June 9, 2026 — A mighty predator of the sea, capable of traveling vast distances and diving thousands of feet deep, may become a valuable tool in helping forecast climate change.
In a new study, University of Miami Rosenstiel School researchers found that sensors usually attached to sharks to investigate their behavior can also allow scientists to track temperature changes in parts of the oceans often inaccessible to satellites and drifters pulled by currents. Using mako and blue sharks, among the most nomadic of sharks, scientists were able to fill in data gaps and improve some forecasts by as much as 40%.
”What we ended up seeing is what we’re calling model improvements in shallow areas, in the Slope Sea [in the Northwest Atlantic] and along the continental shelf,” said Laura McDonnell, lead author and now a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.