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Colin Simpfendorfer

Colin Simpfendorfer

@sharkcolin.bsky.social

3.5K followers 410 following 180 posts

Shark scientist since 1986. Passionate about sharks and rays, and their conservation and management. Lapsed academic.

Environmental science 66%

Geography 17%

more

Posts Replies Media Videos

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 2d

I just spent part of my morning summarising literature on the sandbar shark. Now i need a nap I was so bored. #yawnshark

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 4d

Oh to have lived 50 million years ago during peak elasmo diversity!

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Catalina Pimiento 🆓🇵🇸 @pimientoc.bsky.social · 5d

New paper is out 🔓!
We reconstructed the 145-myr diversity of sharks & rays using deep learning, unveiling hidden patterns:
- modern diversity levels by the Cretaceous 📈
- small decline in the K/Pg 🤏
- a peak in the Eocene 🌄
- a long-term decline towards the present �
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Julie L. Lockwood

Nature Reviews Biodiversity @natrevbiodiv.nature.com · 5d

New online! Bending back the curve of shark and ray biodiversity loss

Bending back the curve of shark and ray biodiversity loss

Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Published online: 22 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44358-025-00120-2Global shark and ray populations have declined sharply, driven by expanding fisheries and inequitable gaps in catch, trade and distribution data. This Review assesses global status, highlights drivers of decline, and outlines the regulatory, market-based and conservation actions needed to reduce mortality and reverse shark and ray biodiversity loss.

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Patrícia Charvet

Nick Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social · 5d

We don’t need new frameworks — we need to connect and implement the ones we have.

Fisheries management, trade rules, compliance, and demand must align to reduce fishing mortality at scale.
Implementation is the bottleneck.

@hollieboothie.bsky.social
@sharkcolin.bsky.social

A theory of shark and ray conservation change. Structural drivers
of shark and ray decline can be addressed through three types of measures that target trade and demand management, fisheries management, and rehabilitation.

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Patrícia Charvet

Nick Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social · 5d

Decline is not inevitable.

Where fishing mortality has been reduced — through catch limits, retention bans, or spatial protection — shark and ray populations are stabilizing or recovering.

Recoveries documented for wide-ranging and restricted-range species @charlie-huveneers.bsky.social

Green List Status Assessment of the Banded Wobbegong (Orectolobus halei) The recovered (blue) status compared to what the past status might have been without conservation (Conservation Legacy, green) and future status unless management continues (Conservation Dependency, orange).

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Patrícia Charvet

Nick Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social · 5d

Gaps in catch limits, compliance, and enforcement mean fishing mortality stays high even where policies exist.

Where management is complete, risk is lower and recovery is possible.

@hollieboothie.bsky.social
@sharkcolin.bsky.social

Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9

Progress and priorities in shark and ray fisheries management. The risk to species owing to incomplete management (‘M-Risk’, part a) can be described by Compliance, one of 19 attributes across four classes for requiem sharks and guitarfishes

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Patrícia Charvet

Nick Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social · 5d

Overfishing is compounded by under-management

Fishing mortality is the primary driver &
management completeness (for guitarfishes & requiem sharks) stands at ~49% globally.

@sammsherman27.bsky.social
@vanderwright.bsky.social
Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9

Progress and priorities in shark and ray fisheries management. The risk to species owing to incomplete management (‘M-Risk’, part a) can be described by 19 attributes across four classes for requiem sharks and guitarfishes.

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Patrícia Charvet, Vincent Raoult

Nick Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social · 5d

What’s driving the decline?

The crisis isn’t just fishing — it’s invisible fishing.

Much shark & ray catch is under-reported, aggregated, or mislabeled, masking real mortality & delaying management.

What we don’t measure, we don’t manage.

@cgmull.bsky.social
@nathanpacoureau.bsky.social

Taxonomic differentiation of catch. FAO (United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization) on the percentage of catch reported to the species level worldwide.

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Patrícia Charvet

Nick Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social · 5d

Sharks & rays are sentinels of ocean health.

- Global abundance has been fished down by 65%,
- Now 37.5% of species are threatened,
- The current extinction rate is 25–250 times greater than the background fossil record, with greatest losses in tropical coastal seas. #BiodiversityTargets

Extinction risk and the spatial patterning of shark, ray and chimaera richness, including hotspots of coastal and deepwater richness, for wide-ranging and endemic species.

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Graeme S. Cumming, Trevor A. Branch , and 4 more Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Graeme S. Cumming, Trevor A. Branch, Jessica A. Gephart, Allan D. McDevitt, Patrícia Charvet, Vincent Raoult

Nick Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social · 5d

New paper out today in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com by the #GlobalSharkTrends team: Bending back the curve of shark & ray biodiversity loss;
Read the paper here: rdcu.be/eZ9n9
@sfu.ca
@sfubiosciences.bsky.social
@earth2ocean.bsky.social

Bending back the biodiversity loss curve of sharks and rays. The loss of sharks and rays to date has involved serial depletion of the largest, most evolutionary and functionally distinct species, and the increasing prevalence of smaller-bodied species that have benefited from release from predation.

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 5d

Totally!

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 5d

Time for a rethink! Thank you science.

@iucnshark.bsky.social @nickdulvy.bsky.social @sharks-int.bsky.social

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 5d

And to be fair, we had a hint about this from a previous paper, but it was for a single animal and so I, like many others, dismissed it as a one-off.
"The critically endangered bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma) in the open ocean with an associated tuna school"
dx.doi.org/10.1007/s125...

The critically endangered bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma) in the open ocean with an associated tuna school - Marine Biodiversity

Marine Biodiversity -

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 5d

I always thought these animals lived close to the seafloor in coastal areas. But it turns out they occur they are observed in the open ocean a lot. This is totally mind blowing and makes me think that everything that we thought we knew about this species is just a tiny sliver of what we need to know

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 5d

Sometimes you stumble on some #sharkscience that makes you think you don't really know anything about them at all. Yesterday i found this paper: "Observations of the bowmouth guitarfish by-catches by the tropical tuna purse seine fleet in the Indian Ocean’s open waters"
doi.org/10.1017/S002...

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 5d

And more new #sharkscience, this time from Sushmita Mukherji "Assessing mechanisms of intrinsic vulnerability in sharks occupying different marine environments"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@imas-utas.bsky.social @iucnshark.bsky.social

Assessing mechanisms of intrinsic vulnerability in sharks occupying different marine environments - Biodiversity and Conservation

The status of many shark species worldwide is concerning due to a combination of their life-history traits and widespread exposure to threats, especially fishing. However, the intrinsic vulnerability ...

link.springer.com

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 5d

New #sharkscience #sharkconservation
"Bending back the curve of shark and ray biodiversity loss" in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com
go.nature.com/4jXOnaC
What will it take to reverse shark biodiversity loss? Find out in our new article out today.
@nickdulvy.bsky.social @iucnshark.bsky.social

Bending back the curve of shark and ray biodiversity loss - Nature Reviews Biodiversity

Global shark and ray populations have declined sharply, driven by expanding fisheries and inequitable gaps in catch, trade and distribution data. This Review assesses global status, highlights drivers...

aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Tobey Curtis 🦈 @mojoshark.bsky.social · 18d

The sandbar shark is so boring even the triangles it forms with its fins are obtuse. #YawnShark @whysharksmatter.bsky.social

Photo of a boring shark

Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Elena Litchman , and 5 more Scott C. Doney, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Elena Litchman, Trevor A. Branch, Stephen D. Murphy, Ryan K. Brook, Kelly Robinson, Peter Jacobs

Jessica R. Glass, PhD @jessicaglass.bsky.social · 21d

🚨 Job Alert! TT Assistant Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks! Looking for a candidate with a focus on coastal ecology. Come be my colleague! Please share.

careers.alaska.edu/jobs/assista...

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

European Tracking Network @aquatictracking.bsky.social · 22d

🐟 New vacancy in the fish tracking community 📢

Come join Dr. Jan Reubens and his team at the Flanders Marine Institute (@vliz.be) as a Fish Behavioral Ecology Researcher!

🔗Read more about the position and apply here: www.vliz.be/en/jobs/vliz...

❗Deadline 25 January, 2026

VLIZ recruits: Fish Behavioral Ecology Researcher

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group @iucnshark.bsky.social · Nov 28

The last proposal for sharks has just passed at #CITESCoP20. Gulper Sharks have been adopted into Appendix II of CITES.

This marks a major victory for sharks and rays as all proposals have been adopted!

#CITES #CoP20 #gulpershark #shark #ray #chimaera #biodiversity #conservation #trade #conference

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Integrated Marine Observing System @imos-aus.bsky.social · Nov 25

The 2024–25 IMOS Annual Highlights are now out, showcasing key achievements from across our program and community 🌊

🔗 bit.ly/3MkLMKQ

#NCRISImpact

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Stephen D. Murphy

Emma Vogel @efvogel.bsky.social · Nov 20

We are hiring: #PhD fellow in Ecosystem-based management and marine connectivity🐋🧪🛰️

Want to work with tracking data from migratory species to identify ecological corridors and help inform biodiversity conservation priorities?
Apply by Dec 7th!
@bioprotectproject.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/ytfmfhfc

PhD Fellow in Ecology/Ecosystem-Based Management (289259) | UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Job title: PhD Fellow in Ecology/Ecosystem-Based Management (289259), Employer: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Deadline: Sunday, December 7, 2025

www.jobbnorge.no

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Stacy D. VanDeveer

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · Nov 18

It's live! Impacts of Deep-sea Mining on Migratory Species: Review and Knowledge Gaps.

In English, French, and Spanish. Annex I is the actual report.

www.cms.int/document/dee...

25.2.3 Deep-Sea Mining | Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Sharks International 2026 @sharks-int.bsky.social · Nov 18

A guide to: Sri Lankan Wildlife 🐆

Sri Lanka is a global biodiversity hotspot, home to unique and endemic species, including around 140 mammals, 400 birds, and 170 reptiles.

🦈 SI2026
📅 Dates: 4-8 May
📍 Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
🔗 si2026.org

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Sharks International 2026 @sharks-int.bsky.social · Nov 13

📣 Announcement! Abstract Submission Deadline Extended to November 30, 2025

Being guilty of last minute submissions ourselves, we felt that a few more days would help those of you processing your abstract ideas!

👉 si2026.org

Reposted by Colin A. Simpfendorfer

James Cook University @jcuofficial.bsky.social · Nov 12

Seven JCU researchers have been named in the @clarivateag.bsky.social annual list of Highly Cited Researchers. Demonstrating significant and broad influence in their fields of research.
See the full list here: clarivate.com/highly-cited...

Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025

The Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list identifies and celebrates individuals who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields of research. Through rigorous selection criteria and ...