July 28, 2020 — Sharks are absent on many of the world’s coral reefs, suggesting that they are “too rare to fulfill their normal role in the ecosystem, and have become ‘functionally extinct,’” according to a new landmark study.
Conducted by Global FinPrint and published in the journal Nature, the study involved surveying 371 reefs in 58 countries. Sharks were not found on nearly 20 percent of reefs, “indicating a widespread decline that has gone undocumented on this scale until now,” Global FinPrint said in a press release.