Elasmobranchs of the Galapagos Marine Reserve

The Galapagos Marine Reserve is home to at least 50 species of sharks and rays. Although these species are protected in the marine reserve, they are vulnerable to industrial fishing outside the protected waters, to unintentional bycatch by local fishers inside the reserve, and to illegal fishing. Our knowledge of shark ecology in Galapagos has increased dramatically in the last decade, due to the creation of an interinstitutional research program, which focuses on the spatial ecology of hammerhead and whale sharks. Hammerheads are resident at restricted locations where they school during the day and disperse to sea most nights. Alternatively, mostly large, pregnant female whale sharks visit the northern islands from June through November for only a few days, as part of a large-scale migration.