2023_TheNatureConservancy_June_Digital_Issue

Atlantic Ocean thresher sharks (Shutterstock)
SHARKS
of NEW JERSEY
and Their Coastal Habitats

Test Your
SHARK
IQ
( A N D
G E T A P LU S H TOY )
How well do you know
New Jersey’s sharks?
Take our
ONLINE QUIZ
on shark facts!
Everyone who takes
the quiz through the
end of Shark Week
(July 18) is eligible to
receive a plush shark
toy (while supplies last).
You must be over 18 years old to participate.
Everyone Loves
the Jersey Shore,
Including Sharks!
DID YOU
KNOW?
Sharks and humans
share a common
ancestor from 440
million years ago,
Gladbachus
adentatus.
A TRIO OF IMPORTANT SHARK
SPECIES RELY ON NEW JERSEY’S BACK-BAY
SALT MARSHES TO SURVIVE. Sand tiger
sharks, sandbar sharks and smooth dogfish
all give birth in coastal estuaries, like
Barnegat Bay and Great Bay, behind New
Jersey’s barrier islands. Juvenile sharks
(called pups) spend their first few months
eating, growing and learning to be sharks
in the protected, resource-rich habitats.
Sharks benefit from healthy coastal
habitats and in return play a vital role
in marsh function and biodiversity
balance. Sharks strengthen the gene pool
and health of their prey populations,
including fish, mollusks and crabs, and
help maintain the integrity of seagrass
beds and reefs. When young sharks
finally venture into the Atlantic, they
keep the food chain balanced in the other
direction, serving as possible meals for
apex ocean cousins like great whites
and makos.
Now, if sharing coastal waters with
sharks gives you a shiver, remember: we
have coexisted with them peacefully for
thousands of years. Though Hollywood
portrays sharks as man-eating menaces,
the reality is actually much scarier for the
sharks than for us. Globally, 100 million
2 The Nature Conservancy

RESTORATION PROJECT
The Nature Conservancy
is working to restore New
Jersey’s coastal salt marsh
habitats, including at a
project site behind Avalon.
Practical
NJ Perspective
Shark incidents in New
Jersey are extremely rare.
A mere five shark-related
fatalities have occurred here
since recording began in the
1800s, and four of those are
attributed to the anomalous
rogue attacks of 1916 that
sparked the Jaws book and
movie; the last happened
in 1926. There have only
been 50 recorded shark
encounters in New Jersey
waters since 1884, and half
of those were provoked
by humans. Rip currents,
lightning strikes, fireworks
accidents and commercial air
travel are each exponentially
deadlier than sharks at
the Jersey Shore.
George Steinmetz
sharks perish every year, harvested by people for parts or as
unintended fishing bycatch, while the average annual tally of
fatal shark incidents worldwide is fewer than ten.
SHARKS ARE STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS.
If they are thriving, then the habitats they live in—which are
also critical for people—are healthy. But shark populations have
declined by 71 percent since the 1970s, and 75 percent of shark
species are at risk of extinction. What does this say about the
direction our planet is headed? A world without sharks is a very
scary narrative.
There is reason for hope, though. We can protect and restore
habitat upon which sharks rely to give them the best chance at
survival. And, because sharks are an umbrella species, efforts
to help them have a ripple effect to other marine life, from
stingrays to migratory shorebirds to diamondback terrapins.
In the following pages, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY invites you
to meet some of New Jersey’s most famous fish, learn how we
are working to protect their Jersey Shore habitat, and find out what
you can do to help. Happy summer to all, finned and flip-flopped!
Sand Tiger Shark
Sandbar Shark
Smooth Dogfish
Illustrations: Alexander LeBron
nature.org 3

Movers and Shakers of
New Jersey’s Salt Marshes
SANDBAR Shark
Carcharhinus plumbeus
Slender and gray-brown to bronze, with a classic
triangular dorsal fin and white belly, adults
can reach up to 8 feet long. Long, rounded
snouts open to reveal wide, triangular,
serrated upper teeth and
narrow lower teeth.
up to 8 FEET LONG
Shutterstock
HABITAT
True to their name, they frequent
waters over sandbars, favoring shallow
bays and harbors. Locally, sandbar
sharks are known to reproduce and
mature in Barnegat Bay,
Great Bay and
Delaware Bay.
DIET
Sandbar sharks are opportunistic
bottom-feeders that prey primarily
on small fish, mollusks (squid is a favorite)
and crustaceans. In New Jersey’s back bays
and marshes, pups often feed on
blue crabs.
SAY CHEESE
Sandbar sharks are the most commonly seen
toothed shark in New Jersey’s coastal bays.
4 The Nature Conservancy

THE SHARKS THAT LIVE AND REPRODUCE
IN NEW JERSEY’S COASTAL WETLANDS tend to be
smaller than many of their relatives and do not have
a history of harming humans. Females visit our back
bays, give live birth to their offspring, and continue
on their way. Pups receive no maternal care and rely
on the marsh habitat to hide, feed and grow for
several months before venturing into the Atlantic.
Many will return to the same back bay for their
second summer.
SAND TIGER Shark
Carcharhinus taurus
These large sharks have
robust, muscular bodies
of light brown or gray
color. They can grow to
nearly 11 feet and weigh
300 pounds! Their
mouths are distinctively
menacing-looking, with
large, pointed teeth that
visibly protrude even
when closed. Despite
their aggressive name
and appearance, sand
tigers are docile by
nature and, because
their bite radius is
too small to cause a
human fatality, not
considered a
threat to people.
HABITAT
The surf zone, shallow bays,
and coral or rocky reefs.
Great Bay and
Delaware Bay are nursery
areas for sand tiger sharks.
DIET
Sand tigers will dine on
large and small bony fish,
rays, squid, crustaceans and
smaller sharks (Look out,
smooth dogfish!).
Shutterstock
up to 300 POUNDS and 11 FEET LONG
IT JUST POPPED UP TO SAY HELLO
For buoyancy while hunting, sand tigers gulp air at the water’s surface to inflate
their stomachs. Sometimes they take in too much air and need to release it. Burp!
nature.org 5

New Jersey’s Salt Marshes
SMOOTH DOGFISH
Mustelus canis
Small, slender sharks with gray or tan upper bodies
and white bellies, they grow up to 3 feet long. Despite
a canine name, they are distinguishable by
narrow, cat-like eyes located in
front of their spiracles, head openings
through which they draw
water over their gills.
Annie Guttridge
up to 3 FEET LONG
6 The Nature Conservancy
NOM NOM NOM
Unlike most sharks that have sharp,
blade-like teeth, the smooth dogfish
has tiny, flat, blunt teeth to
crush their (often crunchy) prey.
HABITAT
Preferring shallow conditions (less than 60
feet deep), these sharks commonly reside on
continental shelves and in bays and other
inshore waters. Some individuals will eschew
the ocean and spend their entire lives in calm
estuaries. In New Jersey, Great Bay
and Little Egg Harbor are known
smooth dogfish nurseries.
DIET
Crustaceans, squid,
small shellfish and
small bony fish
make up the majority of
the smooth dogfish diet.

Who Are the
Species in the
Neighborhood?
THERE ARE AS MANY OR MORE CHARACTERS
living in New Jersey’s salt-marsh communities as
there were in Sesame Street’s famous 1969 song. Take
a look at just a few of the many species that, along
with sharks, play important roles in the ecosystem.
1. SHORTFIN SQUID
Illex illecebrosus
During their one-year lifespan, squid eat
fish, crustaceans and…other squid! Up to
12 inches long, they are mostly orange
with a brown stripe, but can also regulate
their body color.
2. SUMMER FLOUNDER OR FLUKE
Paralichthys dentatus
Flounder graduate from eating tiny,
floating zooplankton in their larval stage
to snapping up small fish and crustaceans
as adults. As they mature, they also
metamorphosize so that both eyes face up
on the left side of the body. These flatfish
live up to 14 years, grow up to 3 feet long,
and can change their color to blend in with
the sediment in which they burrow.
3. SPINY BUTTERFLY RAY
Gymnura altavela
A diet of fish and squid allows these
graceful underwater flyers to grow to a
wingspan of more than 7 feet, with skin
featuring intricate, marbled patterns.
4. BLUE CRAB
Callinectes sapidus
Blue crabs have paddle-like hind legs for
swimming and special shell pigments that
create their unique hue. Males (jimmies)
and mature females (sooks) will eat
almost anything, including clams, oysters,
mussels, smaller crustaceans, and
decaying fish, animals or plants.
They can live up to eight years.
5. ATLANTIC MENHADEN
Brevoortia tyrannus
The name of this herring-family fish
comes from the Wampanoag word
munnawhatteaug, roughly translating to
“fertilizer” for the role they have played
in crop production. These filter feeders
primarily consume plankton to grow into
a classic fish shape up to 15 inches long
and live up to 12 years.
6. HARD CLAM
Mercenaria mercenaria
Also known as the Northern quahog,
these plankton eaters can live up to
30 years and grow as long as 4
inches. Their dormancy and breeding
cycle is heavily dependent on water
temperatures, making them susceptible
to climate changes.
1
2
5 Shutterstock
6
3
Shutterstock
4
NOAA Ocean Exploration
Dennis Rabeling
Christopher S. Wood
Shutterstock
nature.org 7

Ocean
Occupants
NEW JERSEY’S ATLANTIC OCEAN
coastline is home to shark-species heavyhitters
that are larger and faster, with bigger teeth and
(perhaps) more familiar names. Like all sharks, their
skeletons are made from cartilage, and they have multiple
water-filtering gill slits on the sides of their heads. Unlike their
smaller counterparts, they will attempt to hunt larger, more varied
prey, including sea turtles and seals. Humans are not on their mostwanted
list, though. Bites are extremely rare (a 1-in-3.8 million chance)
and are usually cases of mistaken identity (surfers look like seals).
Norbert Probst
Shutterstock
A few things that are
statistically deadlier
than sharks (and even
shark incidents that
do happen have an
89 percent survival rate):
CHAMPAGNE CORKS
ICICLES
COCONUTS
LADDERS
BATHTUBS
ASTEROIDS
Shortfin
Mako Shark
Isurus oxyrinchus
Brilliant metallic blue coloration
and a pointy snout characterize
this apex predator, which grows
up to 12 feet long and weighs up to
1,200 pounds.
HABITAT: The open ocean is the
domain of makos, which very
rarely approach coasts. Like
many other sharks, this species
is endangered in New Jersey and
regional waters due to overfishing.
DIET: Squid and larger bony fish
like mackerel, tuna and swordfish
make up most mako meals, but other
sharks, dolphins, turtles and seabirds
may also be on their menu.
FUN FACT: ZIP-A-DEE-DOOH-DAH
Reaching swimming speeds of 45
miles per hour, makos are not only
the fastest sharks, but also some of
the swiftest fish on the planet. They
are also known for leaping 20-30 feet
out of the water while hunting.
8 The Nature Conservancy

Atlantic Common
Thresher Shark
Alopias vulpinus
The hallmark of these slender sharks is
their long tail (caudal) fins, which measure
roughly half the total length of their bodies.
Their bellies are white, while the rest of their
bodies range from brown to gray.
HABITAT: Inhabiting coastal and deep ocean waters
alike, they are familiar fish in New York Harbor
and along New Jersey’s shoreline.
DIET: Threshers are near the top of the
food chain. They mostly eat herring,
mackerel and other schooling fish,
but will occasionally pursue smaller
sharks, squid and seabirds.
FUN FACT: SLAP HAPPY
Threshers use their tails like whips
to slap and stun fish and other prey
long enough to devour them.
More than 450 shark
species inhabit the
world’s oceans.
Additional types
found in the Atlantic
near New Jersey include:
HAMMERHEADS
(great, scalloped and smooth)
BLUE SHARK
PORBEAGLE
BASKING SHARK
TIGER SHARK
DUSKY SHARK
BULL SHARK
NURSE SHARK
LEMON SHARK
BLACKTIP SHARK
SPINNER SHARK
OCEANIC WHITE TIP SHARK
Shutterstock
Great White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Very large sharks with gray, torpedo-shaped
bodies and white bellies,
pointy snouts, and sizeable
mouths filled with rows of
razor-sharp teeth.
HABITAT: Warmer coastal waters
in the south are their preference,
but they appear regularly along
the coast of New Jersey. In 2016, a
great white nursery was discovered
in the New York Bight, an area
along the Atlantic Coast that
extends from Cape May Inlet in
New Jersey to Montauk Point on
the eastern tip of Long Island,
New York.
DIET: Juveniles feed on fish,
including other sharks, and rays.
Adults prefer marine mammals
like seals, sea lions, porpoises,
dolphins and small whales, but
will eat sea turtles, squid and fish.
They have also been known to
scavenge on whale carcasses.
FUN FACT: PING PONG
Great white sharks are the
largest predatory fish in the
world, reaching up to 21 feet
long and 4,300 pounds. It is not
unusual for tagged great whites—
sometimes with amusing names
like Mary Lee (who has her own
Twitter account), Ironbound and
Maple—to “ping” sensors off the
coast of New Jersey.
nature.org 9

TO THE RESCUE
“Beneficial use” is an
innovative technique to
restore coastal salt marshes.
Clean sediment dredged
from clogged boat channels
nearby is sprayed from a
water cannon over degraded
sections of marsh to raise
elevation and give drowning
grasses a foothold.
TNC
Help the Shore’s
Unsung Heroes
NEW JERSEY’S 200,000 ACRES OF
COASTAL WETLANDS ARE THE UNSUNG HEROES
OF THE JERSEY SHORE. They provide critical
habitat for sharks, fish and birds, they protect
human communities, and they help drive the
economy through recreation and fishing.
But many of New Jersey’s salt marshes are
eroding and drowning due to accelerating
sea-level rise, boat wakes and hardened
shorelines. If the grassy expanses we see from
the Garden State Parkway and as we cross
bridges to our favorite beach towns continue to
degrade unchecked, they will no longer provide
nurturing resources for sharks and other species,
or protect coastal communities.
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY is using
innovative, natural solutions to help sustain salt
marshes. At three sites including state-owned
marshes behind Avalon, TNC and partners
boosted degraded sections of marsh with clean
mud dredged from nearby clogged boat channels
George Steinmetz
Back bay marshes in Avalon were among three
New Jersey locations where TNC and partners
tested beneficial use, with promising results.
to raise elevation and create conditions for grasses
to flourish. Promising results have encouraged us
to promote expansion of the approach for other
sites while advocating for additional policies that
protect and restore New Jersey’s coastal habitats
for people and wildlife.
We launched the NJ Bay Island Restoration
Planner, a free online tool, to empower users with
data to assess degraded marsh islands and match
them with dredging needs. And, we are leading
education through the Beneficial Use Learning
Network to hasten the pace of marsh restoration
and help keep marshes in place for all of the
creatures that depend on them.
10 The Nature Conservancy

CATCH AND RELEASE
Monmouth professor Keith
Dunton releases a tagged
sandbar shark back into the bay.
New Jersey
Shark School
TO BETTER COMPREHEND HOW SHARKS
USE COASTAL ESTUARY HABITATS IN NEW JERSEY,
TNC has teamed up with Monmouth and Rutgers
Universities to track and study the abundance
and movement of species in Great Bay and Little
Egg Harbor, focusing on sandbar and sand tiger
sharks. The project uses a system of acoustic tags
and underwater sensors (like E-ZPass) to collect
important shark data.
Keith Dunton, associate professor of biology at
Monmouth University, who leads the initiative,
has a special interest in shark research. “We know
generally that these shark species give live birth to
pups in the bay, and that juveniles spend the first
few months growing here before heading out to the
TNC
What You Can
Do to Help Sharks
• Don’t consume food
containing shark parts.
• Don’t use beauty or health
products that contain
shark-derived ingredients
like squalene (shark liver oil).
• Reduce your use of plastics
that often end up in the
ocean and can harm wildlife.
• If you eat tuna or other fish
products, buy sustainablysourced
brands certified
by the Marine Stewardship
Council.
• Don’t catch sharks. If you
do by mistake, make sure
to return them unharmed.
• Support organizations
that conserve and protect
marine habitats.
• Support nature-friendly
policies at the voting booth.
• Educate yourself about
sharks and share your
insights with friends
and family.
• Volunteer for a beach or
bay cleanup.
ocean,” he says. “But it is important to get a more
detailed picture of how sharks use New Jersey’s
habitats—and where they go when they swim out
to the Atlantic—so we know what to prioritize for
their conservation management.”
New Jersey’s coastal marshes, which are
critical ecosystems that support sharks and
the creatures that make up their diet, are
close to populated mainland, where pollution,
overfishing, noise, sedimentation and other
challenges are intensified. Erosion from storms
and inundation from a rising sea contribute to
the degradation of these grassy expanses.
“It would be a massive blow to the shark
population to lose the salt marshes in New Jersey,
throwing the food chain and ecosystem out of
balance,” says Dunton. “Our partnership study
will help inform how we can best support these
species, and healthy and strong estuaries will
play a big part.”
nature.org 11

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Smooth dogfish (© Keith Cowley/Living Sharks Museum)
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( A N D
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How well do you know
New Jersey’s sharks?
Take our
ONLINE QUIZ
on shark facts!
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