10/21/26: Delaney Sauer 'Sharing the Waves: Learning to Cohabitate with Southern California’s Juvenile White Sharks'

SPEAKER BIO:

Delaney is a marine biologist, scientific diver, photographer, and

environmental communicator. She works as a research associate for the CSULB Shark

Lab, studying juvenile white shark behavior and movement across Southern California. At the Shark Lab, she carries out field operations related to shark tagging, active tracking, underwater acoustic receiver deployment and maintenance. A recent project involved setting up acoustic tracking of previously tagged sharks and rays moving through the area between CI Harbor and Anacapa Island.

Delaney also collaborates with the Ocean Lab to provide live interactive ocean

education to students. She completed her Master’s research at Scripps Institution of

Oceanography focused on reef restoration and modeling of the San Juan Barrier Reef in

Puerto Rico.

TOPIC:

Southern California is home to some of the world’s most popular and recognizable beaches, located alongside highly diverse and nutrient rich marine ecosystems. Millions of people utilize these nearshore environments for recreation, yet may be unaware that they are swimming, surfing, and diving in habitat critical to some of our most charismatic and iconic shark species.

The California State University, Long Beach Shark Lab has been researching sharks and rays since the 1960s, being active through the protection and population recovery of white sharks and their prey species. In recent years, increased numbers of juvenile white shark aggregations have been observed seasonally across Southern Californian shorelines. These sites provide young sharks with nursery habitats containing warm water, plentiful food sources, and protection from offshore threats, and are the focus of the Shark Lab’s research to further understand shark behavior, movement, and interactions with water users.