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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · 6d

I wish they had used this beautiful quote he offered in the story as the headline instead:

“She was scared also. It was not her fault.”

‘She Could Have Killed Me’: Scientist Survives Shark Bite to His Head

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

Colin Simpfendorfer @sharkcolin.bsky.social · 6d

New #sharkscience out in @currentbiology.bsky.social by @seaprinceaaron.bsky.social and colleagues.
Deep-sea mining risks for sharks, rays, and chimeras. A must read for this looming threat to many already threatened species.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@iucnshark.bsky.social

Deep-sea mining risks for sharks, rays, and chimeras

Judah et al. identify 30 species of chondrichthyans that overlap with proposed deep-sea mining activities, nearly two-thirds of which are already threatened with extinction. Precautionary management o...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 22d

Hiding the truth.

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Aug 17

New #ScienceCommunication website blog from me. Here, I look at another recent #megalodon study - one that used zinc isotopes & found that the giant shark wasn't just a whale killer; but probably ate whatever it wanted.

Give a read here: www.drjackacooper.com/writing/mega... 🦈

Megalodon and its relatives were super-predators that ate whatever they wanted — Dr. Jack A. Cooper

The iconic megalodon shark is generally pictured as having been a specialised whale killer. Now, a new study finds that megalodon and its closest relative Otodus chubutensis weren’t picky eaters. Inst...

www.drjackacooper.com

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

Mark Young @drmarkyoung.bsky.social · Aug 14

@historicalbiology.bsky.social now has online Collections. One where I highlight papers that are thought-provoking or advance a field. The other is edited by our Science Communication Editor (@cooperpalaeo.bsky.social) - which brings together his SciComm series.

www.tandfonline.com/journals/ghb...

Historical Biology article collections

Browse article collections from Historical Biology

www.tandfonline.com

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Aug 14

Fancy a late-night museum event surrounded by Cenozoic giants? Well on September 20th, you can do that in Birmingham. And you'll even get to talk to yours truly about giant sharks 🦈

Looking forward to taking part and hope to see some of you there: www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/events/giant...

GIANTS Late | Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery | Birmingham Museums

Step into the museum after dark for an unforgettable evening at the GIANTS exhibition — where science, stories, and supersized creatures come to life.Enjo

www.birminghammuseums.org.uk

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Aug 4

New #ScienceCommunication website blog from me. Here, I reflect on a framework inferring ecological traits from shark teeth from my PhD & look at 2 fascinating studies that took it further than even I thought possible 🦈

Give it a read here:
www.drjackacooper.com/writing/new-...

New studies highlight the use and limitations of teeth as ecological proxies in ancient sharks — Dr. Jack A. Cooper

In 2023, I published my first PhD chapter as a scientific paper – producing a framework to infer shark traits from tooth measurements. Being based on living sharks, I would subsequently apply this fra...

www.drjackacooper.com

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jul 25

You can officially call me Dr of Sharks now! 🦈 Delighted to have graduated from my PhD yesterday; and to get to celebrate with my family & girlfriend & my brilliant supervisors Catalina & John. The support has been immense & I've made some great pals in Swansea over the 4 years 🦈

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Jul 16

One of the most common plot summaries of Shark Week “documentaries” is

-Person has a question about Shark behavior.

-Person does not ask scientists that question, they’d know the answer

-Person goes diving with sharks, which would not answer the question

-Question is never addressed again

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Jul 15

I've been called "Shark Week's biggest critic," and in that capacity a question I get asked a lot is "that show is obviously pseudoscientific nonsense, why would that real scientist agree to participate?

Here's my answer to that question

www.southernfriedscience.com/why-would-a-... 🧪🦑🌎🦈🐟 #SciComm

Why would a serious scientist agree to participate in a nonsense Shark Week show?

Tons of Shark Week shows are full of obvious pseudoscientific nonsense, and yet feature real scientists. Why would these people agree to do that? In my capacity as “Shark Week’s Biggese…

www.southernfriedscience.com

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Jul 14

Happy Shark Awareness Day!

I want people to be aware of 5 things:

1 Sharks are awesome

2 Sharks are not a threat to your safety

3 Sharks are ecologically important

4 Sharks are highly threatened

5 We can still save them- but it matters what we do, don’t reinvent the wheel, follow experts!

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jul 10

Delighted to share that I'm now represented by Past Preservers for all future TV expert appearances! Can't wait to get started when next documentary job appears!🦈

You can check out my profile with them here: pastpreservers.com/portfolio/dr...

Watch my showreel here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGrL...

Dr Jack Cooper, Palaeobiologist & Shark Expert « Welcome to Past Preservers

Past Preservers is a Creative Media Hub

pastpreservers.com

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jul 4

New #ScienceCommunication website blog from me. This time, a recent paper details a huge migration from a great white shark named Alisha from South Africa to Indonesia!

Big thanks to Madison Stewart for being part of this. Read all about Alisha's story here: www.drjackacooper.com/writing/the-... 🦈

The story of Alisha: how a recovered tag revealed one great white shark’s epic voyage — Dr. Jack A. Cooper

In 2024, a fisher in Indonesia contacted shark experts to discuss a recovered shark tag. This set in motion a chain of events that produced three startling findings: (1) that the tag had been deployed...

www.drjackacooper.com

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

Historical Biology @historicalbiology.bsky.social · Jul 2

📣Editor spotlight

Dr Jack Cooper (@cooperpalaeo.bsky.social‬) is the science communication editor at Historical Biology. A palaeobiologist with a PhD from Swansea University; his research focuses on the ecological diversity of both fossil & living sharks 🦈

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · Jul 1

🐠🦈 Just out: In this paper we ask "How has reef trophic structure changed since humans started removing predatory fishes from Caribbean coral reefs?".

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

الكسندرا ميراي @lexialex.bsky.social · Jun 29

We need more politicians like him

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Jun 30

Cutting medical research on trans people is horrific.

Cutting grants that contain the common-in-science prefix trans because you wrongly think they’re about trans people is horrific and stupid.

David A. Graham @dgraham.bsky.social · Jun 27

Duke appears to have lost NIH grants because they used the prefix "trans" in reference to disease transmission, transgenic genetic material, translational studies, or signal transduction www.dukechronicle.com/article/2025...

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jun 27

Finally wrote that blog on this new #megalodon paper! 🦈

Hop on to my website to read me writing about this paper & what it indicates about megalodon biology. Many thanks to Phil Sternes & Kenshu Shimada for discussing their work with me 🦈

Read here: www.drjackacooper.com/writing/mega...

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jun 26

New bit of #ScienceCommunication from me. I get to write for children here with my latest piece for @sharks4kids.bsky.social. Got a kid who's into sharks or all things prehistoric? Then this is for them 🦈

Read more here at the Sharks4Kids website: www.sharks4kids.com/post/five-th... 🦈

Five things to know about prehistoric sharks

Sharks are among the oldest marine vertebrates on Earth – over 450 million years old to be precise. To put that into context; that is older than grass, that is older than trees, and that is even older...

www.sharks4kids.com

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Jun 24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Washington, DC)

In response to Shark Week’s 2025 programming including “Dancing with Sharks,” described as “a dance competition between SCUBA divers and their shark dance partners,” shark scientist Dr. David Shiffman has issued the following statement:

“Could we not?”

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

Let's Jaws for a Minute @jawsforaminute.bsky.social · Jun 22

@cooperpalaeo.bsky.social had to take a picture of this for our favourite sharky boi

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jun 22

Oh hell yeah! 🦈

I will actually pay you to have some of that sent over for me & my partner 😂🦈

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Reposted by Dr. Jack Cooper

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Jun 20

A shark scientist reflects on Jaws at 50 - Ars Technica | It me, I’m the shark scientist

A shark scientist reflects on Jaws at 50

Ars chats with marine biologist David Shiffman about the film’s legacy—both good and bad.

arstechnica.com

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jun 18

Pleased to share my first website blog!

We've seen great white sharks disappear in South Africa; whether down to orcas or something else. What effects do we see when this apex predator is lost? Well, a recent study answered it 🦈

Give it a read here: www.drjackacooper.com/writing/a-re...

A recent study uncovers a trophic cascade after great white sharks disappear — Dr. Jack A. Cooper

Great white sharks are known to be top-level predators in the marine food web. But what happens when we lose that predator from a marine ecosystem? An ongoing case study in South Africa is highlighted...

www.drjackacooper.com

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Dr. Jack Cooper @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social · Jun 14

New #SciComm! 🦈

Privileged to return to the Shark Stories podcast with Madison Stewart to talk about the huge recent updates to #megalodon science in the 3 years since I originally appeared on the show. Thanks for having me back Madi! 😁

Give her a follow & listen: sharkstories.buzzsprout.com 🦈

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