{"id":795011,"date":"2026-07-31T07:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/795011\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T07:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:54:12","slug":"blacktip-shark-nursery-discovered-in-hilo-bay-big-island-video-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/795011\/","title":{"rendered":"Blacktip Shark Nursery Discovered In Hilo Bay \u2013 Big Island Video News"},"content":{"rendered":"

(BIVN) \u2013 The first known blacktip shark nursery in Hawaiian waters has been found in Hilo Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Research at the University of Hawai\u02bbi at Hilo has identified the unique habitat. The finding offers new insight into how young sharks use Hilo Bay during their earliest years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The recently published study, Spatial and temporal use of a tropical nursery habitat by juvenile blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus)<\/a>, found juvenile blacktip sharks live in Hilo Bay year-round. The highest blacktip shark activity is from March through August.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Researchers tagged juvenile blacktip sharks with acoustic transmitters and monitored their movements throughout Hilo Bay from July 2022 to January 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Team from UH Hilo measures a blacktip shark. (photo courtesy UH Hilo)<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s results suggest that this population of blacktip sharks reside predominantly within Hilo Bay for the first few years of their life, and highlight the effect that environmental changes can have on this species\u2019 habitat availability and movement patterns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNursery habitats provide food and shelter while these young sharks are growing,\u201d said Jason Turner, a UH Hilo associate professor of marine science, in a news release. Turner is also a co-author of the study. \u201cWhen we think about humans impacting sharks we typically think about overfishing, bycatch or even taking sharks for their fins. What we often forget is that impacting their habitat can also be devastating whether that means increased development, maritime traffic, pollution, or the effects of climate change on an area like Hilo Bay,\u201d Turner added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The oceanic blacktip sharks in Hilo Bay are one of two blacktip shark species found in Hawai\u02bbi, and are not considered aggressive toward humans. Bites from these blacktip sharks are uncommon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the UH Hilo news release:<\/p>\n

The research grew out of the thesis of then-UH Hilo graduate student Lauren Moe, who earned a master\u2019s degree in tropical conservation biology and environmental science and is now a doctoral student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Moe co-authored the study with her thesis advisor, Turner, UH Hilo Professor Steve Colbert, and Jay Rooker and RJ David Wells (Texas A&M University at Galveston). <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The team monitored movements from July 2022 to January 2024. (photo courtesy UH Hilo)<\/p>\n

Bridging knowledge<\/p>\n

The project blended Western science with Native Hawaiian knowledge, reflecting Turner\u2019s commitment to weaving Indigenous practices into marine research.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Hawaiian worldview, setting intention, acknowledging the entities of space and time, asking permission, offering ho\u02bbokupu (ceremonial gifts), and expressing gratitude are rituals required of k\u0101naka (Native Hawaiians) as part of a reciprocal exchange with the elements,\u201d Turner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cultural practices were developed with guidance from UH Hilo marine science alumna Roxane Keli\u02bbikipik\u0101neokolohaka, executive director of Kia\u02bbi Kanaloa, a network of Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners who care for marine animals. UH Hilo students received training in Native Hawaiian protocols before working with sharks in the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Researchers are now expanding their work to examine 15 years of shark and ray population trends in Hilo Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(BIVN) \u2013 The first known blacktip shark nursery in Hawaiian waters has been found in Hilo Bay.\u00a0 Research…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-795011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}