Welcome to Meteorology Matters, the show where
we really try to unpack complex topics and give
you the essential insights. Today, we're diving
into something that honestly sounds a bit wild
at first. What on earth do sharks, some of the
ocean's top predators, have to do with predicting,
say, the next big hurricane? It sounds almost
like science fiction, doesn't it? It really does.
But we're exploring this incredible connection
between sharks and severe weather today. And
hopefully by the end, you'll see both these forces
of nature a little differently. Absolutely. And
what's really interesting, you know, is that
while this feels super cutting edge, maybe even
brand new, scientists have actually been thinking
about how marine life and big storms interact
for... Well, for quite a while. Oh, really? So
it's not totally out of the blue? Not entirely.
I mean, some of the really foundational work
in this area, it comes from top places, like
the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of
Marine and Atmospheric Science. They've been
looking into this ocean atmosphere dance for
ages. Rosenstiel. OK. I know that name. Yeah.
It's a big deal in marine and atmospheric science.
And it's a... Interesting context for listeners
who follow the field closely, meteorologist Rob
Jones, whose insights we often draw on. He actually
went to school there and worked there previously,
too. Little Kenny. Yeah, so he's got this unique
perspective on exactly this kind of marine and
atmospheric interaction. It just underlines that
the shark research, it isn't some random tangent.
It's more like an exciting evolution of questions
scientists have been asking for a long time.
That really sets the scene perfectly. So our
mission today is to explore these, well, surprising
shark behaviors during hurricanes. And maybe
more importantly, how these amazing creatures
might actually help us get better at forecasting
the weather. You probably think you know sharks,
right? And you definitely know hurricanes. But
what happens when they collide? Get ready for
some moments that might make you go, huh. Because
these predators aren't just surviving storms.
They might be teaching us about them We want
you to get the knowledge quickly, but you know
thoroughly Lots of cool facts along the way.
So let's zoom in then. How do these animals sense
a storm coming? How do they react for a long
time? The thinking was pretty simple, wasn't
it? Yeah, the general idea mostly from studying
smaller shark species was pretty straightforward.
Big storm coming, sharks leave, get out of the
way. Makes sense. Seems like the smart thing
to do. Right, basic survival instinct. Yeah.
But there was this, like, big gap in what we
knew about the large sharks. The apex predators.
You mean like tiger sharks, bull sharks? Exactly.
Tiger sharks, bull sharks, hammerheads. These
guys are at the top of the food chain. What they
do, it really affects the whole ecosystem. So
knowing how they handle a massive storm is, well,
it's pretty crucial. Especially now with climate
change potentially making storms more intense.
What did the newer research find? Did they leave
too? Well, that's where it gets complicated and
really fascinating. Recent studies show a much
more complex picture. Some large species do clear
out, yeah, but others, they surprisingly stay
put. Or even weirder, they sometimes swarm after
the storm. Swarm, like more of them show up.
Exactly. It totally challenged those older, simpler
ideas. OK, you've got to give us an example.
That sounds wild. OK, so the big one, the real
eye opener, was Hurricane Matthew back in 2016.
Oh, yeah, Matthew was a monster. Category five.
A total monster. Over 140 mile per hour winds.
And it made basically a direct hit on a research
area in the Bahamas where scientists already
had sharks tagged and were monitoring them. Wow.
Talk about timing. Unplanned, but perfect for
research. Incredible, right? A real -world test,
intense as it gets. They had this network of
underwater receivers listening for the tags on
the sharks. So what happened? Did the tiger sharks
bolt? That's what everyone expected, but no.
The study showed that during the hurricane, the
number of tiger sharks in that specific area
stayed steady. They just stayed. One researcher
said they didn't even flinch. Against a cat five,
seriously. Seriously. Which was, you know, totally
different from what they'd seen with smaller
sharks, but then the really mind -blowing part
happened after the storm passed. Okay. In the
days after landfall. The number of tiger tarks
they detected in that area doubled. Doubled.
Doubled. Hold on, why? Why would more sharks
show up after a devastating hurricane? That seems
completely backward. Right, it does. But the
main hypothesis, the leading theory, is scavenging.
Scavenging, you mean? Think about it. A storm
like Matthew, sadly it kills a lot of marine
life. Fish get stunned, turtles get injured,
things get churned up and die. For an opportunistic
predator like a tiger shark? It's basically a
buffet. Exactly. A sudden massive abundance of
easy food. So instead of fleeing the chaos, they
might actually be drawn to the aftermath, to
the feeding opportunities. It's a totally different
survival strategy compared to the smaller sharks,
who probably couldn't capitalize on that the
same way. Or the risk is just too high. So tiger
sharks are like the ocean's cleanup crew after
a disaster. Kind of, yeah. It raises all these
new questions about how different species adapt
their specific roles. It's not just about running
away. Sometimes it's about exploiting the chaos.
Fascinating. OK, so that was Matthew and the
tiger sharks. But you mentioned other species
reacted differently. Yeah. Fast forward just
one year, September 2017, Hurricane Irma. Another
big one. Definitely. It passed northwest of a
different research site, this one in Biscayne
Bay, Florida. Now, Irma wasn't quite as strong
as Matthew at that point when it passed Biscayne
Bay, but it still brought significant wind, waves,
and crucially, that big drop in barometric pressure.
And what do the sharks there do? Well, this time,
the researchers were tracking nurse sharks, bull
sharks, and hammerheads. And these guys, they
all left. They cleared out before the storm really
hit the area. Ah, okay. So that fits the older
model more. Fleeing the danger. It does. That
behavior wasn't... you know, totally shocking
based on what we knew. But seeing that compared
to the tiger sharks sticking around through a
cap five, that comparison really highlighted
the difference. It made researchers ask, are
some sharks actually attracted to storm zones?
Can they track the storm's path somehow? Using
those senses we talked about. Maybe using their
inner ear, their lateral line. Maybe it's more
sophisticated than just. pressure dropping, time
to go. Maybe they can sense the direction, the
potential for, well, for that post storm buffet.
It's clear not all sharks react the same way.
Their responses are really varied. OK, so let's
dig into that sensing part more. How do they
know? You mentioned barometric pressure. People
sometimes say they feel storms in their joints,
but sharks have something more refined. Oh, way
more refined. It's a good analogy, though, the
feeling it in your bones. To get it, think about
the air around us. We're basically at the bottom
of an ocean of air, right? The atmosphere. Right.
Barometric pressure or atmospheric pressure is
just the weight of all that air pressing down.
At sea level, more air above you, higher pressure.
Go up a mountain, less air, lower pressure. Simple
enough. And hurricanes. Hurricanes need fuel.
Two main things. really warm ocean water, like
at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the top layer,
maybe 150, 160 feet deep, and the right wind
conditions, when that warm, moist air rises super
fast off the ocean, it creates low pressure.
Exactly. A rapid drop in pressure at the surface,
especially in the eye of the storm. That sudden
change, that pressure gradient, that's the key
signal for marine life. It's like a giant, something
big is happening, sign flashing in their environment.
So it's not just the waves getting rough, it's
this fundamental pressure shift they feel. Precisely.
Long before the worst waves hit, that pressure
starts to clump it. And sharks, well, they're
exquisitely attuned to it. How? What parts of
their body are picking this up? Two main systems
are thought to be key. First, their inner ear.
It's hidden behind those little holes on the
sides of their head. It's not just for hearing
sound and the way we think of it. It's aligned
with these incredibly sensitive sensory hair
cells. Scientists are pretty sure these cells
can detect those subtle but significant changes
in pressure, like tiny biological barometers
constantly monitoring the weight of the water
and air above. Wow. And the second system, you
mentioned the lateral line. Yeah, the lateral
line. You can sometimes even see it like a faint
line running down their body. It's basically
a tube filled with sensory cells that detects
water movement and pressure changes right next
to their skin. So that helps them find prey in
murky water. Right, by feeling the water pushed
aside by a fish. But it likely also helps them
feel the bigger pressure waves and turbulence
caused by a storm building up or passing over.
It's like having sensors all along your body
complimenting what the inner ear detects. It
gives them this 3D picture of the pressure environment.
An incredible toolkit. And they really need it,
don't they? Because it's not just windy topside
during a hurricane. Underwater must be chaos.
Absolute chaos. It's hard to even imagine. We
see the damage on land, but underwater, you can
get waves 60 feet high. 60 feet. And these create
powerful surges, underwater currents that can
go down hundreds of feet. maybe 300 feet deep.
300 feet. That's immense force. It is. Enough
to rip up coral reefs, stir up sediment, completely
change the underwater landscape. And it's not
just the physical force. Storms turn the water,
mixing deep, cold, low oxygen water with the
warmer surface water. So oxygen levels drop,
salinity changes. Dramatically. You can get areas
that become hypoxic, meaning very low oxygen,
or even anoxic, no oxygen at all. Lethal for
most marine life. Plus that sudden temperature
change from upwelling can shock animals. So for
a shark, being able to sense the storm coming
isn't just convenient, it's... It's survival.
It's absolutely critical. They have to read the
signs and react fast. Get out, or hunker down,
or maybe even like the tiger sharks. Prepare
to exploit the aftermath. They don't have weather
apps. They have biology honed over millions of
years. It really puts our technology in perspective
sometimes. Okay, so doing this kind of research,
tracking these animals through hurricanes, it
sounds incredibly difficult. How rigorous is
this science? Oh, incredibly. The preparation
alone is immense. Just finding and catching enough
sharks to get a decent sample size, that's a
huge challenge right there. How many did they
tag in those studies you mentioned? In the Bahamas
and Florida studies looking at Matthew and Irma
over a three -year period, the team managed to
tag 98 sharks, almost 100 individuals. 98, wow.
And how do they catch them safely? Mostly using
specialized fishing lines, often circle hooks,
which are designed to hook the shark in the jaw,
minimizing injury rather than being swallowed.
Then they bring them carefully alongside the
boat or onto a submerged platform. And the tagging
is quick. Very quick. The teams are highly skilled.
They work fast to attach the tag, usually to
the dorsal fin, take measurements, maybe a small
tissue sample, and get the shark back in the
water, often in just a few minutes to minimize
stress. It's a very controlled, careful procedure.
Okay, so the shark is tagged. How do they follow
it across, you know, the entire ocean? That's
where the technology comes in. They use acoustic
telemetry networks. Think of it like an underwater
listening grid. They anchor these acoustic receivers,
dozens of them, to the ocean floor in strategic
locations. In the Florida and Bahamas studies,
they put out 64 receivers between 2014 and 2016.
And the tags on the sharks. They emit a unique
acoustic signal, like a little ping. When a tagged
shark swims within range of a receiver, maybe
half a mile or so, the receiver logs the shark's
ID number, the date. and the time. Ah, so they
build up a picture of movement by seeing which
receivers pick up which sharks and when. Exactly.
By retrieving the data from these receivers,
sometimes divers go down, sometimes they use
remote methods, they can map out where the sharks
were, and when, especially before, during, and
after storms like Matthew and Irma passed through
those specific areas. That's ingenious. And all
this tracking, all this data, what did it tell
us beyond some stay, some go? What bigger questions
came out of it? Well, like we touched on, it
really forced scientists to ask why the difference
is. Is it just about food for the tiger sharks?
Or is there something else drawing them to storm
zones? Are they really tracking the storms actively?
Using those senses? Potentially. Could their
lateral lines and inner ears be sophisticated
enough not just to sense pressure drop here,
but to follow the path? Maybe anticipate where
the storm is going or where the aftermath, the
scavenging will be best. We don't know for sure
yet. So many questions still. So many. But the
big takeaway is just how diverse and complex
their responses are. Some species are incredibly
tough. unfazed by massive storms. It just shows
our understanding of these ocean ecosystems is
still very much a work in progress. There's so
much more to learn. Which leads perfectly into
this next part, this idea of sharks as meteorological
allies. Yeah. That sounds like a leap, but given
the challenges in forecasting. It is a leap,
but maybe a necessary one. Look, meteorologists
have amazing tools, satellites, buoys, computer
models, but the ocean is vast. And getting temperature
readings below the surface, especially across
the whole Atlantic, is really, really hard. Satellites
only see the surface temperature, right? Exactly.
They can't see if there's a deep layer of warm
water that could fuel a hurricane or a hidden
layer of cold water that could kill it. We have
robotic floats, Argo floats, and underwater gliders
that can measure temperature at depth. They're
slow. Yeah. And sparse. Right. They drift slowly
or move slowly. They're expensive. So you end
up with huge areas of the ocean, particularly
in the tropics where hurricanes form, where we
just don't have enough real -time data about
that subsurface heat content. These are significant
data gaps. And that heat is the hurricane's fuel
tank. It's the heat engine. Knowing if a storm
is about to pass over a deep pool of warm water
versus cooler water is critical for intensity
forecasting. Get that wrong. And your forecast
for how strong the storm will be can be way off.
And these gaps are worst in places like the Caribbean,
the Gulf of Mexico, off the East Coast, exactly
where we need the info most. OK, so there's a
clear data problem. How do animals, specifically
sharks, potentially help solve this. Well, researchers
started thinking, if the robots are too slow
or too few, what up using animals that are already
out there swimming through these areas constantly?
Animal ocean sentinels. Has this been done before?
Using animals for data collection? Oh yeah, it's
not totally brand new. Scientists have been tagging
elephant seals in the Antarctic for years. Those
seals dive incredibly deep in areas ships can
barely reach, carrying sensors that measure temperature
and salinity. Same with narwhals in the Arctic.
It's provided amazing data from polar regions.
And even dolphins and whales for other purposes.
There have been reports, yeah, of some military
or intelligence programs exploring using marine
mammals. But for hurricane forecasting in the
Atlantic, sharks have some real pluses. Such
as... Well, many species are faster swimmers
than gliders. They cover huge distances. They
dive deep. They live in the hurricane breeding
grounds. The idea is they could complement the
existing systems, not replace forecasters or
satellites, but swim through those data gaps,
collecting temperature and depth readings and
beam them up when they surface. Adding more data
points to the models. Exactly. Working with the
current technology to fill in the planks. And
this is especially relevant now, you mentioned,
because of potential funding issues for agencies
like NOAA. Right. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. There are always discussions
about budgets, staffing levels. If resources
for traditional monitoring like maintaining buoy
networks or flying hurricane hunter planes get
tight, then having alternative data streams becomes
even more important. Crucial. It makes exploring
innovative, maybe even lower cost solutions like
instrumented sharks not just scientifically interesting,
but potentially really vital for maintaining
or even improve our forecasting ability, especially
in a changing climate. It's about resilience,
finding multiple ways to get the information
we need. OK, so the concept is powerful, but
the logistics. How do you actually catch something
like a mucko shark and attach a sophisticated
sensor? What's that process like? It's definitely
not trivial. The teams doing this are incredibly
skilled. They usually head way offshore, like
40 or 50 miles. They use bait, big chunks of
fish, and also chum. Like in Jaws? Sort of, yeah.
It's basically ground up fish parts. blood, oil.
They put blocks of frozen chum in the water.
As it thaws, it creates this oily, smelly trail
that drifts for miles on the current. Sharks
have an amazing sense of smell, and it draws
them in. OK, so you attract them. Which species
did they start with for these weather tags? The
initial focus was on shortfin makos. Why makos
specifically? A big reason is their behavior.
Makos frequently come to the surface, and that's
critical because these tags need to break the
surface to transmit the data they've collected,
temperature, salinity, depth, via satellite,
back to the scientists. If the shark stays deep
all the time, the data gets stuck on the tag.
Makes sense. And the tagging itself, you said
it's quick. Very quick and careful. Once the
shark is alongside, the team works fast to attach
the sensor package. Usual to the base of the
dorsal fin, they're very conscious of minimizing
any harm or stress to the animal. Which brings
up the ethics, right? Yeah. Makos are endangered.
aren't they? How do researchers justify tagging
them? That's a really important question, and
the researchers are acutely aware of it. Yes,
short fin makos are endangered, mainly due to
overfishing. It's a serious conservation concern.
Globally, about a third of all shark and ray
species are threatened. So there's a real tension
there. There is. But the scientists involved
are usually passionate conservationists themselves.
They argue the data gain is vital for understanding
the ocean environment sharks depend on, which
ultimately helps conservation. They stress they
do everything possible to minimize impact. The
procedure is quick, and the tags are designed
to eventually detach safely. They often say they
love the animals. And maybe this research helps
change how people see sharks too, away from the
jaws stereotype. Absolutely, that's a huge side
benefit. for 50 years since the original Jaws
came out. And with movies like Sharknado and
others, sharks have been painted as these mindless
monsters that really hurts conservation efforts.
This research shows their complexity, their resilience,
their critical role, and now maybe even their
potential as allies in understanding our planet.
It helps people see them as valuable, important
animals, not just threats. That's a powerful
point. So where does this shark sentinel project
stand now? Is it working? It's definitely still
in the proof of concept stage, but yes, it's
showing great promise. They've had one of the
first Mako's tags successfully sent back temperature
data, but it's very much a learning process.
A debugging exercise, you could say. Exactly.
They're constantly refining the tags, the attachment
methods, figuring out battery life, how to deal
with algae growing on the sensors, ensuring the
satellite uplinks work reliably. It's tough engineering
in a harsh environment. What are the plans moving
forward? More sharks. Different species? The
plan is definitely ambitious. Tag dozens of sharks
each year to build up a network. And yes, while
makos were the starting point because they surface
reliably, they're looking at other species too.
Like great whites? Potentially. They've put a
location tag on a great white already, just to
track movement. Whites travel huge distances,
so they're a strong candidate if they can get
the temperature sensing tags to work well on
them. They're also considering hammerheads, maybe
even whale sharks down the road. Different species
use different parts of the ocean, dive to different
depths, so using a variety could give broader
coverage. And the ultimate goal for all this
data they collect. The dream is to feed it directly.
in near real time into the hurricane computer
models that forecasters use. Adding all those
extra subsurface temperature points, especially
from areas that are currently data deserts. Should
make the forecast better. That's the hope. More
accurate intensity forecasts may be better track
forecasts, too. As one researcher put it simply,
the more data we have, the better things will
be. It's about reducing the uncertainty around
these incredibly powerful storms. Well, this
has been absolutely fascinating. We've really
journeyed from the basic of how sharks sense
storms to this futuristic idea of them becoming
part of our weather monitoring network. We talked
about how different species react, tiger sharks
sticking around, maybe even benefiting from the
aftermath of a cat five like Matthew, while nurse,
bull, and hammerheads fled Irma, likely using
their amazing inner ears and lateral lines to
get an early warning. And then moving into how
scientists are trying to harness that. using
acoustic tags to track them, and now these more
advanced satellite tags to turn sharks like Mako's
and maybe soon others into mobile ocean monitors,
filling those crucial data gaps, especially in
ocean temperature beneath the surface, which
is so vital for predicting hurricane strength.
So the big takeaway for you listening is just
how interconnected and frankly how intelligent
the natural world is. These relationships, like
between sharks and storms, they're complex. They're
vital. And understanding them is becoming more
important than ever, especially as our climate
changes and weather potentially becomes more
extreme. Yeah, it really underscores why we need
to respect and study these animals, understand
their roles. They're not just swimming out there.
They're interacting with their environment in
ways we're only beginning to appreciate. And
sometimes they might even hold keys to helping
us adapt. Absolutely. If this deep dive has got
you thinking and you want to keep exploring the
world of meteorology and the connections to our
natural world, we definitely encourage that.
You can find great insights from meteorologists,
including Rob Jones online. You can follow meteorologist
Rob Jones on Instagram. His handle is meteorologist
on TikTok. He's TV meteorologist. And over on
YouTube, look for Rob Jones hurricane. That's
also where you can find the Meteorology Matters
podcast playlist. Definitely worth checking out
and it leaves you with a final thought doesn't
it as we face these climate challenges as our
technology keeps evolving What other natural
sensors what other biological systems might be
out there? Waiting for us to understand them
maybe even partner with them to learn more about
our planet Yeah, it really feels like the ocean
especially still holds so many secrets and maybe
some of the most innovative solutions We need
are already swimming around out there