About this episode

Angie discusses shark physiology and conservation with Dr. Katy Ayres, highlighting the importance of sharks in ecosystems and the threats they face.

Angie welcomes Dr. Katy Ayres to discuss sharks’ physiology and urgent conservation needs, highlight National Geographic’s SharkFest (premiering Sunday, July 5 on Nat Geo, Disney+ and Hulu), and preview “Hammerhead Sharks Up Close”. Dr. Ayres, an England-born marine scientist and National Geographic Explorer who studies sharks in Baja, Mexico, shares how her lifelong fascination began. She explains sharks’ ecological roles as scavengers and indicators of healthy ecosystems, outlines threats including overfishing, bycatch, illegal fishing, finning practices, and climate-driven range shifts, and notes species-specific vulnerability based on life history. Timeline 00:00 Welcome to Shark Fest 01:42 Meet Dr Kaci Ayers 02:11 Shark Obsession Origins 04:23 First Big Shark Dive 06:50 Keeping Childhood Passions 08:23 Sharks Have Personalities 10:44 Ancient Survivors Explained 11:02 Teeth Tricks and Adaptations 14:41 Why Sharks Matter 17:57 Population Declines and Finning 22:10 Drone Science in Baja 29:00 Drone Counts and Trends 30:08 Orcas Shift Blacktips 31:13 AI Shark Counting 31:55 Local Shark Spotters 36:30 Shark Fest Message 40:04 Future Tagging Questions 43:15 Advice for Marine…

People in this episode

Host: Angie

Guest: Dr. Katy Ayres

Topics covered

• shark conservation
• marine biology
• ecological roles
• shark physiology
• threats to sharks

Keywords

• sharks
• conservation
• marine science
• Baja
• SharkFest
• ecological roles
• overfishing
• finning
• AI shark counting

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Geographic, Disney+, Hulu

Places: Baja, Mexico

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