{"id":198422,"date":"2024-05-28T13:51:35","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T23:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=198422"},"modified":"2024-05-28T14:13:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T00:13:52","slug":"cookiecutter-shark-bite-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/05\/28\/cookiecutter-shark-bite-study\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> professor connects moonless nights to rare cookiecutter shark bites"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"small
Cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis<\/em>). Location: Gulf of Mexico, Photo credit: Personnel of NOAA Ship PISCES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa faculty member\u2019s personal interest in channel swimming has led to published research<\/a> highlighting the rare interactions between cookiecutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis<\/em>) and humans, particularly among channel swimmers in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. The study, led by Steven Minaglia, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women\u2019s health at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> and an avid channel swimmer, showed how environmental conditions can increase the likelihood of these attacks.<\/p>\n

\"cookiecutter
(Photo courtesy: NOAA Observer Project)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cookiecutter sharks, known for their distinctive feeding method that leaves cookie-cutter-shaped wounds, are typically found in deep tropical and subtropical waters. Despite their small size, these sharks can pose a significant threat, although rarely. Of the seven reported cookiecutter shark attacks on humans worldwide, six occurred in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, and five of those involved channel swimmers.<\/p>\n

Finding the link<\/h2>\n

Minaglia’s study analyzed data from 1961 to 2023, covering 129 successful solo channel swims and five shark-related injuries. He discovered a link between these attacks and environmental conditions, particularly on moonless nights. The risk of shark attacks significantly increases during complete darkness compared to when the moon or sun is visible. Other factors, such as swim start times and the time of year, also correlate with the likelihood of an attack.<\/p>\n

\"cookie
A swimmer was bitten twice on the stomach by a cookiecutter shark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Minaglia\u2019s study was prompted by his ongoing personal research on channel crossings in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to determine optimal swimming conditions. He planned to swim the 26-mile Kaʻiwi<\/span> Channel between Oʻahu<\/span> and Molokaʻi<\/span> in 2020, but was concerned because of a series of shark attacks among swimmers the previous year.<\/p>\n

“When I noticed that five out of six shark bites occurred on moonless nights, I felt a duty to publish these important findings that can potentially improve safety for channel swimmers,” said Minaglia, who successfully swam the challenging Kaʻiwi<\/span> Channel in 22-hours in October 2020 during a full moon. He noted the strong currents during full moons also made it a difficult swim.<\/p>\n

Minaglia compiled an electronic database in 2018 with data from the Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association<\/a>. His research is one of only three papers addressing cookiecutter shark attacks on live humans. <\/p>\n

The study, supported by Queen’s University Medical Group where Minaglia serves as director of urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, is available as open access on PLOS One<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

“I hope this research provides valuable insights into safe swimming practices for the global swimming community,” Minaglia said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steven Minaglia\u2019s study was prompted by his personal research on successful channel crossings in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[31,1467,1363,1286,158,9],"class_list":["post-198422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-obstetrics-and-gynecology","tag-publication","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198422"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198465,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198422\/revisions\/198465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}