Diet Shifts Detected in Sandbar Sharks Using a Nonlethal Technique

Traditionally, dietary studies of sharks have been based on stomach content analysis, which often involves the lethal practice of cutting open a shark. This method, while effective, only provides a snapshot of ingested food in the days prior to death. Furthermore, it is a practice that often requires sacrificing a large number of sharks in order to characterize a species’ diet, and is not an appropriate choice for heavily exploited species like many sharks (Shiffman et al. 2012).