Sharks stay close to coastal cities, new study shows
CBSN
A 2017 study by the United Nations predicts that 66% of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050, and a majority of those cities will likely be near coastlines. As we continue to urbanize our coasts, understanding how ocean life adapts to human development is becoming increasingly important.
A new study by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science tracked three types of sharks, including 14 great hammerheads, 13 bull sharks and 25 nurse sharks, off the greater Miami coast in an effort to study their behavior.
Animals, in general, are categorized as either urban adapters, such as rats, raccoons, pigeons and opossums who thrive and even depend on humans to survive, or urban avoiders, typically seen in land predators like wolfs, cougars and grizzly bears.