Fin-tastic stuff! Shark swims 27,000 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean, almost sixfold the previous record
- The shark, nicknamed ‘Genie’, was first spotted near Wolf Island
- Researchers followed his epic journey, which spanned 546 days
Step aside, Michael Phelps – there’s a new record-breaking swimmer in town.
A silky shark has broken the world record after swimming 27,000 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean.
The shark, nicknamed ‘Genie’, was first spotted near Wolf Island, north of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, in July 2021.
Researchers from the Charles Darwin Foundation then followed his epic journey, which spanned 546 days.
“Understanding the migration routes of silky sharks and other endangered pelagic sharks is critical to developing effective management strategies to reverse the ongoing global population decline,” said Dr. Pelayo Salinas de León, lead author of the study.
Step aside, Michael Phelps – there’s a new record-breaking swimmer in town. A silky shark has broken the world record after swimming 27,000 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean.
The shark, nicknamed ‘Genie’, was first spotted near Wolf Island, north of the Galapagos Marine Reserve in July 2021. Researchers from the Charles Darwin Foundation then tracked its epic journey, which spanned 546 days.
Genie was tagged by scientists before starting his journey, which covered more than 17,666 miles in 546 days.
To put that into perspective, that’s the equivalent of crossing the US from coast to coast about four times!
The voyage included two major westward migrations – halfway to Hawaii – stretching as far as 2,755 miles from Wolf Island to international waters.
According to the researchers, the previous movement record is increased almost sixfold by the journey.
Dr. Salinas de León said: ‘Sharks have been roaming the world’s oceans for hundreds of millions of years and the map boundaries that we humans have written down on paper mean nothing to them.
Genie was tagged by scientists before starting his journey, which covered more than 17,666 miles in 546 days.
‘Their long migrations through heavily fished international waters expose them to significant risks, highlighting the need for a coordinated global response to ensure the survival of this highly endangered group of species.’
Silky sharks are currently classified as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and are particularly vulnerable to overfishing due to their slow growth and late maturity.
The researchers hope that Genie’s trip will highlight the need for international cooperation to protect silky sharks.
“Obtaining shark tracks with good location resolution for more than a year is difficult at best,” said Dr. Mahmood Shivji, co-author of the study.
‘In this case, we were able to track Genie for a year and a half, unexpectedly uncovering consistent, repeated travel routes of enormous distances that extended far offshore, well beyond national management and current marine protected areas.
‘This finding is a call to action for all stakeholders involved in marine conservation and fisheries management to work together to protect these iconic species and the oceanic ecosystems they live in.’