Thousands of sharks are mysteriously dying in the San Francisco Bay
In a reverse-Jaws situation, as many as 2,000 leopard sharks have turned up dead in the San Francisco Bay in the past few months. Hundreds of bat rays, striped bass, and halibut have died as well, said Dr. Mark Okihiro, a research scientist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Necropsies have shown that many of these dead sharks were infected with a brain-eating parasite that often causes the sharks to beach themselves. California isn't prioritizing this situation, however, because leopard sharks aren't yet endangered. Still, with one species dying so rapidly, experts say the bay's entire ecosystem is at risk.
It's unlikely humans swimming in the bay could contract the same parasite that is plaguing the sea life. Okihiro estimates 1,000 to 2,000 sharks have died — but because sharks don't float naturally, there's no telling how many more sharks may have died but haven't washed up on shore.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Moon dust has earthly elements thanks to a magnetic bridgeUnder the radar The substances could help supply a lunar base
-
World’s oldest rock art discovered in IndonesiaUnder the Radar Ancient handprint on Sulawesi cave wall suggests complexity of thought, challenging long-held belief that human intelligence erupted in Europe
-
Claude Code: the viral AI coding app making a splash in techThe Explainer Engineers and noncoders alike are helping the app go viral
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
