The camera attached to a sunbathing shark, measuring about 7 meters long, showed that right after the collision, it abandoned feeding and dove deep into the ocean.
A sunbathing shark was struck by a ship. (Video: Oregon State University)
In April, just hours after tagging and attaching a tracking camera to a sunbathing shark off the coast of Ireland, researchers captured the first live footage of a collision between a vessel and a shark. The new study was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science on July 24. “This is the first direct observation of a ship striking a large marine animal”, said marine biologist Taylor Chapple from Oregon State University, a member of the research team.
The sunbathing shark (Cetorhinus maximus), also known as the basking shark, is a filter feeder that often swims near the surface to filter plankton from the water. Like whale sharks and basking whales, these large creatures feed in a similar manner, which makes them susceptible to collisions with vessels.
“The fact that the tagged shark was struck in this area within just a few hours shows how vulnerable they are to vessels and highlights the need for increased education on how to minimize such collisions”, said ecologist Nicholas Payne from Trinity College Dublin, another member of the research team.
For six hours after being tagged, the female shark, measuring approximately 7 meters, fed near the surface, diving only occasionally. However, it immediately plunged to the ocean floor after the collision, moving to deeper waters far from shore, in contrast to its previous behavior. Images revealed that although there were no open wounds or bleeding, the animal exhibited visible damage to its skin, with paint marks and scratches.
The basking shark feeding near the surface (left) collided with the ship’s wake (center), showing paint marks and scratches on its back (right). (Photo: Oregon State University)
During the remaining 7.5 hours of footage, the female shark did not resume feeding after the collision. This suggests that even non-fatal accidents can lead to negative behavioral changes in animals and other longer-term consequences, such as injury.
“Collisions between vessels and marine animals that do not result in fatalities may be more common than we previously thought”, the research team noted. They pointed out that as the shark’s skin heals, there would be no visible evidence of the collision. This means that observations based solely on surface injuries may lead to underestimating the incidence of shark collisions with vessels.
The basking shark is currently classified as endangered due to overfishing. The coastal waters of Ireland are among the few places where they still gather in large numbers. Here, they feed seasonally and may also mate. Earlier this year, Ireland announced that an area of approximately 283,000 square kilometers would become the country’s first National Marine Park, raising hopes for better protection of marine creatures in the future.
