How 4 Shark Species Are Revolutionizing Hurricane Predictions

For climate resilience planners and meteorologists, accurate hurricane intensity prediction remains a critical challenge, with ocean heat content being the primary driver. Now, researchers are tapping an unlikely data source—sharks—to fill critical gaps in ocean observations. This low-cost, nature-based solution could transform how we prepare for extreme weather in a warming world.

In a novel convergence of marine biology and meteorology, University of Delaware researchers are deploying sharks as mobile ocean-data platforms to improve hurricane intensity predictions. The initiative builds on decades of work using animal-borne sensors, particularly on elephant seals in polar regions, but now shifts focus to the hurricane-prone Atlantic. By attaching CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) tags to free-swimming sharks, scientists aim to capture real-time data on the ocean's mixed layer—the upper ocean layer that holds the heat that fuels hurricanes. This layer’s heat content is a critical but under-sampled variable, as conventional observing systems like buoys and Argo floats are sparse and often not in the path of a storm. Sharks, which cover thousands of kilometers and dive to depths up to hundreds of meters, can provide a cost-effective, autonomous complement to these networks.

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The team has identified four species particularly suited to this role: shortfin mako sharks, blue sharks, smooth hammerheads, and juvenile great white sharks.

The research, led by principal investigator Aaron Carlisle at the University of Delaware’s School of Marine Science and Policy, addresses a longstanding gap: the difficulty of measuring pre-storm ocean conditions. Hurricane intensity forecasts heavily rely on knowing the thermal structure of the water column, yet that structure can change quickly and is influenced by local eddies, currents, and upwelling. A single measurement from a passing shark can yield a full profile of temperature, salinity, and depth, giving modelers a snapshot of the oceanic fuel supply. The tags, designed to transmit data via satellite when the shark surfaces, turn these animals into a distributed sensing network. The team has identified four species particularly suited to this role: shortfin mako sharks, blue sharks, smooth hammerheads, and juvenile great white sharks. These species were chosen because they frequent the Atlantic’s mixed layer, surface often enough to ensure data transmission, and are abundant and widely distributed, making them easier to study than many protected marine mammals.