According to new research, tigers sharks are moving further north because of climate change. This is due to warmer oceans than they have been in the past.
University of Miami led a team of scientists that found the oceans have had the highest temperatures in 10 years. Tiger sharks were able to swim 250 miles north of the pole because of this.
Due to the warm oceans sharks have begun migrating 14-days earlier to the waters off the US Northeastern Coast.
These changes are not only dangerous for humans, but they also cause sharks to leave areas where there is commercial fishing.
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Climate change is warming the oceans, which has historically been too cold to support the predator’s apex predator. Tiger sharks have begun to migrate further up North due to this new study.
Director of Shark Research and Conservation Program, University of Miami Neil Hammerschlag stated in a statement that tiger shark distributions had expanded further to the poles over the last 40 years due to warmer waters.
“In reality, the waters off the Northeast United States where it was previously too cold to tiger Sharks have warmed up and are now suitable for them. They’ve even moved in those regions.”
Hammerschlag and colleagues tag 69 tiger Sharks in southeast Florida, Southwest Florida and northern Bahamas. They then monitor their migration patterns over nine years, from May 2010 through January 2019.
The tracking data also generated 5 227 locations for 47 sharks.
University of Miami scientists discovered that ocean temperatures were the highest ever recorded over the past decade. This allowed tigers sharks to move 250 miles in the opposite direction.
“During the warmest month, for every one Celsius [1.8F]Hammerschlag stated in a video that tiger sharks had moved in poleward direction by almost four degrees latitude due to an increase in the water temperature above their long-term average.
These results could have more profound effects on the ecosystem.
Hammerschlag stated that a tiger shark’s role as an apex predator could cause changes in predator-prey interaction, which can lead to ecological imbalances and increased encounters with people.
The latest species of marine animals to move north is the Tiger Sharks. A study published in April 2021 found that warming oceans had forced almost 50,000 marine species from their tropical habitats along the Equator to relocate to warmer waters.
These sharks venture out of protected areas to escape commercial fishing.
Hammerschlag and colleagues tag 69 tiger Sharks from southeast Florida, Southwest Florida, and the northern Bahamas. They then monitor their migration patterns over nine years, starting in May 2010, and ending in January 2019.
The University of Auckland led the research that found an exodus of almost fish, mollusks and birds, which has been moving poleward ever since 1955.
Scientists say that species capable of moving are trying to escape the warming surface temperatures currently at 68F (20C)
Mark Costello is a senior author and a professor of marine Biology at the University of Auckland. He told AFP that global warming had been affecting ocean life for more than 60 years.
Over three periods of 20 years, the team discovered that 48,661 species had moved south from their original locations up until 2015.
According to the study the numbers of species that are attached to the seafloor (including corals or sponges) remained fairly stable in the Tropics from the 1970s through 2010.
Some have even been discovered outside the tropics suggesting that they may be trying to flee from warming waters.