{"id":226172,"date":"2025-12-01T13:23:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T23:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=226172"},"modified":"2025-12-01T13:23:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T23:23:24","slug":"tiger-shark-hawaii-to-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/01\/tiger-shark-hawaii-to-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa team confirms tiger shark roundtrip from Hawai\u02bbi to Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"shark<\/p>\n

For the first time, researchers have documented a round-trip migration of a tiger shark between Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and Mexico. This discovery was made by the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute of Marine Biology<\/a> (HIMB<\/abbr>) Shark Lab and the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System<\/a> (PacIOOS<\/abbr>). The finding helps advance the understanding of the species and highlights the importance of international data-sharing initiatives.<\/p>\n

The female tiger shark was originally tagged in K\u0101neʻohe<\/span> Bay, Oʻahu<\/span>, in November 2016. Less than a year later, she was detected at the Revillagigedo Islands and Cabo Pulmo in Mexico by equipment maintained by Mauricio Hoyos and James Ketchum from the non-profit Pelagios Kakunj\u00e1 in Mexico. After three years, the shark returned to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, where she was consistently detected until early 2024.<\/p>\n

“We had previously documented a shark swimming from Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to Mexico,” said Carl Meyer, a researcher at the HIMB<\/abbr> Shark Lab. “However, that shark was caught by fishermen and not released, leaving uncertainty about whether these transoceanic travelers return to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. This latest discovery resolves that question, providing the first direct evidence that individual tiger sharks are capable of completing round-trip migrations between Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and Mexico.”<\/p>\n

Sharing data, active collaboration<\/h2>\n

This transoceanic connection was realized because both the UH<\/abbr> and research teams from Mexico shared their data with the PacIOOS<\/abbr>-led PIRAT<\/abbr> Network and its partner organization Migramar. Identifying such long-range movements is extremely difficult without active collaboration. The PIRAT<\/abbr> Network provides a data-sharing platform for researchers that automatically checks for cross-matches like this every four months, paving the way for future discoveries.<\/p>\n

“Most detections of our tagged sharks occur within the Hawaiian Islands,” said Meyer. “This individual, for instance, was tagged off O\u2018ahu but later detected near Maui and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island, in addition to making a remarkable journey to Mexico and back.”<\/p>\n

“Identifying long-range movements like these are often difficult, unless the researchers involved happen to collaborate directly and actively share data,” said Tom Tinhan, PIRAT<\/abbr> Network lead. “Not only is this a valuable piece of evidence that advances our understanding of this highly migratory species, but it illustrates the importance of data sharing initiatives like these.”<\/p>\n

While the finding confirms a round-trip migration, HIMB<\/abbr> shark researcher Kim Holland noted that many details about the journey remain unknown. “We don’t know the route by which the shark crossed the ocean (in both directions) so it’s a little misleading, although tempting, to draw straight lines between Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and Mexico,” said Holland. “This event is in line with other sharks we have tracked that show offshore movements of several hundred miles before returning to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The female tiger shark was originally tagged in K\u0101neʻohe<\/span> Bay, Oʻahu<\/span>, in November 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":226180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[53,175,238,9],"class_list":["post-226172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-hawaii-institute-of-marine-biology","tag-marine-biology","tag-pacific-islands-ocean-observing-system","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t