{"id":93221,"date":"2026-08-01T07:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/?p=93221"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:18:08","slug":"les-recherches-sur-les-requins-menees-aux-iles-caimans-sont-debattues-sur-la-scene-internationale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/les-recherches-sur-les-requins-menees-aux-iles-caimans-sont-debattues-sur-la-scene-internationale\/","title":{"rendered":"Shark research conducted in the Cayman Islands is the subject of international debate."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Source: Cayman Compass<\/h1>\n
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By<\/span><\/div>\n

Norma Connolly<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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The work carried out in the Cayman Islands to protect and monitor shark species was presented on the international stage at the world\u2019s largest shark conference, \u00abSharks International,\u00bb held in Sri Lanka.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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Among the 800 researchers, environmental advocates, and policymakers from 81 countries in attendance were Johanna Kohler and Anne Veeder of the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment\u2019s Shark Research and Conservation Program. They participated in discussions on overfishing and the shark meat trade, as well as on new conservation technologies and community-based solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00abThis conference is held only once every four years,\u00bb Kohler said. \u00abIt is a privilege and a source of great satisfaction to be able to meet and exchange ideas with other passionate researchers who are pursuing the same goals as we are here in the Cayman Islands.\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

Deep-sea research in the Cayman Islands<\/span><\/h2>\n

As part of the five-day conference held in May, Kohler presented the latest findings from the Cayman Islands regarding deep-sea sharks and the reappearance of a school of scalloped hammerhead sharks.<\/span><\/p>\n

In her presentation, she explained that 18 species of sharks have been recorded in local waters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Advertisement \u2013<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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In the Cayman Islands, sharks have been a protected species for just over ten years. It is illegal to capture, kill, harass, or feed them. Kohler noted that 55 % of the Cayman Islands\u2019 continental shelf is protected, but only down to a depth of 45 meters (150 feet).<\/span><\/p>\n

She told conference delegates: \u00abOur shark populations are relatively stable, but they remain small, and deep-sea fishing is neither monitored nor regulated, so it is potentially unsustainable.\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

Kohler described a two-year project led by the Ministry of the Environment, in partnership with the nonprofit organization Beneath the Waves, Marine Conservation International, and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and funded by the UK\u2019s Darwin Initiative, to study deep-sea marine life. She presented video footage, filmed in March 2022 at a depth of more than 200 meters, showing a school of 11 to 13 <\/span>long-horned hammerhead sharks,<\/span><\/a> an endangered species. This was the first sighting of a school of these animals in local waters in 50 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Johanna Kohler presents her findings on deep-sea shark research at the \u00abSharks International\u00bb conference in Sri Lanka. \u2013 Photo: Ministry of the Environment<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis was a truly special moment for us,\u201d Kohler said in her presentation. \u201cI certainly cried when I saw the video because it was a sign of hope. Scalloped hammerhead sharks are critically endangered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sighting of the school of scalloped hammerhead sharks in the Cayman Islands, she said, was \u201cjust confirmation of the hard work that people have put in, both in the past and the present, in the Cayman Islands, but also around the world, because scalloped hammerheads are a migratory species and their decline or regional extinction in the Cayman Islands was likely due to overfishing elsewhere.\u201d.<\/p>\n

As part of the same \u201cDeep See\u201d project, which involved deploying baited remote underwater video cameras to depths ranging from 165 to 6,560 feet, she also showed footage of a glow-in-the-dark blurred lantern shark<\/a>, filmed at a depth of less than 2,000 feet. She told delegates that, prior to this footage, this species of shark had never been recorded in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

Another species captured on camera off Little Cayman as part of that project was the roughskin dogfish, a creature first described in Japan. This was the first time the species had been recorded in the Caribbean, Kohler said.<\/p>\n

She noted that, until recently, seabed mapping had not been available in the Cayman Islands, \u201cand, as you can imagine, conducting deep-sea research has been quite an adventure without proper maps \u2026 we were really relying on our knowledge and skills.\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lack of seabed or bathymetry maps in the area is being addressed by a Saildrone research expedition, which was completed<\/a> last year. The raw data was transferred to the UK Hydrographic Office for chart updates, with some of the data also intended for Seabed 2030, the UN-backed initiative to map the world\u2019s oceans by 2030.<\/p>\n

Using a fully autonomous\u00a0Saildrone Surveyor<\/a> \u2013 an unmanned surface vehicle capable of operating at sea for months \u2013 56,000 square miles of the Cayman Islands\u2019 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were mapped in high resolution for the first time.<\/p>\n

Impact of the COVID Lockdown on the Shark Population<\/h2>\n

At the conference, Veeder presented the Department of Environment\u2019s citizen science program, the Sharklogger Network, highlighting how long-term monitoring\u2014with the help of volunteer participants\u2014combined with local COVID-19 regulations, was used to assess the human impact on shark populations in the Cayman Islands.<\/p>\n

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Species of coastal reef sharks that have been recorded by volunteer members of the Cayman Islands Sharklogger Network. \u2013 Source: Cayman Islands Department of Environment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her presentation, Veeder discussed the impact of COVID-19 restrictions\u2014including the local lockdown and the closure of the Cayman Islands\u2019 borders from March 2020 until March 2022, when cruise ships were allowed to return\u2014on sharks. These included Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks, the two most common shark species found in the Cayman Islands.<\/p>\n

The Sharklogger network, established in 2016, records shark sightings, as well as dive details and environmental variables.<\/span><\/p>\n

Veeder stated that the network\u2019s findings indicated a negative correlation between the abundance of reef sharks and human population density, noting that between 2019 and 2025, the population of the Cayman Islands increased by 30 %, but that there was a positive correlation when human activity on the water was lower during COVID-related restrictions.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shark sightings from 2019 to 2025, including the period from March 2020 to March 2022, when COVID-19 restrictions were in effect. The yellow line represents all species of coastal sharks, the green line represents reef sharks, and the blue line represents nurse sharks. \u2013 Source: Cayman Islands Department of the Environment<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She presented a chart, district by district, of shark sightings in the Cayman Islands from 2019 to 2025, which showed that the reef shark population is concentrated around the northern, eastern, and southern coasts of Grand Cayman\u2014which are more exposed and experience stronger currents\u2014 while sightings are less frequent along the island\u2019s leeward west coast, which is more densely populated and urbanized.<\/span><\/p>\n

She noted that, during the period when the borders were closed, the \u00abprolonged reduction in human activity\u00bb had a \u00absignificantly positive effect on our coastal shark species.\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n

Veeder also pointed out that human population density does not appear to affect the abundance of nurse sharks in an area, \u00abwhich means that Atlantic nurse sharks are quite willing to inhabit the shallow waters of densely populated areas of Grand Cayman.\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the conference, the team also participated in four specialized workshops focusing on the challenges and solutions related to shark conservation in the Cayman Islands. Through roundtable discussions, workshops, and exchanges throughout the week, the team was able to share its experience in the Cayman Islands and learn from the experiences of other research teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> To watch Johanna Kohler's presentation on the findings of the Deep See project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> To watch Anne Veeder's presentation on the Sharklogger network.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cayman Compass By Norma Connolly The work being done in the Cayman Islands to protect and monitor shark species was showcased on the international stage at the world\u2019s largest shark conference, \u00abSharks International,\u00bb in Sri Lanka. Among the 800 researchers, environmentalists, and policymakers from<\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":93222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_canonical_url":"","rank_math_robots":"","rank_math_facebook_title":"","rank_math_facebook_description":"","rank_math_twitter_title":"","rank_math_twitter_description":""},"categories":[1373],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-caraibe"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93223,"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93221\/revisions\/93223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antilla-martinique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}