Overview
- Over six years at Fiji’s Shark Reef Marine Reserve, scientists tracked 184 individually identified bull sharks across sub-adult, adult, and advanced-adult stages.
- Social ties were quantified through one-body-length proximity associations alongside fine-scale behaviors such as lead–follow and parallel swimming.
- Adult sharks formed the core of the social network, with sub-adults and advanced adults generally showing fewer connections.
- Both sexes preferred associating with females, while males had more connections on average, a pattern the authors suggest may reflect protection benefits for smaller males.
- The peer-reviewed results appear in Animal Behaviour; observations were enabled by long-term shark provisioning at the site, and the team is working with Fiji’s Ministry of Fisheries on conservation applications.