W hy hammerhead shark is heading for sea off Ireland
NEW types of sharks could be heading to our waters as a result of warming seas, experts have said.
A new study has revealed 10 species of sharks currently found in warmer parts of the world, such as hammerheads and blacktip sharks, may be swimming off the Irish coast within 30 years as the climate changes.
An estimated 10 million small and 100,000 larger sharks from 40 different species are found in the seas around Ireland and Britain.
More species could be heading here from places such as the Mediterranean and the coast of Africa as seas become warmer due to climate change, according to the research commissioned to mark television channel Nat Geo Wild’s week-long ‘Sharkfest’ of programming this week.
But those already found in our waters, such as thresher, basking and nursehound sharks, are in decline due to over-fishing and other problems, according to
Dr Ken Collins from the University of Southampton, based at the National Oceanography Centre.
Dr Collins, who produced the research, said: “It’s likely we will be seeing more sharks spread from warmer regions. These include the likes of blacktips, sand tigers and hammerheads, which are currently found swimming off the coasts of Spain and Portugal.”
He said he saw “no reason” why there should not be great white sharks in our waters, as they were found in colder waters off South Africa and favoured seals – plentiful around the Irish coast – to eat.
But numbers of great whites are in decline worldwide so the chances of seeing them here falls each year, he said.