False Bay, South Africa used to be a hotspot for great white sharks—but now, they’re nowhere to be seen. For two decades, drneilhammer and his team tracked changes in the False Bay ecosystem, leading to some pretty eye-opening findings in their latest study (link in bio). Great whites used to keep Cape fur seals and sevengill sharks in check. With great whites gone, these mesopredators—animals that both hunt and get hunted—grew in number and stopped acting like prey. With no great whites to worry about, they hunted more actively, which led to a decline in the fish and smaller sharks they usually feed on. This domino effect, known as a “top-down trophic cascade,” shows how losing one key predator can throw off an entire ecosystem. Sharks aren’t just cool, they’re crucial. Healthy shark populations = healthy oceans. Photo by mitty #OceanSchool #Sharks #Explore