are dedicated to advance it. And then you need this technology transfer system so that those intellectual property translate into a startup. And then with that investment capacity, it keeps growing and then through testing and going to the humans and then ultimately being developed for everyone's use. So, uh, yes, the US still has the capacity to invest, but it is not potentially the only game in town given the development coming from China. I'm curious, Arta, because we know, I know you've been tracking the deals and uh, we've seen the number of deals steadily increasing over the years. I saw, uh, one of the ones that you sent, which looks at the number of deals so far to date for 2025 is more than half of what we saw in 2024. So we can expect that to really outpace 2024. What does that mean though? Because I know that some of the deals that are happening are more, um, what you would call licensing deals, right? It's not necessarily that this money is going to from scratch investment and innovation, but it's more stuff that has already happened and is built up. Talk to me about that and why that matters. I mean, first of all, the numbers are pretty compelling. A couple years ago, we had pretty much like no deals under a billion dollars in 2016. And as of last year, there were $30 billion worth of licensing deals from Chinese assets into the US, and 2025 is a very strong start, so they're definitely going to beat that number. So the reason why this is happening is in 2015, Chinese Communist Party put a priority of investing in biotech and that was a priority sectors. And it was 10 years ago, and that 10 years of journey started to play out for their benefit because China historically has been known for this active product ingredients and excipients, which is like the chemicals that pharmaceuticals were using to make small molecule products. And that journey now is taking them to upstream to more advanced innovation. Probably we still have not seen a first in class, but clearly they are going for best in class, like those are the shots on goal if you are seeing more and more. Well, that's why, that would be my question because I know that we've seen sort of they're doing copycats or metoos in terms of the type of innovation coming out of China. Um, do we expect that they have the wherewithal to outdo the US then in that sense, in terms of coming up with the next blockbuster for the entire world? I mean, there are a couple examples, early examples that some of the Chinese based assets actually head-to-head comparisons, you know, beat or exceed, at least match the efficacy and safety profile of some of the Western developed compounds. But this is also a journey as the audio question. So what is it, what do they need more to get there? So they have the talent. I mean a lot of Western educated MDs and PhDs went back to China working on that. The government itself as a part of prioritization program have been investing in it. So then the question is, do they have an exit strategy for those entrepreneurs? And that I think is where they are lacking because there's no like an IPO market that is comparable to the Western standards. There's no like an M&A exit until recently. I think that's where the weakness kind of may be the opportunity for them to come up. But the deals we were talking about, they're because of the intellectual property concerns, because of the concerns of reliability and trust in the data because, you know, there's no such institution in the world like FDA that everyone trusts and hopefully continue to trust. And for that reason, the deals seem to be more asset purchases. So I'm not taking a risk by operating in China, but I'm buying the asset and in a licensing deal, and I'll continue to develop it, especially if you can make this cheaper and faster in China, which has been their competitive advantage over the Western companies, then you bring that into a human fast and then the human testing can be done, validations can be done in the more Western setting. I think that can be a winning formula for the industry. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rise in VC activity tees up ‘strong year' for medtech funding: PitchBook
This story was originally published on MedTech Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily MedTech Dive newsletter. Increases in venture capital investments have positioned 2025 to be a 'strong year for global medtech funding,' according to a report from market data research firm PitchBook. First quarter VC funding totaled $4.1 billion, the highest it has been since 2022. The number of confirmed transactions hit 216, reversing a four-quarter decline. However, the uptick in medtech mergers and acquisitions that PitchBook predicted under the second Trump administration has yet to emerge, and antitrust regulators are still challenging deals. Medtech VC activity fell in both 2022 and 2023, according to PitchBook. Last year brought signs that the market might be bottoming. The number of VC investments fell for the third year in a row, but the amount of funding was higher than in 2023. Signs of a VC recovery continued into the first quarter of 2025, when the $260 million investment in whole-body-imaging startup Neko Health was the largest of 11 rounds worth $100 million or more. With Elon Musk's brain implant startup Neuralink raising $650 million this month, PitchBook said preliminary data for the second quarter shows more than $3 billion of medtech VC funding so far. VC exits are rare, though. PitchBook said there were no significant medtech VC exits in the first quarter, and the total exit value remained roughly in line with the previous two quarters. Total exit value in recent years has been driven by rare big deals, such as Tempus AI's initial public offering in 2024 and the $6 billion acquisition of Athelas in 2023. PitchBook highlighted three notable exits that closed in the first quarter: Beta Bionics' IPO, Hologics' $350 million takeover of Gynesonics and Boston Scientific's $540 million acquisition of SoniVie. The level of activity has fallen short of PitchBook's expectations. 'Our earlier thesis that the new U.S. presidential administration's more lenient regulatory stance would catalyze M&A activity has yet to play out, as broader market turbulence in early 2025 has complicated dealmaking conditions across sectors,' PitchBook said. 'Additionally, regulatory resistance remains a headwind.' PitchBook cited the Federal Trade Commission's legal challenge to the $627 million private equity buyout of Surmodics as evidence of ongoing regulatory resistance. The FTC challenged the deal on the grounds it 'would lead to a highly concentrated market for outsourced hydrophilic coatings and eliminate significant head-to-head competition.' Recommended Reading Medtech venture investment recovery continues, but startup M&A remains limited: Pitchbook Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
