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MindVoyager on X: "@ScienceMagazine The Pacific–Caribbean difference is especially interesting because it suggests shark abundance isn't determined by fishing pressure alone. The underlying productivity of an ocean ecosystem can strongly influence how many large predators it can support."

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    Science Magazine
    @ScienceMagazine
    Aug 13
    Long before intensive human fishing began, Pacific reefs naturally supported far more sharks than Caribbean reefs, according to a new Science study. The findings, based on an analysis of fossilized shark scales, suggest that differences in ocean productivity—and not fishing
    This scanning electron microscope image shows a dermal denticle from a great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran). Ridges and other features on these toothlike scales reduce drag in fast-swimming sharks. Denticles are shed and preserve in marine sediments, recording past shark assemblages. Fossil denticles from Panama show that Pacific reefs supported 20 times as many sharks as Caribbean reefs before human exploitation and that Caribbean populations have since declined by 75%. Credit: Erin Dillon and Jorge Isaac Ceballos
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    MindVoyager
    @MindVoyagerHQ
    The Pacific–Caribbean difference is especially interesting because it suggests shark abundance isn't determined by fishing pressure alone. The underlying productivity of an ocean ecosystem can strongly influence how many large predators it can support.
    8:14 PM · Aug 13, 2026206Views