OLOWALU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A team of shark researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa have solved a longstanding mystery.

Biologists from the the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology Shark Lab have identified the first-ever documented tiger shark mating hub.

Six years of acoustic tracking data led the team to pinpoint the area at Olowalu, Maui, leading them to new discoveries about the nature and timing of tiger shark mating and its correlation to Maui’s whale calving season.

This new finding challenges the understanding of tiger sharks as purely solitary animals.

“To our knowledge, no group mating site for tiger sharks has ever been identified. This paper adds an important piece to the puzzle of tiger shark reproduction,” said Carl Meyer, co-author of the study and principal investigator of the HIMB Shark Lab.

Researchers were able to show evidence that tiger sharks have a predictable seasonal gathering of mature males and females that coincides with humpback whale calving season in Hawaii.

Until this discovery, it was unclear how or if tiger sharks came together to reproduce or if mating was just a result of random encounters.

“Tiger sharks typically roam widely in what can seem like random patterns, so finding such a strong and consistent seasonal trend in their movements around Maui was unexpected,” said Paige Wernli, lead author of the study and a graduate student in the HIMB Shark Lab.

The years-long tracking data showed a predictable seasonal presence of both mature male and female tiger sharks at Olowalu, as well as physical evidence of mating activity.

The apparent mating hub happens during the time of year when humpback whale mothers and newborn calves arrive in the area.

The Shark Lab team says the correlation could mean that the sharks are positioning themselves near foraging opportunities, like vulnerable calves or placental falls.

“Mating and foraging on humpback whales may not be mutually exclusive,” Wernli said. “And both could influence tiger shark movement patterns in Hawaii.”

The tiger shark gatherings they observed were not dense but rather diffuse, spanning several kilometers over multiple months.

“This study expands our knowledge of tiger shark mating and challenges our conventional understanding of the term ‘gathering,’” said Meyer. “Together, the results suggest that both reproduction and food availability play key roles in shaping tiger shark movements in Hawaii.”

During the six-year study, the team was able to safely catch and implant transmitters in large sharks, then keep a vast network of underwater listening stations across the main Hawaiian Islands.

In the future, the Shark Lab team plans to use tags with cameras and other data collecting capabilities to document both their mating behaviors and shark-whale interactions.

This work was funded by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System.

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