Sharks in Europe's seas are silently struggling to survive. We meet the researchers and volunteers working to change perspectives and protect marine life.
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00:00 At the foot of Mount Vesuvius on the western coast of Italy lies the Bay of Naples, renowned
00:06 for the beauty of its surrounding area and the richness of its marine life.
00:11 A few years ago, Italian journalist and marine researcher Eleonora De Sabata, following a
00:17 tip from local divers, discovered a true living treasure in one of the bay's underwater reefs.
00:24 Together with Eleonora, we dive to a depth of 40 metres to witness with our own eyes
00:29 a sight that is becoming increasingly rare in the Mediterranean Sea.
00:36 These curious objects, often called mermaids' purses, are shark eggs, crevices of life for
00:53 some of the dozens of shark species living in the Mediterranean.
00:57 Some sharks might be nearby right now, but it's not us who are in danger here.
01:03 It's the sharks, silently struggling for survival in their own habitat.
01:14 In the crevices of this underwater reef live nursehound sharks, a species harmless to humans
01:21 and crucial for the marine ecosystem.
01:24 Each can be identified by a unique pattern of specks.
01:28 Eleonora takes a note.
01:30 She has assigned each shark a personal name, but her observations reveal that instead of
01:35 increasing, the local shark population is collapsing.
01:39 When we started this survey, you could find hundreds of cases in this area.
01:44 Now ten years later, there's only dozens.
01:47 Sadly, this is something that has happened everywhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
01:52 It's not that there are people who are actively catching sharks, but they get entangled in
01:57 nets and hooks that are meant for other species, and then we change their environment a lot.
02:04 They need quiet.
02:05 They need places where the baby sharks can rest, can shelter, and can find food.
02:11 And we've transformed every coastal area, so they're not doing too well.
02:17 Since the 1970s, the shark population in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea has plummeted by 99
02:23 percent.
02:24 Yet this crisis often remains unnoticed.
02:27 The Livorno Aquarium participates in the EU-funded Life European Sharks, which aims to educate
02:33 Europeans of all ages about sharks and their close relatives, rays.
02:38 Many believe that sharks' sinister image may be hindering efforts towards their conservation.
02:44 These animals must migrate from a negative meaning given by past cinematography to a
02:52 much more sustainable meaning, much more focused on the environment, for the very important
02:59 ecological role they have at the environmental level.
03:03 The cultural shift must also extend to culinary choices.
03:07 Sharks in European waters are often caught by accident and are considered low-value fish.
03:12 However, this bycatch can be sold in areas such as Livorno, where consuming shark meat
03:18 is a tradition.
03:20 Eleonora de Sabata, who leads the Life European Sharks project, works with fishermen to ensure
03:25 that protection measures are respected and that at least smaller sharks are released
03:30 alive.
03:31 Many restauranteurs are sympathetic.
03:34 Sustainably caught local fish can perfectly well substitute shark meat, even in traditional
03:39 dishes like the famous Livorno fish stew, caciucco.
04:05 Shark-free caciucco remains just as delicious.
04:08 A small but meaningful step towards preserving European shark populations, but there's still
04:14 a long journey ahead to achieve this goal.
04:17 It's complicated to reverse the decline of sharks in the Mediterranean Sea because the
04:22 only solution will be to stop fishing and that is impossible for a number of reasons.
04:27 So our approach is to try and focus on the human element and change the perspective on
04:33 sharks from being dangerous to endangered.
04:36 Each and every one of us can actually do something tangible to help sharks recover.
04:43 It's a challenging task, but there's good reason to hope that by working together, things
04:48 can be made better.
04:51 Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, isn't just a hot spot for beachgoers and scuba
04:56 divers.
04:57 It's also one of the last strongholds for an amazing species that used to be common
05:01 along European shores, the angel sharks.
05:06 They look a lot like rays and live in shallow waters, which has made them all too common
05:11 as accidental catches in bottom trawling.
05:14 Now they are classified as a critically endangered species, so it's as bad as it can get for
05:19 a species before it disappears.
05:22 But the good news is that now that we are paying more attention to them again, they
05:26 are starting to appear again in a lot of places, which is very exciting.
05:31 We established citizen science reporting map so that all the divers that were going into
05:35 the water, if they would see an angel shark, they could report it to us.
05:40 Ewa Meyers leads the Angel Shark Project, a joint effort by European research groups
05:45 to study and safeguard these species.
05:48 A big part of their work relies on citizen science, like this dive center that reports
05:53 every encounter with angel sharks.
05:55 We can say we saw an angel shark at this dive site, in this depth.
05:59 He was acting like this.
06:01 It was a male, a female.
06:03 The water temperature, it's like a swarm intelligence and we can help.
06:09 They're telling us more about the habitat, they're telling us about the threats.
06:13 They're the ones actually taking care of the sharks in their areas.
06:18 They're the guardians of the angels.
06:21 We're joining the Angel Shark Project team to explore one of the local habitats of this
06:26 species.
06:28 Studying such sites might reveal ways to revive their populations in the Northeast Atlantic
06:32 and the Mediterranean Sea.
06:35 Working with the team is Felipe Ravina Olivares, who transitioned from a Canarian marine scientist
06:41 to a pro underwater videographer.
06:44 His documentaries are a rallying cry for protecting the environment and the unique marine life
06:49 of the archipelago, including the angel sharks.
06:53 Here in the Canary Islands, as we don't have any fish, they have been able to survive.
06:57 We have a stable population, we see them all year round.
07:01 We have young, we see adults and it's incredible.
07:03 For me it's a huge pride and my job is to let people know the importance of the angel
07:10 shark and that we have to take care of it because it's a unique treasure in the world.
07:14 The team tags any shark they find to better understand their habitats and migration paths.
07:21 Thanks to data gathered by both professionals and citizen scientists, authorities are increasingly
07:26 able to protect these sharks from accidental fishing and other threats.
07:33 I have a lot of hope.
07:35 There's been new protected areas being established in different places that are definitely going
07:38 to help.
07:39 So I am confident that we're going into the right directions with a few very, very hard
07:45 challenges ahead of us though.
07:47 The life in our seas relies on a full range of biodiversity, from plankton up to apex
07:53 predators.
07:55 Sharks must be saved to keep the ocean healthy.
07:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]