Sharks

Contrary to the image of sharks as lone predators, new research has found evidence that some species are social creatures who return repeatedly to the same fellow sharks, often for years.

Many shark species tend to congregate in the same areas as industrial fishing ships, a study finds. As a result, tens of millions of sharks in the open ocean end up caught either as food or bycatch.

Video footage of the bizarre theft fed intense public curiosity and led to solid tips. Officers say they found the shark named Miss Helen at the home of the main suspect. Both are now in captivity.

The unusual cold slamming the U.S. East Coast is wreaking havoc with wildlife, particularly the cold-blooded variety. Social media has been flooded by photos of downed iguanas and frozen sharks.

Congress is once again considering a federal ban on shark fins, used in soup. But scientists are divided about whether a ban is the best way to protect the creatures, which are imperiled worldwide.

The dead sharks, mostly endangered hammerheads, were part of a 300-ton haul of fish found on a Chinese boat off the Galápagos Islands. An Ecuadorean judge fined and jailed the crew up to four years.

Why have dozens of great white sharks turned up around Southern California beaches recently? Finding the answer led to a close-up view of a baby great white shark — and the researcher who caught her.

A week after China said it was cracking down on sales of ivory, the national carrier, Air China, said it would no longer allow shark fins to be transported as cargo on its flights.

This Arctic species can live longer than any other known animal advanced enough to have a backbone, scientists say — maybe more than 500 years. Their muscles might hold clues that could help humans.

Neil Hammerschlag has looked inside the mouth of a wild tiger shark and lived to tell the tale. He says that sharks pose only a very small risk to people: "Humans are not on the shark's menu."

The trials in the southeastern state of New South Wales are part of an $11.6 million program to protect beachgoers. Drones send real-time images of coastal waters to an operator using GPS coordinates.