OUR Mission
To protect future generations of sharks as they face threats in an ever changing climate.
The Physioshark project, led by Dr. Jodie Rummer from James Cook University in Australia, investigates how climate change impacts the physiology of newborn and juvenile reef sharks. Sharks that are born today represent adult shark populations of the future. Understanding how human and environmental impacts affect these sharks is crucial knowledge for developing effective shark conservation strategies.
The fieldwork is based at the CRIOBE Research Center on Moorea, French Polynesia. The project investigates the physiological energetics (i.e., costs/benefits) of newborn blacktip reef and sicklefin lemon sharks living in the 11 potential nursery areas identified around the island. For instance, the research team is investigating how well newborn sharks cope with hot water temperatures in these nurseries and how the cost of growing up in these nurseries will change with increased human disturbances like coastal development and climate change.
While French Polynesia is a protected shark sanctuary, there is a need to address the sharks’ physiological tolerance to the environmental conditions of their nurseries that will likely become more severe as climate change progresses. Decreases in physiological performance may translate to decreases in fitness.