Sharks are using a Mediterranean power-station hotspot as a seasonal thermal landscape
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Telemetry from 35 dusky and 23 sandbar sharks showed low interannual return to the broader region but pronounced within-season residency around the Orot-Rabin power station. Visits showed seasonal and diel structure, and shark body temperature increased during visits and exceeded ambient conditions, consistent with use of the thermal plume for thermoregulatory benefit.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Infrastructure can create ecological attractors that function differently from the surrounding seascape. Understanding those attractors requires treating temperature, movement and human exposure together rather than classifying the site only as industrial habitat or disturbance.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
This is an observational study of one aggregation site and two shark species. Thermoregulation is a supported interpretation rather than an experimentally isolated mechanism, and aggregation at infrastructure can also increase exposure to fishing, vessel traffic or other risks.
SOURCE
Movement Ecology
View original evidence ↗
Telemetry on 58 dusky and sandbar sharks found strong within-season residency at an Israeli power station, where body temperatures rose during visits despite low year-to-year return.
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