Warm season escape to deep: habitat range and seasonal movement of sand tiger shark Carcharias taurus in Ogasawara Archipelago, Japan

Sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) in the Ogasawara Archipelago exhibit a unique vertical migration strategy, avoiding warm-season surface temperatures by diving to depths of up to 206 meters. Unlike their counterparts in Australia or the USA, which undertake long-distance horizontal migrations, these sharks exploit temperature stratification in the water column, remaining year-round residents of the region's continental shelf (30–200 m). Acoustic tracking and archival tagging revealed significantly higher detections in cooler months, with deeper habitat use during warmer periods. This study highlights an adaptive behavioral strategy tailored to the insular oceanic conditions of the Ogasawara Islands.

Nagahara, A., Zhu, Y., Nakamura, M., Hoopes, L. A., Nakaya, K., Suzuki, I., Sato, N., Kuroda, M., Sakuragi, Y., Minami, K., & Miyashita, K. (2025). Warm season escape to deep: habitat range and seasonal movement of sand tiger shark Carcharias taurus in Ogasawara Archipelago, Japan. Endangered Species Research, 58, 331–341. CLOCKSS. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01458